Garmin G5 vs Callaway uPro vs SkyCaddie SG3

I've owned a SkyCaddie SG3 for some time and weary of its annual fees glacial operating speed and pedestrian display I decided to go color. I purchased the Garmin Approach G5 but its display is very difficult to see in normal outdoor conditions. So I also purchased the Callaway uPro. I played an entire round on my home course with all three GPS units mounted on the cart. My findings:



Build quality: All three units are rugged with great fit-and-finish. The Garmin gets the nod because it's waterproof. The Callaway is water-resistant and you can purchase a watertight skin for an outrageous $24.99 to protect it further. The SkyCaddie is not recommended for use in the rain.



Size: The Callaway uPro is the smallest and thinnest about the size of an LG Chocolate phone. The SG3 is similar height and width to the uPro but much thicker and heavier. The biggest of all is the Garmin the size of an iPhone and four times as thick. It's wide heavy and not good for the pocket.



Accuracy: The three units properly mapped my home course agreeing on nearly all distances (within 6 yards of each other) and hazards.



GPS acquisition: The old-technology SG3 takes forever to acquire GPS sometimes more than five minutes. Both the Garmin and the uPro acquire satellites almost instantly. The uPro has technology that once it locks onto satellites it really keeps them. After locking on I took the unit indoors and even put it in my pants pocket. It never had to re-acquire. Advantage: uPro.



Getting courses: The Garmin wins handily. All 10000+ available courses come preloaded in its 1GB memory. No annual fees no paid memberships. The Garmin Approach G5 offered every course I cared to search. Of course your mileage may vary.



To make the most of your SkyCaddie you need to pay for an annual membership on their website and download courses individually. Some SkyCaddie memberships allow you to download as many courses as you want from all over the world...however the unit's paltry memory will only hold a few at a time. The uPro also requires that you sign up on their website (no annual memberships though). With the uPro Basic Mode (an alphanumeric color screen that resembles that of a SkyCaddie) is free for unlimited courses. For Pro Mode (the nifty aerial photography view of each course) you pay for only the courses you wish to play a la carte. Your first Pro Mode course is free.



Information: All units show distances to the front/middle/back of greens. The SG3 also shows hazards on the same screen but it doesn't give you hazard carry distances like the uPro does. The Garmin shows the entire hole including hazards. But showing the entire hole means that the illustrations of hazards are tiny as is the accompanying yardage text. Coupled with the Garmin's dim display it's pretty useless. Curiously the Garmin apparently doesn't consider trees to be obstacles so they're not represented at all on the graphical display. The uPro (in Pro Mode) shows every tree and hazard - in fact the entire hole as photographed from satellite. It's like viewing my actual course (including my house!) from above. There's absolutely nothing like it.



On the home screen both the SG3 and the uPro also give you the time of day battery strength and GPS signal strength. The Garmin gives you none of the above. You need to briefly press the power button to see the time. It also shows a battery icon but that never moved during my round.



Battery: The Garmin and SG3 both take AA batteries whether alkaline NiMh rechargeable or lithium ion. With any AA type both units easily complete at least two rounds. The uPro uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Unlike SkyCaddie models that use internal lithium ion batteries which are a real horror show to replace (SkyCaddie recommends you send the unit back) the Callaway uPro battery easily drops in. Callaway says it takes three hours to charge but it didn't take me anywhere near that long. UPro battery life is 6-12 hours depending on how bright you set the display's backlight. With my display settings (see Display below) I easily completed a round with plenty to spare. As far as battery preferences go: For some constantly recharging and changing out AAs is a grind. For others recharging (and eventually re-purchasing) internal lithium-ion batteries ($27 for the uPro) is just as bad especially considering that the battery can leave you high and dry mid-round if you forget to charge it the night before. To each his own.



