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Perfect for outdoor enthusiasts on a budget, the Garmin eTrex H GPS navigator helps you navigate your way through the toughest terrain. The unit is equipped with a high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver, which locates your position quickly and precisely and maintains its GPS location even in heavy cover and deep canyons. The advantage is clear: whether you're traipsing through thick woods or strolling near tall buildings and trees, you can count on the eTrex H to help you find your way when you need it the most. And just like the original eTrex, this little yellow wonder is intuitive and rugged, with a lightweight housing that fits comfortably in the palm of your hand. The eTrex H is a breeze to use, with five buttons on either side of the navigator facilitating one-handed operation. The four-level gray LCD display, meanwhile, is easy to read in a shade or daylight. And you needn't fret should the weather turn, as the eTrex H is IPX7 waterproof, so it can withstand an accidental splash or dunk in the water and still continue to perform. Functionally, the navigator stores up to 500 waypoints in its memory for easy retrieval, with names and graphic symbols to highlight the selections. Users will also appreciate Garmin's exclusive TrackBack feature, which lets you reverse your track (up to 20 reversible routes) and navigate back to your starting point. And the automatic track log offers 10 saved tracks (with 10,000 points), along with the ability to retrace your path in both directions. Other details include a hunting and fishing calculator, sun and moon information, and a serial PC interface. The eTrex H, which runs for up to 17 hours on a pair of AA batteries (not included), measures 2.0 by 4.4 by 1.2 inches (W x H x D) and is backed by a one-year warranty. What's in the Box
eTrex H navigator, wrist strap, quick start guide, user's manual.
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 Best technology in a starter unit |
| Review Date: January 16, 2008 |
| Reviewer: David Michmerhuizen, Fremont, CA USA |
This is my primary Geocaching GPS. The high sensitivity chip has the same strong processing power, and thus signal sensitivity and position resolution, as any of the more expensive units. It gives me excellent accuracy in areas where my older GPS units just give up, even dense forest cover. The software that drives the unit is the same as the older Yellow model (see below) and has stood the test of time.
If you're only interested in point to point navigation (geocaching, trail tracks or just finding your way back to the car or the ski chalet), then this unit will do a great job for a no-regrets price. If you're looking for road network navigation, then this isn't for you.
Be aware that this is the 'H', for 'High Sensitivity' unit, introduced in 2007. It's appearance is almost identical to older Yellow Etrex units, the difference being "High Sensitivity" in red letters just above the screen. Although the older units do work and may still be found, their worth is significantly lessened by the availability of this unit. That's something to keep in mind when looking at used or "new old stock" units at other venues.
One thing that other reviews mention is true - straight out of the box it takes a long time (hours) to acquire it's almanac (a digital description of where satellites are in the sky which is transmitted periodically) and then it's satellite signals. Mine took at least 3 hours and had me thinking it was defective until it finally locked in. Don't despair, this is a one-time thing - once accomplished, start-up time is about 5 seconds. |
Garmin E-Trex 100 H
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| Review Date: December 9, 2007 |
| Reviewer: John A. Pritchard, New York City |
As an avid Geocacher and teacher, I had to find out what all the buzz was about the H models. (I own a dozen regular ones that I use for instructional purposes) Everything is the same with features except that it is supposed to be able to get signals in heavy tree cover or in places with steep walls (like buildings) or in valleys, etc. When I used it for the first time, it took forever to catch the first satellite even though I reset the time zone right away. It comes with a central Asia time zone so be sure to change that. It lost power and shut off while trying to boot. It was becoming very frustrating. Took about 15 minutes. However, once it was able to find the local sats, it worked fine. Haven't tried in dense woods or valleys yest, but kept a good signal in woods regular park woods and gave me accuracies to less that 20 feet. The price is the same as a standard E-trex 100 but you get better reception. The down side is that you lose 5 hours of battery life (17 vs 22). I don't see this as a problem at all. And there is no cool globe logo on the front. I will buy more eventually.
