Garmin Foretrex 101 Hands-Free GPS Navigation

by Garmin

Product Details

Product Manual [559kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 0.9 x 1.7 x 3.3 inches ; 2.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000255I8W
• Item model number: 010-00364-01
• Batteries: 2 AAA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,543 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description The Garmin Foretrex 101 is a wrist-mounted GPS that frees up your hands so you can focus on your outdoor activities. This product joins a growing line of wearable wrist navigation devices. The Foretrex 101 is loaded with features and functionality, including PC interface capabilities for downloading waypoints, tracks, and routes, and it operates on two AAA batteries.

Map page. View larger.

Navigation page. View larger.

Timer page. View larger.

The Foretrex 101 packs outdoor navigation into a wrist-mounted GPS receiver. View larger.

The 101 is the perfect navigational tool for a wide variety of outdoor enthusiasts, such as mountain bikers, hikers, and kayakers. This unit features Garmin's intuitive operating logic, using six dedicated buttons (GoTo, Page, Enter/Mark, Up, Down, and Power) to simplify navigation. Whether it's a campsite, deer stand, or other place of interest, users can mark its location, identify the waypoint, and navigate to it later using the GoTo function. It offers all the most essential navigation data--enhanced accuracy, extensive storage for waypoints, and reversible routes and tracks--on an easy-to-read display. Also, with the help of Garmin's exclusive TracBack technology, users can retrace their steps by following an electronic "breadcrumb" trail back to their original starting point.

Because the unit is waterproof, the Foretrex 101 is a natural companion on any water sport adventure, like kayaking, canoeing, boating, and sailing. In fact, this device even incorporates a sailboat-racing timer. Competitors can configure the countdown sequence prior to the start of the race and utilize their GPS location to be in the best possible tacking position when the race begins.

The Foretrex 101 delivers GPS accuracy of 15 meters or less in normal GPS mode and three meters or less when WAAS-enabled. The trip computer tracks and maintains important data, such as trip distance, trip timer, and other non-mapping navigation data. And the device can store up to 500 waypoints with graphic icon identification, 20 reversible routes, and 10,000 trackpoints. The device is waterproof to IEC 60529 IPX7 standards and can be submersed in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes without damaging the components. The 100 x 64 pixel monochrome display with backlighting is compact but easy to read in almost any light condition.

What's in the Box
Foretrex 101 GPS receiver, wrist strap, expandable strap, quick start guide, and owner's manual.

Product Description

Perfect for kayaking, canoeing and sailing!
The Foretrex 101 is a wearable Personal Navigator. for the outdoor enthusiast. Built rugged for adventure, this wrist-top device is perfect for hikers, campers, climbers, and mariners who want a useful GPS in a lightweight, waterproof, and affordable package. The Foretrex 101 combines the form factor of our new personal training system, the Forerunner 201, and the GPS navigation features of our popular Geko 201. The Foretrex 101 offers hands-free GPS navigation information, allowing you to concentrate on your outdoor activities. With six dedicated buttons (GoTo, Page, Enter/Mark, Up, Down and Power), the Fore trex is one of the easiest GPS units on the market to operate. It offers the most essential navigation data, enhanced GPS accuracy, and extensive storage for waypoints, reversible routes, and track information. It includes Garmin's exclusive TracBack technology which allows you to mark your campsite, go trekking all day, and then follow the electronic "breadcrumb trail" back to camp in time for dinner. The Foretrex 101 provides 15 hours of battery life using just two AAA batteries. Although the unit dimensions are a bit larger, the Foretrex 101 is lighter than the Foretrex 201, weighing in at just 2.6 ounces (with batteries). Ruggedized for adventure, this wrist-top device is perfect for kayaking, canoeing, sailing, hiking, climbing and those who want a useful GPS in a lightweight, waterproof, and affordable package. It also offers PC compatibility for waypoint, route and track management.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal, September 27, 2005

By 

Robert A. Vogel (Berkeley CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Garmin Foretrex 101 Hands-Free GPS Navigation (Electronics)

I have never used a GPS system before - the Foretrex 101 was the first system I purchased and I love it.

