Garmin eTrex 20 Worldwide Handheld GPS Navigator

Product Description

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Garmin's eTrex GPS series offers reliable satellite navigation, making it a favorite of hikers, hunters, and geocachers. The eTrex 20 is equipped with a high-sensitivity GPS receiver, a 2.2-inch color display, and ships with a worldwide basemap with relief. Add a wide array of detailed topographic, marine, and road maps, and start mapping out your next adventure.

A perfect choice for hikers, hunters, and geocachers. Click here for a larger image 2.2-inch color display and worldwide basemap with relief. The eTrex 20 is the mid-level option in Garmin's new eTrex series. See also the eTrex 10 and eTrex 30. Compatible with TOPO U.S. 24K maps (above), BlueChart cards, and City Navigator maps. A New Adventure Mapping Performance

This handheld GPS is armed with a sunlight-readable, 2.2-inch color display and a worldwide basemap with shaded relief, making it easier than ever to know where you are and where you are headed next.

With internal memory and a microSD card slot, the eTrex 20 ready for a wide array of detailed maps. Add TOPO U.S. 24K maps to hit the trail, BlueChart g2 preloaded cards for a day on the water, or City Navigator maps for turn-by-turn routing on roads.

Rock Solid GPS

With its high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver, eTrex 20 will locate your position quickly and precisely, maintaining its GPS location even in heavy cover and deep canyons.

With added HotFix and GLONASS support, you can count on faster positioning and a more reliable signal--whether you're in deep woods or just near tall buildings and trees, you can count on eTrex 20 to help you find your way when you need it the most.

Rugged and Ready

The eTrex 20 is a breeze to operate, indoors and out, with five buttons on either side within easy reach. With its bright orange case and included lanyard, it's tough to lose. Plus, since the eTrex 20 is waterproof to IPX7 standards, it can take an accidental splash or dunk in the water and still continue to perform.

Find It and Go

With eTrex 20, your adventure will last, with over 20 hours of battery life on two AA batteries (rechargeable NiMH or Lithium batteries work great). As a handheld, it's plenty portable, weighing in at just 5 ounces with batteries. It's also compatible with a variety of spine mounting accesories, for use in cycling or other activities.

Paperless Geocaching

eTrex 20 also supports geocaching, a high-tech version of hide-and-seek where you explore the outdoors in search of hidden "treasure" and adventure. Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants (members) navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location. The eTrex 20 is the perfect way to get started.

What's in the Box

eTrex 20, USB Cable, Lanyard, Documentation

This review is from: Garmin eTrex 30 Worldwide Handheld GPS Navigator (Electronics)
I have just received my eTrex 30 unit, and so far it is perfect and a great improvement over the still amazing eTrex Vista HCx.

The eTrex 30 is for all purposes, the new Vista HCx, both have barometric altimeters and both have compasses, however, the 30 has a tri-axis compass that allow to look at the unit perpendicularly to the ground and it will still mark to the north.

Among the improvements are of course the new hi-color screen (Allows BirdsEye maps, like having a Google Earth in your pocket on the trail!). Wireless transmission of data via ANT+ that also works with heart rate and cadence monitors. And the most important geek factor, the reception of GLONASS signals!

One of the new things that I like a lot is that everything now is a file, on the Vista HCx to download the files it was necessary to use the Garmin serial protocol, now with the 30, only with connecting the unit to a USB port in the computer it is possible to get all the captured data in standard-compliant GPX files. This also means that there is a 2GB (1.7GB usable) flash storage device in the unit.

Placing GPX files in the correct folders in the unit also displays the information within those in the unit, like waypoints or tracks. It is much easier now. In Linux I use gpsbabel to convert back and forth from many formats, in particular I enjoy exploring my trips again with Google Earth and it requires KML files, gpsbabel helps to do that precisely.

Also, there is an Alarm Clock on the unit, I just tested it a 4:30am and it woke me at about 2 meters from my bed. This is something I really wanted to have in my Vista HCx, as my traveling wristwatch isn't that loud, and I had to use a Casio traveling clock just for that. One less device to carry!

Loading maps is now way more faster than with the Vista HCx, having both one for Europe and another locally, takes a few seconds, while before it took minutes

As always, a GPS unit like this, now with a GLONASS receiver, will beat any smartphone on trails and while traveling abroad. Here in the tropics close to the Equator I got a fix pretty quick, but not with as many GLONASS satellites as I wished, that is because that GNSS constellation is best used way up in the north hemisphere.

The User Interface looks better, with antialiased fonts and pretty icons, it is now more like a Windows XP UI, while in the Vista HCx with its limited color palette, was like a Windows 3.1 UI. The on-screen keyboard seems to be easier to use, and looks like a miniature version of those included in smartphones.

Physically, the unit is lighter, more compact (A few millimeters more bulky in depth), easier to handle in your hand, the rocker is in the right side now, good for right handed, but my muscular memory keeps moving my thumb to the previous rocker position in the Vista HCx. The infamous rubber band used in the Vista HCx that unglued so easily with time seems to be substituted with a more solid rubber sides, now attached with screws. The micro SD card is placed like a SIM card in a phone, under the batteries.

Now, this is something I have always wanted that was NOT added... An option to LOCK THE BUTTONS! Neither unit has the option to avoid the buttons to be pressed while having the unit on a backpack or in a holster. I would really like an option like in the mobile phones to do that ("Press such and such buttons to unlock"). Many times I have put my units in a bag to later retrieve them in a weird configuration screen and with a track erased or so.