A year and a half ago I was in the market for a new GPS with WAAS to replace
my Garmin 12XL (which was a great unit, from a company, with very responsive
customer support). I heard and got confirmed from Garmin that "their
customers were complaining that when left in a vehicle with a power adapter
and the power went away when one turned off the engine, the batteries were
drained". So, they designed the handhelds (at least the 72 and 76 series)
to shut down shortly after an external power source was removed. As to the
buttons, I strongly prefer to see the buttons, especially in a bouncy 21'
boat in the Gulf of Mexico. I borrowed a friend's eTrex for a week or two
and decided I didn't want it, but to each their own! If you don't use a
cradle and can memorize the buttons and you don't use an external power cord
then it's a non-issue. As I said, "they're all good".
LD
"Garth Almgren" wrote in message
...
Around 8/23/2005 1:44 PM, LD wrote:
Unless they've changed their minds recently, I'd stay away from Garmin
handhelds (if you plan to use external power because they will shutdown
if
they become disconnected from the external source). Check out some of
the
units for ease of use. I think they're all good but some menus might
seem
more logical than others. Also, the Garmin Etrex has buttons on the
side
which is fine for handheld use but if you want to mount it in a cradle
on a
boat, you can't see the buttons! Finally, be sure it's waterproof.
Some of
the Lowerance units are not.
LD
My eTrex stays on if the external plug gets unplugged, because I leave
the batteries in it. The buttons on the side are no problem for my
RAM-Mount since it has cutouts for all the buttons and the external
connector:
http://65.102.174.119/rammount/produ...r=RAM-HOL-GA5U
The eTrex series are mostly basic as far as features go, but they're
well-built and (most important for me) waterproof.
--
~/Garth - 1966 Glastron V-142 Skiflite: "Blue-Boat"
"There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing about in boats."
-Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows