Review on 🗺️ Enhanced Garmin Etrex Legend GPS Receiver by Nick Brunner

I bought the Legend from Revain in August 2003 after much research. It was and still is the best value for money for a small GPS. A few months later I also bought a Topo CD. I took Legend everywhere and used it almost every day. Recently the device has had sporadic failures, it is out of warranty and will be disposed of. I had no issues with reception, recording times, display reading, battery life, or using it with my left hand. The Topo software needs an update, but it makes the Legend much more useful. I bought a bike mount, be sure to buy one of these if you ride a bike. The newer color devices have a USB connection, the Legend uses a serial cable. It's fine, but not all laptops have serial ports, so consider that before you buy. (A USB-to-serial converter is available for a hefty $50, almost half the price of the Legend!) Data transfer isn't fast, but you'll have to be chronically impatient to look after it. Joystick, it didn't switch to the left, among other things I couldn't select routes. It was annoying. Secondly, this is a pattern of thin lines on the display, and thirdly, this is a fatal error, a black display at boot. The black display rendered the Legend utterly useless on a 4 day trip to the Adirondacks, thankfully off the track. I almost threw it away but when we got home it was working again. Another sporadic problem. Never rely on any of these things for desert navigation, the quality of the product is insufficient. You will be foolishly testing the aerospace consequence of Murphy's law (anything that can go wrong happens at the worst possible moment) by relying on it for the necessary navigation. Take a compass and a map with you, otherwise be prepared to get lost and die after the Legend crashes. My advice to anyone considering a purchase is to do so but keep the receipt as there is a good chance it will break and warranty service will be required. After the warranty, it is a consumable item. Forget the factory rebuild, it's $90. I'm replacing Legend with Vista, I really don't expect better quality, but I like big memory and it will be fun to play with the elevation profile display. The most practical solution would be to get another legend, but that's pretty boring. Magellans keep getting better, but they don't have Garmin's screen resolution and ergonomics. Etrex color blocks are pretty good but overpriced. If Vista breaks and it's out of warranty maybe the price will go down and I'll replace it with a color. Or maybe another manufacturer is developing a higher quality GPS with Garmin features, size and display. Overall I would recommend Legend. This is a good value if you have the common sense to understand and handle its limitations.