Display: The SG3 is monochrome so it doesn't stand a chance. Its display is dim and boring but it does give you a button on the side for a backlight. The screen sizes on the SG3 and uPro are nearly identical. The Garmin's touchscreen display is nearly iPhone-big and drop-dead gorgeous...when you're at home. Take it outside and it washes out to the point of uselessness. Worse yet to save power the display times out a few seconds after you touch it making it even dimmer. You touch the screen to wake it up but when you touch the screen the unit thinks you want to measure a distance so the measurement feature pops up. You need to hit the "Done" button to exit that. There's no way to increase the screen timeout or disable the screen dimming feature. Also since the Garmin is a touchscreen it's a massive fingerprint magnet so it only looks pretty for the first hole. The uPro wins the display contest handily with a bright and functional screen. You can play two ways: graphically (Pro Mode) showing the course via aerial photography or with big bright alphanumeric text (Basic Mode). Since golf courses have very low contrast (lots of green color and not much else) I defaulted to the Basic Mode for easy readability. For the aerial view you can always hit the Pro Mode button on the side of the unit as it's much more useful around the green. The uPro's default setting is to power-save the display after (I think) 45 seconds. Unlike the Garmin which dims its display the uPro goes blank until you hit a button which is an enormous buzzkill. Fortunately you can get around this. You can change to a longer timeout or disable standby altogether. As the uPro has a very bright display what I did was take the backlight down to 25% (from a default 70%) and disabled standby completely. I easily completed a round with plenty of battery life to spare this way. The uPro and the Garmin use a reflective LCD technology that actually makes the display brighter in direct sunlight. The uPro's version of this technology worked far better than the Garmin's. The only time the Garmin display looked remotely readable was when you aimed it directly at the sun.



Just for fun I took along my iPod Touch 2G to compare all the displays outdoors. I figured that the iPod's conventional LCD wouldn't compete with the reflective technology of the Garmin and the uPro. Wrong. The iPod destroyed both of them. It wasn't even close. So if you have an iPhone (the iPod Touch won't do GPS) you may want to look into the golf GPS apps at the App Store. If you do decide to use an iPhone just remember it won't stand up to being dropped kicked and tossed around like these three ruggedized units and it for sure ain't the least bit water-resistant.



Hole-to-Hole: The simpler SkyCaddie wins here. It automatically advances to the next hole. If there's any confusion (you're playing past the current hole for example) it'll ask you if you want to move to the next hole. If you're starting on Number 10 for example the SkyCaddie makes that selection easier as well with a grid from which you can select holes via cursor. The Callaway Auto Hole Advance is kind of a drag. If you're anywhere near the green Auto-Advance jumps to the next hole. You can't measure your 40-yard pitch to the current green. And when they say Auto they mean Auto. In Auto-Advance mode there's no way to back up to the current hole or any previous hole for that matter. The only way out is to go to either Manual Advance or Manual Advance With Prompt (it asks you to press the center button to advance). Hitting a button on each hole is tedious. The Garmin Auto-Advances sequentially but if you jump around (skipping a couple of holes to get around slow play) you need to touch the screen arrows for each hole advance.



Settings: The Garmin gives you almost nothing to customize as it is both very intelligently designed and extremely automated. It would have been nice to be able to crank the screen brightness or at least extend the timeout. Both the SG3 and the uPro give you a host of settings to mess with including screen brightness (contrast only with the SG3) hole advance preferences and much more.



Cost of ownership: The Garmin and uPro are color so they're not cheap. If you want to compare apples to apples you could go to the color SkyCaddie SG5 but be advised that the SG3 SG4 and SG5 are virtually identical in functionality screen size - basically EVERYTHING - so you're paying almost $150 more for color alone which is the cost of a whole 20-inch color TV. (My SG3 is discontinued so now I'm quoting price from the replacement SG4.) Couple that with the amazing wow factor of both the Garmin and the uPro and the top-of-the-line color SkyCaddie SG5 is a terrible deal. To the SkyCaddie's cost of ownership add their totally outrageous annual membership fees. SkyCaddie also charges ridiculous sums of money for stuff like plastic cart mounts and batteries. The Garmin wins here hands-down with all available courses preloaded into memory. No fees whatsoever! For accessories RAM Mounts makes a rock-solid relatively reasonably-priced cart mount for the Garmin. The uPro while not requiring you to pay for a membership makes you download each course. They're all free if you want to use only Basic Mode. But if you want what makes the unit famous and awesome which is Pro Mode video previews and flyovers of each hole you need to pay. If you go for a 20-course package for example that's $60. It's still cheaper for most people than SkyCaddie because there's no annual fee. And the more courses you buy the cheaper it gets per course. However uPro accessories such as cart mounts are rarely discounted and you'll pay more for their little plastic add-ons than you would pay for a complete multi-handset cordless phone system or a new DVD player.



