+Preacher&Sivil Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Garmin Etrex 30 or GPSmap62 A simple question. What to buy and why? Thanks Quote Link to comment
tr_s Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 GPSmap62: Larger (can be both a pro and a con), likely better firmware, faster CPU. More expensive. Quote Link to comment
tr_s Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 (edited) screen easily viewable in dull HUH? We certainly don't have the same machine, unless you are speaking about when using the backlight significantly... As for Glonass - I wouldn't care. That functionality is still broken. New firmware might fix it though. Edited April 20, 2012 by tr_s Quote Link to comment
tr_s Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Alright. I agree to that the device is just about readable in bright dusk without backlight if you look at it in just the right angle. But it's not fun on the eyes, at least slight backlight is preferable. The old etrex monochrome screens wipe the rug with this in terms of readability. You ought to have been extraordinarily lucky with your device. Everyone I know who owned a 20/30 seems to have had the sticky problem. Quote Link to comment
+coggins Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 (edited) Garmin Etrex 30 or GPSmap62Between the two, I would lean toward the eTrex 30 with it's electronic compass and barometric altimeter. Myself, I got me the GPSMAP 62s Edited April 20, 2012 by coggins Quote Link to comment
+StarBrand Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 eTrex 30 - mostly the same feature set at a much better price. Quote Link to comment
+BAMBOOZLE Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 I vote for the 62S....the latest firmware has made this a top of the line geocaching tool. The Etrex firmware upgrades will get the bugs out eventually but I don't care for the joystick / button configuration on the Etrex. Quote Link to comment
+Preacher&Sivil Posted April 21, 2012 Author Share Posted April 21, 2012 More info. Here in Spain the better prices I can find are: Etrex30 -- 224€ Gpsmap62 -- 231€ Gpsmap62s -- 313€ Quote Link to comment
tr_s Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 If the price difference is that small I'd definitely go for the 62s given you don't mind a larger device. Quote Link to comment
tr_s Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 89 euros difference is peanuts if you by paying that difference get a much bigger chance of pulling an annoyance free / working product out of the box. The reason for me even hanging in these forums is the fact that I've been severely annoyed by the software bugs in the etrex 30. Get the 20/30 only if you like tinkering with gadgets and don't mind being a bit of a "beta tester". Another major bug is forgetting the goto destination after a power cycle. Great... not exactly handy unless you keep the receiver on all the time... and yes it is a bug, clearly not intentional as the device still says it's navigating to a location without name / garbled text and no pointer is being shown. Quote Link to comment
seldom_sn Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Garmin Etrex 30 or GPSmap62Between the two, I would lean toward the eTrex 30 with it's electronic compass and barometric altimeter. Myself, I got me the GPSMAP 62s To elaborate, 62 is a limited device, NO removable memory, NO electronic compass, NO barometric altimeter. (All those feature are in the 62s and Etrex 30.) Quote Link to comment
+jepp2 Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I was making the same decision a couple of months ago. My hiking/hunting GPS is a eTrex Vista HCx. I was intending to mostly use my new addition for paperless caching. I elected to go with the eTrex 20, despite the issues some are having. I couldn't be happier. I have absolutely no problems with it. Accuracy is outstanding, normally less than 9 feet. Battery life will probably exceed 30 hours with track on. It is my first experience with paperless caching, and it has all that I need. The speed from power on to using is so much faster than my HCx. And the feature I find using the most is the profiles. I wouldn't have ever thought they would be so useful, but to me they are. Why did I choose the 20 versus the 30? I just couldn't justify the extra $80. I would have liked to have the electronic compass, but the barometric altimeter isn't that useful to me on my HCx, and I am getting along just fine with compass on the 20. I opted away from the 62s due to my experience with the HCx and my familiarity with the button layout and size. If I had purchased the 62s I might have been just as strong of supporter, but economics are important to me and the only real advantage I saw was the antenna. With my HCx and now my 20, I have no trouble getting satellites from the center of my basement, and have never had any troubles being screened due to foliage. And that is during 5000 miles of hiking. Quote Link to comment
david_adam Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I would have to agree absolutely with jepp2. I have had my Etrex20 for about three months now and find it a delight to use. Previous unit was a Legend Hcx, which worked well, survived the ocean in a kayak but was getting a bit "sticky". Still have it a backup. Quote Link to comment
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