Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 16-20 of 235
 eTrex Venture HC June 2, 2009
R. Foster (Minnesota)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I bought this GPS mainly to do some personal geocaching for when my grandsons came for a week visit. It is simple to navigate the pages and set waypoints and the accuracy was very good and got the guys usually within six feet of the point I had hidden a cache. And some of these were under heavy tree cover and it worked excellent there as well.
The basemap in this price range GPS does not get you a detailed map. However, that really was not an issue for finding a cache. We used the data page with the pointer and that always took us right to the cache. Maybe for the advanced geocachers, a more detailed basemap might be required, but this GPS should be fine for the entry or intermediate user.
Excellent entry-level GPS for geocaching June 6, 2009
Larry Diamond (Austin, TX USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have wanted a handheld GPS for some time to do geocaching and for having with me when hiking. The Venture HC is an excellent entry-level handheld GPS. It has a nice bright adjustable screen and lots of easy to use features. Features include a Geocache mode where you can easily upload to your Venture geocaches from geocaching dot com. It has a trip computer, remembers routes, and you can easily set waypoints and delete them.
It also has some other useful features, a basic calculator, calender, stopwatch, fishing feature (given your location and date it lists the best times for fishing) and a celestial calender with sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset.
It also, for a lefty has a neat feature. The joystick that you use quite a lot for selections and manuerving happens to be set-up for the left thumb. Living my entire life in a right-handed built world, I quite enjoyed this. Not to say for the 90% of people out there not left-handed that it will be hard to use, just pointed it out since it is so unusual (and nice for a lefty).
What it doesn't have is an SD card feature. I thought this was no big deal and for basic geocaching it isn't. However I downloaded some free Texas topo maps (quite cool just do a web search) and I could only download the topos for Central Texas in the 22 mb (avaiable storage). I knew that limitation coming in, but if you think you are going to want to have a lot of map layers you probably do not want this. It also doesn't have a compass feature for when you are standing still but this is not really a problem and should not be a deciding factor for you since as soon as you start moving you get your orientation.
For me the one thing to consider is do you hike/camp a lot OR do you think you would want to try geocaching. The cool thing about geocaching is that it is not just for state and national parks. There are a lot of caches right in urban areas. And it is something the whole family can do. So far I have mostly gone to ones around my house and I already have discovered a few parks I did not know existed. It is a great way not to get lost hiking but also to discover a lot of cool areas where you live. Just remember to use geocaching dot com since it is set up to easily upload geocaches right to your Garmin. Note 5 stars if no need for an SD card. Also I recommend the Garmin cover noted in the product listing. The Venture is sturdy but the cover is a nice snug fit and gives some added protection and a belt clip.
Garmin eTrex Venture HC Makes the Trip May 23, 2008
Mike A. Tichenor (Valparaiso, IN. USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This was my first GPS purchase and i spent a lot of time being confused over the terminology and features of GPSr's. In researching a unit to buy, I also looked at what others who were not as confused as me were using. I finally settled on the Venture HC. I have to say I was not disappointed. I use my unit for geocaching and hiking. It took some time to learn to use the Venture partly because it was something new and the instructions were complicated and partly because I was new to GPS's and had to learn the terminology. Once I got the hang of using it, I was impressed with its accuracy. It carries light and is easy to operate.
Things I didn't like were that it always powers up with the screen dimmed. You must always brighten the screen to see it. I would have thought it would come on at a medium brightness. The unit also comes with a strap for carrying and the belt clip is optional. Since the Venture is designed for outdoor uses like hiking, etc., I would rather have had the belt clip as standard and the strap optional. Minor things I would like changed, but that's the only real problem I have with the Venture.
Excellent value/performance March 9, 2008
Herman Gansmans (Germany)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Worked with the eTrex a couple of days, very pleased, we had the Garmin Geco 201 earlier, this had a bad reception in the woods.
The Etrex is next generation, good/excellent reception with the maps in the background so far excellent ratio performance/cost.
Herman
Great GPS Value May 29, 2008
Raymond L. Parker (Kansas City)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've been involved in the GPS market for about ten years. I've owned numerous GPS products during that time and the Venture HC has got to be one of the best values. Satellite aquisition time is very fast and the display is bright and clear even in strong sunlight. With full color display and 28 Mb of on-board storage, it is a much greater value than the Legend. Load it with any Metroguide or Mapsource product and you have a perfect companion for the road, field, hunting, or fishing trip. Battery life is good enough for most applications. Put in your pocket or carry it on the furnished neck lanyard and go have fun. Take the family along. They will have fun also.
Showing reviews 16-20 of 235
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