Customer Reviews

Garmin Geko 301 Waterproof Hiking GPS

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Amazingly compact, no larger than a small cell phone. Easy to operate, even though there are only five buttons. Can be configured to use different units and coordinate systems. The battery life is okay but can be as short as four hours, depending on various factors (which I wish were documented somewhere). The built-in compass and altimeter are neat, but probably not worth the additional cost over the Geko 201, especially if you have a separate compass anyway. The screen resolution is okay, but in the view that shows tracks and waypoints the labels sometimes start overlapping and get unreadable when you zoom out. Getting a signal can require anywhere from less than a minute to more than ten minutes, depending on how much time (or distance?) has passed since the device was turned off or lost the signal. Getting a signal in urban areas, in forrests or even steep mountain sides turned out to be difficult or impossible; don't know how much of an issue this is for comparable devices. Finally, the USB cable which must be purchased separately is outrageously expensive. You'd expect this kind of thing to be included, but no luck.

I've had great fun with my Geko 301, but it's also been somewhat frustrating. I see that other reviewers have also experienced problems such as no functionality in forests. If you're spending a day walking in a forest, the device is essentially useless. I wish someone had told me that beforehand. I'm in South Africa, incidentally. Worse, my second Geko 301 in a period of three years has just experienced display panel failure. The whole screen goes black and you can faintly see the information if you hold the screen to the sun at an angle! The first time this happened to me, Garmin said there was nothing they could do. I wonder if they're going to say the same this time.

The re-conditioned Geko 301 is indistinguishable from a new one. We use it in our land-surveying business in conjunction with National Geographic TOPO! to find section corners and quarter-corners. I've also used it with great results when sailing in a small vessel that lacked a compass and speedometer.

This GPS works with very good performance, It has all of I was looking for. I strongly recomend it.

This is a great, small GPS unit. It is very light and full of great functions. It won't map, but I use it to just keep from getting lost. Also, the altimeter and the electronic compass are great. The batteries last a while, but I only turn it on occasionally.

Garmin Geko 301 - GPS receiver - hiking

Not a bad piece of equipment for the price...Reasonable battery life,
fair amount of options, relatively easy operation in harsh conditions,
fluctuating readings of elevations, once calibrated, generally appear to be within ascribed tolerances (have checked this against solid
benchmarks).... Though I would NOT want to absolutely stake my personal
survival upon it, it is DEFINTELY better than nothing in orienting
geo-direction, esp. in the dark and provides some degree of entertainment
when one is out "Lost in the Wilderness"..... Wish ALL screens would
include transceived geographical coordinates instead of just one and a
means of noting and processing them as well..... This item field-tested
at altitudes over 12K Ft. Thanks! Sincerely Yours From Upon High, J.

A great simple GPS with some neat extras such as Compass.
The manual is not very good on it. They seem to forget to put in the manual some simple things you would need to know on it.
However it is something I am very happy with...