26 out of 27 people found this review helpful.
Pardon me, Ma?am, but which way is Johnsondale?
Date of Review: May 30, 2004
The Bottom Line: There are several interesting screens on this device, all of which will keep you happily amused as you wander around, lost, in the mountains.
The Garmin Etrex Legend is a small, very lightweight, handheld GPS navigation device designed for use by hikers, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and the like. The basic package consists of the device itself, a wrist-strap, serial cable for computer communication, a user s manual and a quick-start guide. The package I bought did not include any additional mapping CDs although they may be purchased aftermarket and used to download more detailed mapping information for desired routes.
Two AA batteries power the Legend and you may use rechargeables if you like, but they will have to come out of the unit to recharge as there is no built-in power jack. User controls are fairly straightforward. The on/off switch doubles as the backlight selector, (hold to turn on or off, press quickly to activate the backlight) and there is a button to page through the various displays. Two smaller buttons on the side allow the user to zoom in or out on the small, 4-level grayscale LCD screen and a joystick-style thumb switch on the front is used to navigate through the several menus presented or to pan around on the map.
The case is rubberized for the most part and seems fairly sturdy and the unit is advertised to be able to withstand 30 minutes of submersion in one meter of water and a 6-g shock. All in all, it is quite small and suitable for carrying in a jacket or shirt pocket, is lightweight and seems reasonably designed for its advertised purpose, personal navigation.
I bought mine just prior to giving it a run for its money on a half-day motorcycle loop through the Southern Sierras. Sadly, the Etrex Legend was a legendary failure and it is going back to the store some time today. Here s what I saw.
Starting out in the Mojave Desert, I did a search for Johnsondale, CA using the built-in database of points of interest. Sure enough, Johnsondale showed up. I was impressed, as Johnsondale is really just a small hamlet in the mountains above Kernville, CA, itself a fairly small place. My planned route took me North on US 395 to the turnoff for Kennedy Meadows. From there, it was up Nine-Mile Canyon to the Meadows and then over Sherman Pass and down the other side to Johnsondale. To finish the loop, I planned to follow the North Fork of the Kern River into Kernville, stop for dinner, and then ride back down to the desert going through Weldon, Onyx, and over Walker Pass. This is a nice half-day plus ride with plenty of twisty roads, great sights and smells, and a couple of truly spectacular vistas which I will tell you about in due, um, course.
When I started out, all went well. Although the Etrex knew where Johnsondale was, it had no idea that the roads I intended to take existed. This was really fine with me, as I had not loaded any additional maps into the thing. I was simply happy to have a range and bearing to Johnsondale. Heading North on the 395, the unit kept perfect track of my speed. Since this was a sightseeing tour, I kept it at 65 and the unit maintained perfect track of this, registering my highest speed in the first part of the journey at 64.7 mph. Throughout the early part of the trip, the unit would give me updated ranges and bearings to Johnsondale. I was pretty happy with it. Next, it was up the twisty Nine Mile road -- no chance for me to check the Legend until I reached the Chimney Peak Fire Station. (Vista number one is a great view of the Indian Wells Valley near the top of Nine Mile Canyon. You can see all the way across the desert and over to the White Mountains on the other side.)
At Chimney Peak, I stopped and took a look at the display. It had updated perfectly without any problems, still had satellites, and was raring to go further. I rode the few more miles into Kennedy Meadows and stopped at the General Store for a rest and a cold road soda. After stocking up on a big bag of their wonderful, homemade beef jerky (get the hot, it rocks) I got back on the road to Sherman Pass. Up until this point, the Etrex Legend had done a great job and was performing satisfactorily. I still had updates going out of Kennedy Meadows and I thought I was going to be in business. Then things went terribly wrong. Somewhere on the road up to Sherman Pass, the Legend took a big dump. It lost all track of where it was and could not reacquire satellites. Now, a momentary loss of track would be expected going through some of the terrain I was crossing. I stopped a couple of times to check the device to see if it had figured out where it (and I) was. Nope.
Fine, I figured, it will all work out okay once I get to Sherman Pass. (Vista number two Sherman Pass is at 9000 feet. It s a breathtaking view from there, sort of like looking over the Sierras from the top of the world.)
Despite a clear view of the sky from the pass, the Legend still could not acquire satellites. No matter where I walked with the thing, it could not figure out where it was. It said I had traveled about 2000 miles but didn t have the slightest idea how or why I had done so. This was disappointing. It s one thing to lose track or suffer dropouts when going through heavily forested areas, but at Sherman Pass, this thing should have been able to catch up with itself and tell me where I was. No workie! I put it back in my jacket and headed down the West side of the pass to the Kern River. At the river, there is an intersection; one way goes to Kernville and the other leads to Johnsondale. Funny, I did not know which way to go when I hit that intersection! I had to ask a LADY from MICHIGAN where Johnsondale was! Sorry, but I did not buy the Garmin Etrex Legend with the expectation of having to ask some gal from the midwest how the hell to get to Johnsondale.
Yep, that Legend was still as lost as a back-sliding Baptist. It had not the slightest idea where we were for well over 60 miles of travel in the Sierras. No updates at all. I tried cycling power, resetting it to factory defaults, pulling the batteries, everything. It still would not update. I made it to Johnsondale; the thing was still lost. Then backtracking on the road to Kernville for a stop at McNallys along the river for dinner, I sat outside and fussed with it. The blasted thing simply would not acquire satellites.
Enough. I put it away and headed home after a fine meal. My route home took me along the Eastern side of Lake Isabella into Weldon, Onxy, Canebreak, and finally, Walker Pass. At the top of Walker, I stopped and looked at the display to see if it had anything, yet. Sure enough, it had finally figured out where we were. But it had lost all track of where I had been -- meaning that I would not have been able to set waypoints or navigate my way out of a paper bag almost anywhere on my journey. This is simply unsatisfactory. On a big motorcycle, loss of bearings is probably not that big a deal when the weather is nice and you have plenty of gas. But what if I had been on foot, lost in the Sierras in bad weather? Would I not expect the unit to come through for me under those conditions? Particularly once I reached Sherman Pass and clear sky, the Etrex Legend should have been able to find enough satellites to give me a solution as to where I was. It could not. Clearly, the built-in antenna on the thing is simply not good enough for reliable navigation in mountainous terrain. Now, I am willing to admit that maybe I just have a bad example, but I am not going to fuss with it anymore. It s going back to the store today and I will look for something else to replace it. Basically, I need something that can navigate, not panic at the first sign of a dropout and completely lose its bearings for over three hours of mountain travel. If you sell a GPS device that cannot reliably work in the Sierras, then you should not call it a Legend, you should call it a Flatlander and sell it as that.
Sure, the Flatlander, er, Legend, is a cool package -- just the right size for personal, unobtrusive navigation. The controls make sense and the display is serviceable, if small. But the confounded thing just does not work where it needs to work and for this reason I cannot recommend it.