I approached this purchase with much trepidation. My experience with techno-gadgets has not been good. Usually I find that I have to learn how some nerd/designer thinks in order to use the gadget. Life is too short to spend it remembering whether to punch the mode key or the enter key.

Yet, I wanted to purchase a GPS system so that I do not get lost while hiking or kayaking in wilderness. I looked at a few GPS models and found the usual techno-insanity: You build a database of maps and routes on your PC, download that information to a small map display in the GPS system, take a hike, then upload your journey back into your PC where you can build and manage a database of journeys. Ugh! All I want is to find my campsite - not learn another database management system.

So, I had almost given up on this purchase when I saw the Foretrex 101. No fancy color maps. Just a simple device which you wear on your wrist like a large watch. It displays a small map of your locale, your present location and the most important information required to travel to your intended destination.

I purchased it, turned it on and took a walk through my neighborhood. It was brilliant: I watched a little walking person on my screen leave a trail which moved as I moved, and rotated as I turned. In order to get back home, I turned around and followed the trail displayed on the Fortrex screen. No fancy commands to learn - just a few intuitive buttons and I was finding my way around my own neighborhood just fine!

But, I wondered, would it work when I went up to the Sierras? That weekend I tested it on trails that I knew - and it was amazing. The ranger station had the longitude and latitude coordinates of the campsite I had reserved - so I punched those into my Foretrex and proceeded to hike to the site. As I hiked, the navigation screen displayed an arrow which rotated as I turned so it was always pointing toward the campsite. It also displayed my present elevation and distance remaining to the site. (Those are two of several possible numbers I could have displayed on the navigation screen.) On the map screen, I saw a perfectly clear outline of the trail behind me as I walked towards camp - along with waypoints of my favorite lakes which I entered into the Foretrex as I arrived at each lake. When I arrived at my destination, it guided me to within 20 feet of my reserved campsite.

The next day, when I hiked out, the Foretrex was just phenomenal. I saw the entire trail from the prior day displayed on my map screen - I followed it all the way back to the trail head. I could see the trail drift off the left of the little walking figure as I wandered off the trail to the right - and it was completely simple to walk back to the trail while watching the little guy on the map screen do the same!

The Foretrex guided me all the way back to the trailhead - in fact, it guided me back to exact parking spot where my car was parked.

Now I'm thinking about doing all kinds of things that I had never considered before: I could hike off trails, I could hike when trails are partially covered with snow, I could kayak in the fog and I am even thinking about giving a Foretrex to my wife - who has a terrible sense of direction - so she can go off on her own in the woods without me worrying about loosing her.

I am finding some the the additional features really useful: It is nice to know my average speed and estimated time to arrive at my destination. I like to know my elevation to get a sense of the effort remaining on a tough climb - or my average paddle speed in the kayak to see the effect of wind and current on my progress. I have even discovered the Foretrex works fine in my car - and it is useful to punch in waypoints to show tricky intersections which I always forget, or the location of convenient Starbucks along the way. I even used it to test the accuracy of my speedometer (and discovered that my speedometer reads about 4% too fast, which probably explains why I never get any speeding tickets).

I do have three complaints about it. First, I was confused at one point when the map screen showed a weird spike pointing off from the side of the trail. It appeared as if I had made a side excursion in a straight line for about one half a mile, and then returned along the exact same line back to the trail. It was obviously an error - the excursion was perfectly straight, and I know I did not make it - so I just assumed that the Foretrex got one position measurement wrong and I ignored it. But since this occurred on the second day I owned the device, at first I didn't know what to make of it.