Extras: Each unit has (or will soon have in the uPro's case) the ability to track scores and aggregate player information. I don't use any of that stuff. No amount of button-pushing or touch-screening could beat the ease and speed of marking stuff down with a pencil.



Wow Factor: The SkyCaddie is deadly dull with zero Wow Factor but highly functional. One would think the Garmin with its big beautiful touchscreen would win. However the screen is just too dim to view the image-based interface in normal outdoor lighting. The Callaway uPro with its unique video flyovers of every hole is the winner. While the flyovers may not be great outdoors (golf courses are green-on-green-on-green so there's little contrast) they're great for previewing new courses in your home before you travel. Beyond that the uPro comes with several preloaded video tutorials to help you get the most from the unit and an earbud is in the box so you can listen to the video narration. Voice Recognition to allow you to change settings holes etc. by voice command is built into the Callaway uPro and they say it'll be activated by late 2009.



Summary: Not one of these units is perfect but the Callaway uPro is the runaway winner. It's simple to use highly customizable deadly accurate super-fast and gorgeous to view. 2nd place goes to the SkyCaddie even with its monochrome screen pokey operation and 20th Century technology. The Garmin comes in last even though it's the most sophisticated intelligent beautiful automated piece made by people who really know GPS. The thing is just too dim to use outdoors.

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Delorme PN-40 Review

I must say that I find it interesting that there are so many glowing reviews about this flawless GPS. I am always skeptical of anything that sounds too good! I read many of the reviews online and after evaluating the specifications and features opted to buy the Delorme PN-40. Prior to this purchase I owned a Garmin 60CSX GPS. I believed that the Delorme was poised to be a significant improvement in both the tracking ability and the display of aerial overlays.



Let me begin by stating that I don't believe there is a perfect GPS except from the perception of the user and their application. If it meets your criteria then it serves the intended purpose! That being said let me try to summarize my personal observations from my point of view.



After purchasing the Delorme PN-40 I quickly signed up for the $29.99 annual download service to take advantage of this impressive feature. I have downloaded about a dozen maps at this posting and must say that Delorme has been very effective in minimizing the number of maps that can be downloaded. First the size of the maps you can download for each map type (color aerial USGS etc..) is restricted to some size in sq Km. This isn't too much of an issue as they are large enough for my typical hike. Second I have found that the download speed is being limited to speeds on the order of 15-20Kb/s. This is incredibly slow considering the capability of cable is in excess of 700Kb/s. A typical download time for the maximum 250sq/km file is over 1.5hrs. In addition many of the downloads stop prematurely and this requires you to download the entire file again (a download manager isn't able to resume the download after termination). I have spent days trying to download a single file due to premature downloads (and no my modem and router aren't the cause!)



The learning curve for uploading the map files to the PN-40 is tricky and not documented very well. It took me (I'm an electrical engineer) about 4 hours to sift through the documentation along with some trial and error. Once downloading was accomplished I found that the display of the maps was pleasing but lacked detail.



I then took the Delorme PN-40 and Garmin 60CSX (Sirf Star III chipset) on a 9 mile hike in Forest Park located in Portland Oregon. I used fresh Powerex Medion batteries in both GPS's. The temperature outside was about 35degF and the hike took approx 5 hours. My findings are as follows:



The Delorme PN-40 took several minutes longer than the Garmin 60CSx to lock onto the satellites before a 3D view was possible. The Delorme circle of uncertainty accuracy of the location varied significantly while standing in the same spot on open terrain with no obstructed view of the sky. The variation would be on the order of +- 15ft to +-40ft. The Garmin locked onto the signal vary consistently for this same location with variations of only +-2ft. I found the aerial display on the Delorme to be difficult to see without the backlight. Note that the isobar lines aren't easily seperated from the aerial background. It may just be me but I'm not color blind and have good vision. The Garmin display is easier to see I think because there isn't much clutter on the display (the backlight helps very much in low light also). The Delorme tracking lines are superb! It is easy to see where you have gone and is nicely color contrasted to the background map. The Garmin tracking points are almost impossible to see (until downloaded to your PC) as they blend into the topo map! The last point I want to make concerns the battery life and this was the biggest issue for my personal use. The Delorme battery life was barely acceptable (for my purposes) under the conditions of this hike (cold and wet for 5 hours). The battery indicator on the Delorme started dropping after about 2.5 hours and declined steadily for the remainder of the hike. The last hour of the hike I expected the Delorme to shut off but the batteries did hold out for the full hike. The Garmin battery life remained at full for the entire hike. You can argue that my test wasn't exactly fair since the batteries weren't brand new and don't know how often I used the backlight but I didn't expect the Delorme to start indicating reduced battery power so soon. A sample size of one unit is not exactly a great indicator of all the units sold but then I'm not being hired by anyone or trying to take sides! Obviously you must be the decision maker for your application.



I will say that both products performed well enough for this one hike. I prefer the Garmin for satellite reception consistent locking battery life and ease of software use. However I do like the display capabilities of the Delorme. Also the Delorme mapping is far superior to Garmin but at the expense of a steep learning curve. I also want to mention that Delorme did a great job for allowing use of every battery type you might want to use; from lithium ion to alkaline. Also I really appreciate Delorme giving easy access to the full capacity of a 32Gb SDHC card (which I verified worked well) but you do need plenty of storage for the hybrid aerial maps.



In summary let me say that in my opinion I feel that Garmin has the lead on GPS hardware and that Delorme has the lead on Mapping software. I would love to see a product created by the merger of these two companies to take advantage of both of their strengths. Good luck on your purchase decision.



Note that I am not an employee of either company and have no personal bias towards them. I also own products from both companies!More detail ...

Misleading: Not a Triathlete watch

This device has been represented as a triathlete's watch and the first swim proof GPS watch. If you watch the video from Garmin or see any of the advertisements Garmin leads you to believe that this watch will collect reliable data for all 3 multisport events. It is reasonable for someone to assume this watch can be worn in a race and collect GPS data in the water since of course SWIMMING is the first event in a triathlon.



If you are considering buying this watch realize the following:



-This device does not collect usable data in the water period (other than time which any $20 waterproof watch can collect in a much smaller form factor). No heart rate data and totally unusable and inaccurate GPS data while in the water.



-There are preset modes for run bike and "other" in which "other" shows a person on skis (explain that one?). They intentionally omit a category for swimming despite advertising that this watch is for triathletes (see the photo I added under product photos).



-You will need to purchase a separate quick release kit if you want to use this watch on a bike. It does not get accurate data on a bike if you are wearing in on your wrist. It auto pauses then unpauses for most of the time I am riding if I wear it on my wrist -- even if I have it set to only auto pause when completely stopped. The quick release kit IS NOT the more common one for the 205 and 305 Garmin 010-10889-00 Forerunner 305/205 Quick Release Kit so do not buy that one. They have made a new one for this watch and most places do not have it in stock yet. As of the date I am writing this review it is not yet available on Amazon.com. Go to Garmin's website and look under the accessories tab for this watch. You will see a different model number. I have confirmed this with customer service. The part number for the proper quick release kit is: 010-11215-00. Google it.



-If you want foot cadence or the ability to track distance indoors and assume you get it for spending $400 on this device think again. You will have to buy a separate foot pod which costs $80-100 depending on where you buy it (earlier Garmin Forerunner watch kits included foot pods). Garmin Foot Pod SDM4 (ANT+)



-The watch is large and sits high on top of the wrist (they packed 20 hours of batter life into this watch) so to wear it under your wetsuit will let water in the wetsuit or you will have to wear it on top of (or crammed in front of) the wetsuit which will not allow you to remove your wetsuit without first removing the watch (thus adding time to your transition and sort of negating that whole "triathlete" angle). You can see a photo of this watch on my wrist under the photos section of the product.



-There is no way to turn off GPS tracking for only one of the 3 events in multisport mode. Therefore you will always either have incorrect GPS data recording for the swimming mode (or actually "other" since there is no "swim" mode as previously mentioned). I have called customer support and they confirm this. Their solution was to turn off GPS while I am swimming then reset and manually start a new timer and mode during transition 1 for my bike event. I'll let you be the judge of how to take that advice.