Edited 8/6/09 -- Okay. This has become my standard GPSr but I no longer recommend it for the new cacher. I have gotten accuracies within 5 feet in the worst conditions. Although I still like it, the biggest drawback is that the downloads require a serial port. Most computers don't have these any longer which means you need a conversion cable ..another $35 .. if you can find one. For basic GCing, I now suggest the Garmin Venture. Same basic operation but uses a standard USB connection. |
An Excellent Basic GPS
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| Review Date: August 7, 2008 |
| Reviewer: William R. Drake, Nevada City, CA USA |
| I wanted a basic, easy to use, GPS that would allow me to hike in the wilderness and easily find my way to and from various places without fear of getting lost; and to always find my way back to my campsite or car. I also wanted to be able to save locations I visited as well as locations on the topo map I had not visited yet but wanted to be directed to by the GPS. In addition, I wanted to take a reading "in the field" and be able to find that location on a topo map. This unit does all of this perfectly. Unlike the experience of another reviewer of the eTrex H on this site, when I first turned this GPS on it initialized to satellites and my position in only a few minutes. The description of this unit should mention directly that you can use it to save locations you are not present at. It implies this by referring to Geocaching, but some people, like me, don't know what that is. And the description of how to do this in the owner's manual could be a little better. I am not very experienced in using a GPS with a topo map and I overlooked the need to program the GPS to the "datum" used for the map I was working with, which resulted in my readings being several hundred meters off. My biggest complaint about the owner's manual is that, while it tells you how to program the GPS for various map datums, it does not tell the "beginner" that if you live in the lower 48 US states, for a map that says "NAD 27" for the datum you select "NAD 27 CONUS" (for "Continental US"). I had to buy a couple of books on GPSs to find this out. Otherwise the owner's manual, while it is a little concise, is pretty thorough and easy to use. If your needs are simple, like mine, and you do not need to have topo maps loaded into the GPs, this is an excellent choice at a great price. (Even with a GPS it is always advised to go into unknown areas of the wilderness with a map and compass as well. If you work with a map, you will probably use the UTM system so you will need to learn how to work with that and get a plastic scale for reading meters in "grids". A good book on the GPS can be helpful in these regards - the owner's manual does not go into these details.) |
Awesome Basic GPS Unit, Great Price!
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| Review Date: September 15, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Tim Warneka, Cleveland, OH USA |
I was looking for a basic GPS unit to take with me when I solo backpack ... so I can find my car again, as well as some waypoints along the trail (like, oh, say, where I left my campsite before starting out on a dayhike. ;-).
There are more expensive GPS units that do more out there. I love technology in all parts of my life, but the reason I backpack is to simplify. The last thing I wanted was to buy a complex GPS that required the purchasing and loading of topo maps onto my computer ... and all the headaches and hassles thereunto. (Read some of the reviews on the pricier, more complex GPS models.)
I took this eTrex with me on a multi-day backpacking trip in Southern PA. I received the eTrex literally the evening of the day before I was to leave. I turned it on, watched a few on-line videos, and was off and running. (I even made copies of a few pages of the owner's manual to take with me, but found that the unit is so simple to use that I didn't need them.)
I gave it four stars because the owner's manual is very poorly written. This is my first GPS unit and some discussion of the basics would have been helpful. But with the help of a few videos on Youtube and other places on-line, I was able to get up and running fairly quickly.
As with other reviewers, my eTrex took a few minutes to find the satellites when I first turned it on at home. The other things new users might want to know is that if you drive several hours before turning the unit on (as I did), the eTrex needs a few extra minutes to "find" itself again. Not a big deal, but good to know.
Bottom line: If you want a simple GPS for backpacking, hunting or fly-fishing, then this is the unit to get. |
eTrex H
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| Review Date: October 23, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Gary, Seattle |
I definitely had problems with my original eTrex-H. First-time startup could not detect a navigable satellite signal; failed 6 times. I went so far as to climb on my roof; still no navigable signal detected. It eventually detected a navigable signal inside my house, at my desk (go figure), while I was searching for the software version needed by Garmin Customer Support online.
On two short hikes, less than 4 hours, my original eTrex-H shut itself off at some point during the hike. The "Backtrack" feature was obviously of no value.
The Garmin website is less than friendly; especially for customer support. Garmin online Windows open undersized from Amazon product links with no option to maximize or scroll. And, Garmin online has been unresponsive to my emails for customer support. I see this more as a website (webmaster) problem.
Ultimately, I connected with Garmin product support. Garmin authorized return of my etrex-H within the warranty period. It still cost me $13.00+ for shipping, and a couple weeks time getting Garmin repair authorization. Garmin finally replaced my etrex-H, with no explanation of what was wrong with the original etrex-H.
I have not tested my newest etrex-H on the trail, but it encountered no difficulty acquiring a navigable signal on first-time startup. (gp)
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