Both are on sale at REI currently, the Etrex for $179 after GArmin's $50 rebate and the 60CS for $239 as it is being discontinued. Which of the twp would you get. This would be my first GPS and I know very little about them. Cheers rsamaha
Avoid the etrex body unless you are strictly hiking with it.side buttons will never be fun to use in the field. the 60 series will have 56 mb memory,trust me,that is a bunch. the 60 is comfortable to hold in hand and it has good brackets. any other questions,go in and try them a lot.I know it will not be too fun not knowing hoe to work them very well.just keep going back and forth through the functions.
I've been looking those over too. The deal on the Legend is pretty good. Yes, the buttons are on the side, but that may or may not be a deal breaker for you. It is a newer model that takes expandable memory as micro SD cards. As maps get bigger/more detail, I don't know how long it would take to use up the internal memory of the 60CS and it doesn't appear to accept additional memory. The rebate also applies to the new 60CSx series, which I am considering, but it is over $300 even with the rebate. I am actually leaning towards the Etrex Legend Cx and if I like using a GPS, may upgrade in a few years.
I have spent the last couple of hours reading up on these two. You can get the 60Cx from buy.com for $350 before the rebate. I think I might go that way given the expandability and the new SiRF receiver thingy. Thanks for the input. rsamaha
it is a great modern gps. too often,usually recived as a gift,the cheapest etrex sits on a shelf because it is not fun to use. the legened is fully capable. I have to sell them,they are hard to demo. my favorite demo is the 76.remember I am across the counter so the buttons are on my side. but once you get used to all of the menues,you don't have to see the screen to advance to the next step. before you get a legend try it hands on,it works,I just like the 60, 100% more. Does it need to be loaded for a cross country trip.remember it does have a built in basemap.
I wouldn't invest in a 60CS when you can get a 60Cx for only slightly more. The sensor functions are more trouble than they're worth and the "x" series is a dramatic improvement with the new receiver and the removable microSD storage. WELL WORTH the slight increase in cost. - Mark
incase anyone does not know,the S indicates a live compass and a barometer.used to it added about $100 over a similar model. I don't know much about using a barometer and a $3 compass will give you a bearing.and gps triangulation is good enough altitude for me. do the x series include a blank memory chip? I saw a preloaded topo chip for all of CO.and part of TX.looked good.
The 'x' units use readily available and relatively cheap MicroSD cards, now available up to 2 GB. They're the new defacto storage standard for new cell phones so they're going to be around awhile. Huge improvement over the fixed 54MB fixed map capacity of the non-x. - Mark
Well, I happen to own a Legend CX. Before that I had a Legend C (for a month) then a III+... The choice really comes down to how much memory you need and if you're going to futz around with the GPS a lot. The screen on the MAP 60 line is only marginally larger then the Etrex. Their biggest advantage is having more buttons rather then dealing with menu's and the better antenna location. (Only the MAP 60 CX and CSX have the Sirf chip.) I use my Legend CX for a variety of things. Hiking, driving and what not. Once I set it, I rarely touch it. I might zoom in or out one step but that's it. Everything else I set up before hand like setting up tracks and directions. Oh yeah, the Map 60 is also able to make updated directions in case you have to change your route on the go. The eTrex will still point to the last leg you needed to use. It's not really a big deal for me though. The Legend is listed to have a 32mb MicroSD/TransFlash but they have been shipping them with 64mb cards. With those two models, I'd probably go with the eTrex legend and use the money saved to buy Navagator 7 and Topo. If it was a Map 60 CX or CSX, I'd choose those over the etrex.