So in conclusion if you want to setup this watch for a bike and run and want the ability to wear the watch in the water before hand (and no start it unless you want some incorrect distance data included) you will need to buy:



$400 - the Garmin 310XT with HR

$25 - quick release mount kit (for wrist and bike) (no link in Amazon yet)

$80-100 - foot pod (if you want cadence)

Garmin Foot Pod SDM4 (ANT+)

$35-50 - speed/cadence sensor (if you want cadence for the bike)

GARMIN 010-10644-00 Speed/Cadence Sensor



You'll be into it for $575 retail. Garmin you did us wrong on this one. Some of us are willing to spend this kind of money on a product if it proves to do what it advertises itself to do. We're not asking it to do anything more than perform as advertised. I realize your fine print saves you from lawsuits but it doesn't gain you repeat customers. It sends them over to Polar.More detail ...

Best technology in a starter unit

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. More detail ...

Accurate!

I was very excited when I saw the ad for the Garmin Forerunner 405 and couldn't wait to get one. Unfortunately when I went to make my purchase the store only had the Forerunner 405 without the heart monitor in stock. To get the full benefits of my new Forerunner 405 I knew this was something I wanted to try.



When my Garmin Heart Rate Monitor came in I immediately paired it with the Forerunner 405. Pairing was a breeze. I then put it on and wore it for a few minutes to check its accuracy (I wanted to be certain of its accuracy before I adjusted my run workouts based on the results). Suffice it to say I was more than pleased with the results! It has become a constant companion to me along my runs.More detail ...

FANTASTIC

If you are reading this and the other reviews of the Garmin eTrex Vista HCx then you are doing your homework and wondering if this GPS is as good as all the hype makes it out to be. The short answer is YES! I have an old Garmin 12 Map which has served me well but was getting a bit long in the tooth. I wanted something a bit smaller lighter with color screen and was water tight. The Vista HCx meets all of these needs and so many more. It is small in size but with a fairly big and bright screen (easily readable in the sun) for its size.

Every review I read touted the extra sensitive antenna and how it picked up and locked onto satellites inside of homes or buildings. Well I can honestly tell you that it does all this and does it quick. How this happens it Garmin magic. I was always told you had to have line of sight to pick up satellites but not in the case of the Vista HCx it can get them just about anywhere short of being in a bunker.

The menu is intuitive and easy to navigate so much more that my old Garmin 12 map. The long story short this little GPS is the one for everyone else to beat. If you are seriously considering a GPS purchase for hiking or navigating the back country do not look elsewhere this is the one to get!

The base maps in the Vista HCx are of course upgradeable through additional accessories purchases from Garmin (at substantial cost) but worth the money. How Garmin managed to pack so much into so little a package is a mystery to me. Do yourself a favor stop reading the review and just buy one you will not be disappointed.

BTW I purchased mine through Amazon.com and took advantage of the free shipping. It arrived four days ahead of when it was scheduled to arrive which was a nice surprise. Amazon has a very good price and I have always been happy with my purchases through them. And no I am not getting paid to say these nice things about Amazon I am just a very satisfied customer.



Dan...

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Garmin Oregon 400t

This is a lengthy review but at $462 and after seeing some of the "user induced" complaints I believe a good review is essential.



I also own a Garmin Etrex Vista and by far the Oregon 400t is the most versatile customizable and flexible handheld GPS I have seen. I had the opportunity to compare the Oregon and the Colorado side-by-side at an REI store and found the ease of use and touch pad of the Oregon too much to pass up. The touch pad makes it extremely user friendly. In addition the order of the choices on each of the 4 main pages can be arranged in any order desired and in a number of different profiles such as recreational geocaching and automotive for ultimate flexibility. There are so many different ways to display information to the user that the choices seem endless. The Oregon is to GPS receivers what the iPhone and the Blackberry are to smartphones. A good review from 2008 can be found at: http://gpsinformation.info/penrod/oregon/oregon.html. I was sold after seeing how to deal with the daylight viewing issues people talk about and what the other 95% positive things that have been said by professional reviewers about the Garmin 400t.





