Find great computer deals at Staples
- Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 4 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
0.5 stars
"Works well, but documentation is dreadful"
Pros: Good sensitivity, reasonably easy to use
Cons: Too expensive for what you get, miserable documentation, almost deceptive packaging.
Summary: The unit works well and may be more than adequate for geocaching, but for general use in the car or for walking it leaves much to be desired.
Without knowing ahead of time what comes in the package, you may be surprised that the preloaded maps have only Interstates and possibly some major highways. There is no street level detail. You must then spend another $90 to get either a preloaded SD card or a DVD for map detail.
Even there you must be careful. The name of the map product is not clear, though you can finally track it down to "City Naviagator". However, don't purchase the DVD update product even though it says on the packaging "Update the preloaded maps in your Garmin product" It doesn't. It updates the City Navigator that you had already purchased. You can easily spend $80 to purchase that and then end up with a product that doesn't do anything and can't be returned since it is opened software.
Don't look for support from the Garmin web site. Everytime I tried to send an email using their web interface I got a 403 error telling me to contact my administrator. Since there is no proxy server between us, it must be their error. Another email link, not to their support group, generated a 404 error.
Their "look at the map first" applet was miserable. For each view I had to right click and do a "Display Picture". And even that didn't work without doing it several times.
The included manuals were worthless beyond, as one reviewer said, telling you how to put in the batteries.
After all is said, I've spent over $300 for a brick. I'm going to call the whole thing a bad deal and try to sell my 2 day old Legend for whatever I can get. Then I'm going to look (and look very closely) at other GPSes. Certainly I'll never buy a Garmin nor recommend it to anyone.
- 3 replies to this review
-
Clearly, you bought this unit blindly. Kinda like people who go out and buy FRS radios and give them to there kids and wonder why they hear other on there frequency and tell them off. The HCX is one of Garmin's most popular models. It's very functional and has a wide amount of uses for hunting, fishing, hiking and even flying light aircraft. Do your homework before you buy...
-
Do your homework and dont just buy something because it is packaged nicely....of course it is going to be packaged to sell. The unit is eplained exactly as it comes on the package. It is very common to have to buy highly detailed maps, all etrex units come with a basemap only which is explained very clearly by garmin. You WILL NOT find a 2-3 hundred dollar gps with the streets, topo, and everything else you want. This is not a garmin issue, it is how handheld gps are. I have a Garmin Car gps, I agree on the customer service.....
-
It's unfortunate that you had this experience but some of your comments indicate that it may not be the fault of Garmin. You obviously have Internet access so you should have known what you were buying. Don't buy a stick-shift if you only know how to drive an automatic. That said, my unit was more like an automatic. Oh well!!!
Where to buy
Garmin eTrex Legend HCx:
$179.00 - $269.99
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
|
$179.00 | Yes |
|
|
$249.99 | Yes |
|
|
Amazon.com Marketplace
|
$197.99 | Yes |
|
|
$269.99 | Yes |
|
|
$197.42 | Yes |
|
