|
Garmin eTrex Venture HC High-Intensity Color Mapping Handheld GPS
Product Description An essential for any outdoor excursion, the Garmin eTrex Venture HC helps you navigate 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 Venture HC to help you find your way when you need it the most. At the same time, the Venture HC's easy-to-use menu lets you create and view waypoints (up to 500), save and view 10 track logs, access setup features, and more. It even offers 24 MB of internal memory and a detailed basemap, so you can load waypoints and routes from the included MapSource Trip & Waypoint Manager software and add map detail from Garmin's entire line of optional MapSource mapping products. Besides appreciating its small size, outdoorsmen will also be happy with the Venture HC's unique button layout, with five buttons located on either side of the unit. The benefits of this design are twofold: First, the Venture HC is a breeze to operate with just one hand, and, second, with the buttons on both sides of the unit, the bulk of the front is dedicated to the 256-color, sunlight-readable TFT display. This makes it easy to distinguish map details regardless of the time of day. The Venture HC's basemap, meanwhile, contains lakes, rivers, cities, interstates, national and state highways, railroads, and coastlines--in short, a host of helpful details for your outdoor adventures. Other details include an IPX7 waterproof housing, a built-in patch antenna, a USB interface, a hunt/fish calendar, sun and moon information, and a geocaching mode. The Venture HC, which runs for up to 14 hours on a pair of AA batteries (not included), measures 2.2 by 4.2 by 1.2 inches (W x H x D) and is backed by a one-year warranty. Included with this Product eTrex Venture HC, basemap, MapSource Trip & Waypoint Manager software, USB cable, wrist strap, quick start guide, user's manual. Product Description eTrex Venture HC is an essential for any outdoor excursion. It features a high-sensitivity GPS receiver for peak performance in any environment and includes 24 megabytes (MB) of internal memory, a detailed basemap and crisp color screen.With its high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver, eTrex Venture HC 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 in deep woods or just near tall buildings and trees, you can count on Venture HC to help you find your way when you need it the most.eTrex Venture HC's basemap contains lakes, rivers, cities, interstates, national and state highways, railroads and coastlines. Venture HC also includes 24 MB of internal memory, so you can load waypoints and routes from the included MapSource Trip & Waypoint Manager software and add map detail from Garmin's entire line of optional MapSource mapping products. Its 256-color, sunlight-readable display makes it easy to distinguish map details - even in bright sunlight. 
Reader Reviews Before buying this new Venture HC, I had spent many hours playing 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. This new Venture HC is the eTrex perfected. It remedies every shortcoming that plagued the original models. The new high-sensitivity receiver is amazingly effective. I wish I had a dollar for every time I've stood in wide open spaces cursing my old eTrex because it wouldn't acquire even a single satellite after minutes of waiting. Last night I turned on the Venture HC on the bottom floor of my two story house, and it locked onto 7 or 8 satellites...through the roof and the upper floor. No more "need a clear view of the sky" messages. Amazing! The screen has gone color, and the user interface is now substantially more intuitive. The old serial cable has become USB, another welcome improvement. The case is somewhat redesigned (it's wider), but it remains very much like the original. Still, if you owned an old eTrex you will find a lot of familiar design elements in the Venture HC. A basemap is included but it is just that...basic. If you want turn by turn street directions, an eTrex is not what you want. This is a GPS true to Garmin's outdoor 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. One weakness that remains is Garmin's waypoint manager PC software. It has the feel of a product whose version 1.0 was released circa 1992 and has never been updated. Garmin could certainly include a better PC interface. For $59 you can buy ExpertGPS, which is excellent. Or Topografix is giving away EasyGPS for free on its website. Either is superior to the Garmin OEM software. If anyone at Garmin is listening, you guys really should consider licensing the rights to ExpertGPS and throwing your current PC software out. Still, this criticism is a quibble, especially when third party workarounds are available. The Venture HC itself is great. It is a market changing product, in my opinion. Finally, an outdoor GPS receiver that I can wholeheartedly recommend. Comment | Permalink | (Report this)
|
|
Atlas Office Supply
|
Business Travel
Cell Phones |
