| Quote: | |  | |
| I'm looking into buying a hand-held GPS, for hiking and MTB'ing. Basically I'm sick of making wrong turns and having vague ideas where I am, and it's a new toy 
The unit that seems to suit the level that I want is the Garmin eTrex Legend which I can source here in CH for about CHF260-
Firstly, does anyone have anything good or bad to say about this unit, or have alternate suggestions?
Secondly, more Swiss specific, is not having an altimeter in the mountains a real issue? (ie the positioning can give false readings due to varying altitude) Also, does forest cover impact greatly on the ability to get a satellite signal for this model? | |
| | |
I own the Garmin Legend and Legend Cx and use them mostly for snowshoeing, hiking, and cycling. They're great. Over Easter I was in Tessin and used the unit with tracks from
GPS-Tracks.com to guide me on different mountain bike trails. You can also record a "track" of your trip and later plot a map. Here's
an example of one I made last year.
You can also go
geocaching with a GPS.
The altitude reading is accurate and often within a few meters of what you see posted on signs and buildings in the mountains. It always depends how good your signal is.
Consider buying the Legend outside of Switzerland. I bought both units in Canada and paid literally half of what I would have paid here. Have fun!