5 Responses to “ Garmin Legend H Handheld GPS Navigator ”

1. 
   M. French Sep 3rd, 2010 at 3:15 am

   I purchased the unit from Amazon in 6/2005. I have used it mainly for hiking.
   
   In late 2008, the unit started failing. The joystick often will not operate in one or both directions. The display fails showing only blank areas mixed with areas of black lines. Sometimes it will not turn on.
   
   It sometimes takes a long time to get a position up to 8 minutes in some cases. The acquistion times are much slower when there is vegetation. If there is a mostly clear view to the horizon then a fresh reading will take about 2 minutes and a repeat acquisition under a minute.
   
   The display screen is easily scratched so there are some areas in which the display can’t be read due to the scratched display. I tried storing it in a plastic bag to protect the display.
   
   It takes several steps to store a waypoint which is inefficient. Retrieving waypoints takes even more steps. Another thing that was irritating was that the time of the reading is not stored with the reading. It only stores the lat, lon and elevation. You can store a label with a reading but that is slow and tedious.
   Rating: 1 / 5

2. 
   Madmax Sep 3rd, 2010 at 5:46 am

   Great price and shipping time would buy again from this vendor , item sealed in factory packaging, brand new as described.
   Rating: 5 / 5

3. 
   rlm Sep 3rd, 2010 at 6:35 am

   This Garmin is an improvement over the Legend from several years ago. The USB port is more handy than the older serial port. Plenty of memory and a big screen are nice features. The menus are easy to navigate once you figure out where to go for what you want to do. I wish they had made deleting all waypoints at once easier to find and more intuitive but once you stumble on it, you know where to go. So far the only thing that has caused my other Legends to fail has been running them over with a car. They have been sturdy, rain proof and dependable.
   Rating: 5 / 5

4. 
   Chris Collman Sep 3rd, 2010 at 8:09 am

   First, I got my new Legend H to do what I wanted. After opening the box, it took me about 3 hours (non field time) spread over 3 days (with field time) to show trails on GoogleEarth and download a data set in a free program recommended by UNH CoopExt. I never met a computer that was not stupid and have read too many instructions written by people who forget what it is like to be a real new user.

   Yes the manual is not very wordy. Those who understand GPS units will probably consider it to be an adequate quick start guide. ATTENTION NEWBIES: expect to spend some time playing before really trying to use it. For example, the USB connection on an XP machine. The manual says to download software from [...] (period) and plug in the cable. On the web you then learn (or ignore) that you must download the USB drivers for Garmin products, in addition to the Legend software. And they leave out that you should reboot your XP computer after installing the drivers. I had to reread everything several times and then remember (after 45 minutes) the primary solution to every computer problem: turn everything off and back on. That did the trick, it communicated.

   The most recent reviews about the Legend H helped make up my mind. The eTrek H was about $90 at Walmart. A cable to connect it to my computer’s USB was going to be $15 – $20 . The Legend I got via Amazon was $116, including cable. So for $10 more I received: a higher res screen, 500 more waypoints, simple maps and area calculator and 24 mgs memory. The unadvertised surprise: it only took 2 days to get to me with free shipping!

   Yes the screen is hard to read sometimes but that could be my eyes and contrast settings. As for the buttons and menu system, you will react in a crisis how you train. Moral of the story: make all your mistakes and develop your best practices while walking around a place you know, well before you really need it. I was at my budget limit, I am sure another $200 would solve those issues.

   I am happy and now will start looking for some web based free instructions about tracks, marks and waypoints. Plus I am going to follow some of those other reviews about other free software products to turn my data into another learning curve.
   Rating: 4 / 5

5. 
   Donald Edward Smith Sep 3rd, 2010 at 10:39 am

   This is my second ETrex – the first was fine but eventually wore out. I use it basically for an antenna for a laptop Garmin nautical nav program but also take it on the road when driving. The display is so dark compared to my first it is virtually unreadable without the backlight. The first was not this way. Disappointed…
   Rating: 2 / 5

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