Secondly, I discovered that it is awkward to save small parts of the day's journey (the "track log") in the Foretrex's list of saved tracks. It is easy to save the entire journey made since the last time I cleared the track log - and with some effort I can select a portion of the journey to save. However, I found it impossible to select just the kayaking portion of my day's journey and save it separately from the car trip to and from the lake.

Finally, I discovered that one pair of AAA batteries lasts only about 12 hours. (I intentionally depleted the batteries without changing them to see whether the Foretrex would loose any information or become disoriented in any way. When I inserted a new pair, the Foretrex picked up right where it left off, without missing a beat!)

These are very minor glitches. Overall, this device has a very simple intuitive user interface and it has opened up whole new possibilities for getting around. It may even save my life some day.

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, December 28, 2004

By 

Christopher Moellering (Central New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Garmin Foretrex 101 Hands-Free GPS Navigation (Electronics)

I have had a Garmin GPS12 for several years and liked it and saw no need to upgrade for my purposes (hiking and geocaching). But when I saw the Foretrex on Amazon I was intrigued and put it on my Christmas list after looking about both this and the Forerunner.

I am really impressed. It does just about everything my 12 does but in a smaller package. The ergonomic sense of wearing it on my wrist is just awesome. Being able to wear it while running and see my speed, to see my info while hinking without having to dig for my GPS from a pocket or pouch. If it was just a scaled-down 12 it would be worth it.

But, no...there's more. The trip computer page is great. Pick the info you want from dozens of fields and choose where you want them displayed. Simple and easy to configure. It's great. It's like being able to have a purpose-made GPS screen for whatever activity you're doing.

Their is WAAS support as well. In layman's terms it makes the GPS more accurate, which, of course, is a good thing.

Probably my only con on this unit would be the lack of external power connection. This really only comes into play in the car. (Where it mounts handily on my rear-view mirror using the wrist strap.)

Battery life is good for only using 2 AAA's. A Set of rechargables is a logical investment with this unit. Speaking of batteries, the reason I choose the 101 over the 201 is the ability to use batteries. There aren't many power outlets in the woods for recharging and I do enjoy backpacking and longer trips on occasion.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great product with minor faults, October 22, 2004

By 

Simone Roncali (Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Garmin Foretrex 101 Hands-Free GPS Navigation (Electronics)

I've been using the Garmin e-trex gps for a few years so it was very easy to use the Foretrex 101 out of the box. It's very accurate and intuitive, satellite reception is good, even when you have it at your wrist and you're driving the car. Of course heavy forest on cloudy days or city canyons do block the signal, but are there portable gps that don't have this problem?
Although Garmin makes a running specific unit, the Foretrex is perfect for runners as not only keeps track of speed, average speed, max speed, time, distance, total distance, vertical speed etcetera, but it also plots the track, so it's always easy to return to the starting point even in unknown places or in the countryside. Plus it has all the navigation ability of the classic portable gps, like compass, route, bearing, time to destination and so on.
So it's great for hiking, boating (with small boats) but it is also an extraordinary cycle computer (no wheel measure to insert or magnets and pick-ups to fix) and a motorbike navigation aid.
I can't wait to check my speed down the ski slopes, wearing it over the jacket, with the wrist band extension.
Talking about wrist band, I have a 7"/18cm wrist and I use the wrist band at maximum elongation, so a guy with an 8" wrist would be *******. The extension is good to wear the gps over thick sleeves but too long for big wrist people (over 7").
Also, the interface cable is optional (standard on the 201) and you do need it in case you want to download software upgrades.
The back light works very well.
Oh, one great thing is that you can actually program the screen to display the information you want, so basically you can quickly adapt the GPS to the actual use.
It works very well with NiMH batteries and can be kept in battery save mode all the time without significant accuracy loss, so to extend battery life. I do recommend rechargeables as nowadays you can get two AAA 750mA NiMH for 6 bucks.
To summarise, the unit is great and I detracted 1 point for the short strap and for the interface cable which in China cost 30 cents to produce and I think should be included in the package.