Like most things sold these days the manual could be the quick guide so don't expect every little detail to be explained. It would be nice if manuals said and explained everything. I'd like to know why I'd want to make one choice over another (like the difference between the Garmin Spanner and serial interfaces) since those two appear to be the same with the Spanner choice asking if you want to go to Mass Storage rather than automatically doing sofor example. Links in this review greatly fill in gaps in the manual and you'll be happier utilizing those resources!



The benefit to the 400t over the 300 is the internal memory. As found at: http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/Product+Information#toc7 the 400 has 4GB of memory (the Topo2008 takes up 2.7GB) leaving a lot of free memory to save waypoints tracks pics for personal and geocaching use and additional maps. The 300 has 850 MB left and as anyone using a handheld GPS knows maps take up HUGE amounts of memory - you can never have enough.



Choices on the setup button offer options for the system and display that can extend battery life (such as choosing a backlight timeout period and battery save option if desired). Under setup>display there is even a screen capture choice that saves a file you can print out or email whatever is displayed on the screen - cool!



As with digital cameras mp3 players printers etc. you need some sort of software program on your computer such as a Garmin Mapsource product and then you can (contrary to a Feb 14th review) download waypoints tracks and routes (I uploaded 42 waypoints 2 routes and 16 tracks used by E Trex Vista to the Oregon so you absolutely can upload and download data!!!).



Batteries - unless one reviewer selected the "stays on" option for backlighting bad batteries are the only thing that can explain really poor battery life. Per the "garminoregon.wikispaces.com" web site I'm using version 2.85beta and together with Powerex 2700mAh batteries have gotten around 20 hours of battery life (battery type needs to be specified in system settings). It was a Garmin rep. I spoke with at a local REI that told me a university field tested high capacity NIMH batteries and that is the way to go for the Oregon. Condition batteries first and consider the Maha MH-C9000 charger which conditions the batteries - they have truly impressed me over previous Energizer and Sanyo AA NIMH batteries I've tried. In comparison with the same 30 second backlight period and Energizer batteries I saw only one full day - near the rated 16 hour time worth before the repeated low batt. warnings. This is in real use geocaching two days for most of the day hooking the Oregon to a laptop and reviewing/downloading waypoints and tracks and over 3 hours a third day downloading 648 MB of Roads & Recreation maps to the Kingston 4 GB micro SDHC card (also from Amazon.com) I added. I purchased the 4 GB card to also one day load City Navigator NT onto it. You need a high capacity reader or you have to transfer data via the USB cable connected to the Oregon otherwise - above 2GB is considered high capacity I found out.



I followed tips and suggestions on http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/message/list/home which is one of the most useful web sites out there with extremely useful and helpful information exclusively for the Oregon. It can greatly simplify the learning curve with something that can do as much as the Oregon can.



Read about the software updates and stay as current as reasonable backup the data from the Oregon on a hard drive register the GPS with Garmin and you'll truly appreciate the investment as much as it is possible.



As with any relatively new item bug fixes in the firmware will begin to resolve functionality issues as is the case and already in progress. Utilize the resources of "garminoregon.wikispaces.com" and the value of the Garmin Oregon 400t will be clear. More detail ...

An outdoor GPS receiver as revolutionary as the original eTrex

Before buying this new Venture HC I had spent many hours trekking with several of the original eTrex models over the years. I think it's fair to say that while the concept of the original eTrex was great the execution was frequently disappointing.



It disappoints no more. The Venture HC is the eTrex perfected. It remedies almost every shortcoming that plagued the original models. The new high-sensitivity receiver is amazingly effective. Countless times I've stood in wide open spaces cursing my old eTrex because it wouldn't acquire a single satellite. Last night I turned on the Venture HC on the bottom floor of my two story house and it locked onto 8 satellites...through the roof and the upper floor! No more "need a clear view of the sky" messages. Amazing.



The old monochrome display has become color and the user interface is now substantially more intuitive while adding even more functionality. The cable which was serial on previous models has been upgraded to USB another welcome improvement. The case is somewhat wider than before but the design bears a strong resemblance to the original eTrex.



A basemap is included but it's just that - basic. It shows the largest highways bodies of water and has some limited capability to display highway exit services. If you need turn-by-turn street directions an eTrex is not for you. This is a GPS receiver true to Garmin's outdoor GPS heritage.



Promised battery life (14 hours) is near the bottom of the range when compared to the existing eTrex models but is still perfectly adequate and has posed no problems.



One weakness that remains is Garmin's waypoint manager PC software. It has the feel and functionality of a software product released circa 1994. Garmin could certainly develop a better PC interface. For $49 you can buy ExpertGPS from Topografix or download the free version (EasyGPS)from their website. Either is far more functional than the Garmin OEM software.



Still the software criticism is a quibble. The Venture HC itself is great. It is a market changing product that renders all previous eTrex models (and many competitors) obsolete. Finally an affordable outdoor GPS receiver that I can wholeheartedly recommend.

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An outdoor GPS receiver as revolutionary as the original eTrex

Before buying this new Venture HC I had spent many hours trekking with several of the original eTrex models over the years. I think it's fair to say that while the concept of the original eTrex was great the execution was frequently disappointing.



It disappoints no more. The Venture HC is the eTrex perfected. It remedies almost every shortcoming that plagued the original models. The new high-sensitivity receiver is amazingly effective. Countless times I've stood in wide open spaces cursing my old eTrex because it wouldn't acquire a single satellite. Last night I turned on the Venture HC on the bottom floor of my two story house and it locked onto 8 satellites...through the roof and the upper floor! No more "need a clear view of the sky" messages. Amazing.



The old monochrome display has become color and the user interface is now substantially more intuitive while adding even more functionality. The cable which was serial on previous models has been upgraded to USB another welcome improvement. The case is somewhat wider than before but the design bears a strong resemblance to the original eTrex.



A basemap is included but it's just that - basic. It shows the largest highways bodies of water and has some limited capability to display highway exit services. If you need turn-by-turn street directions an eTrex is not for you. This is a GPS receiver true to Garmin's outdoor GPS heritage.



Promised battery life (14 hours) is near the bottom of the range when compared to the existing eTrex models but is still perfectly adequate and has posed no problems.



One weakness that remains is Garmin's waypoint manager PC software. It has the feel and functionality of a software product released circa 1994. Garmin could certainly develop a better PC interface. For $49 you can buy ExpertGPS from Topografix or download the free version (EasyGPS)from their website. Either is far more functional than the Garmin OEM software.



Still the software criticism is a quibble. The Venture HC itself is great. It is a market changing product that renders all previous eTrex models (and many competitors) obsolete. Finally an affordable outdoor GPS receiver that I can wholeheartedly recommend.

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Package Includes: Forerunner 305 Heart rate monitor docking cradle expander strap AC charger PC/USB interface cable Quick start guide Garmin Training Center CD & owner's manual

The Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS System combines form and function. This combination running partner and personal trainer is designed for athletes of all levels. It features a high-sensitivity GPS receiver new courses feature and robust ANT wireless heart rate monitor for optimal performance. The super-sensitive GPS tracks your every move even working on tree-covered trails and near tall buildings. The heart device monitors your heart rate speed distance pace and calories burned so you can train smarter more effectively. These taskmasters will continually push you to do your personal best. Courses feature lets you download recorded courses and compete against previous workouts Auto Pause pauses and resumes training timer GPS features - GPS with high-Sensitivity SiRFstarIII architecture Wireless communication between system devices via ANT protocol Display Size(WxH) - 1.3 x 0.8 (33 x 20.3 mm) Lap Memory - 1000 laps Rechargeable internal lithium ion battery - lasts 10 hours (typical use) Waterproof - Submersible in one meter of water for up to 30 mins. Alerts - Time distance pace and heart rate Physical Size(WxHxD) - 2.1 x. 7 x 2.7 (53.3 x 17.8 x 68.6 mm) Weight - 2.72 oz. (77 g)

Heart rate monitor features - Transmission Range - approximately 3m (9.8ft) 3V CR2032 battery - lasts 3 years (1 hour per day) Physical size(WxHxD) - 13.7 x 1.4 x 0.5 (348 x 35.6 x 12.7 mm) Weight -. 74 oz (21 grams)More detail ...