Customer Reviews

Garmin eTrex Summit HC Handheld GPS Receiver

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this unit for use on hikes, bike rides, and other similar outdoor activities. I've had it for a few months now, and overall, I'm only somewhat satisfied. Here's a list of pros and cons that have stuck with me so far:

Pros:
-easy to read/see color screen (even in bright sunlight)
-highly customizable screens (types and amount of data shown on each screen)
-fairly easy to learn and operate
-many features, including barometric altimeter and electronic compass

Now, the cons to this product may not be specific to this unit. It may be more a function of the limitations of GPS:

-inaccurate (sometimes highly) "tracking" of horizontal position or trail actually traveled (I've compared to trail maps and Google Earth visible trails, and some of my tracks are inexplicably way off)
-inaccurate barometric altimeter (sometimes hundreds of feet off. I've turned it on, and had elevation readings of -200 feet!!) which must be constantly calibrated. Also, if you calibrate at the bottom of a climb, by the time you reach the summit, it may be over 100' off.
-very inaccurate odometer data, and inconsistencies in the data. For example, I recently hiked Half Dome, which is 4800' vertical gain...this unit only registered 1500' total ascent, but the begin elevation and end elevation shown were well over 1500' different. Also, on the same Half Dome hike, the odometer read 5 miles hiked, but the track total registered a more accurate 8.3 miles.
-very "stiff" buttons.

Again, the inaccuracy may be a function of the limitations of GPS, but the odometer inaccuracies in terms of total distance, total ascent, descent, etc. was disppointing. Perhaps Garmin needs to come up with another way of calculating these values. I think a lot of these values are calculated using current horizontal and vertical velocity, which may be inaccurate at any given moment. With inconsistencies at any given moment, it is difficult for the unit to calculate the actual horizontal and vertical distance traveled.

In any case, overall, I would recommend this product for simple trail and waypoint marking. But it should be understood you will only get "general" information, and not anything resembling very accurate data.

**EDIT** Garmin released a firmware patch in Feb of '08, and it has really helped with the accuracy of certain data. The total ascent data is much more accurate now, often within 100' of actual climbed distance (that may not seem so great, but it was horrible before). Also, the distance measurements are better. When I save a track, the distance per the track is much more close to the odometer reading, usually within a mile for a 10-15 mile hike (which again, is just ok, but better than before).

Overall, the unit does seem to be more accurate in all ways now, perhaps due in part to this firmware update. Also, tracks seem to be more accurate in terms of comparing visually to maps. I'm more happy with the unit now, and would probably give it 4 stars if I reviewed it today.

Product Hardware: 9/10
User Interface : 9/10
Scale-ability : 7/10 (No Memory card Slot)
Precision : 6-11 mts in normal conditions.
Supplied Software and MAP: 9.5/10
Overall : Justifies the cost paid.

Other Advantages:
Power Supply: The best part is that it is powered by 2 AA cells which can be obtained anywhere. We can use chargeable cells.

Electronic Compass: Though does not function well, when unit is stationary, but extreamy helpful. You don't have to carry a compass.

Altimeter: Very good feature. I found it pretty accurate.

Final Reccomendation: Go for a slight higher range model which has SD card slot. For daily users, this model is more than sufficient.

In the summer I spend a lot of time on my horse in the Colorado Wilderness Areas. And yes, I have a way of mounting the GPS unit on the dashboard of my gelding. After 4 years hard service, my Garmin Legend quit. Improvements I found in my new Summit are impressive: color, faster satellite acquisition, and map orientation that matches the orientation of the unit. This last is possible only in the Summit which has the electronic compass lacking in other GPS models from Garmin. The commands are more intuitive and it works better in timber. With the new cable and drivers that came with the Summit, I was able to use my old MapSource CD to load contours.

I purchased this GPS for hiking. The GPS quickly aquires satelites (Much more quickly than my antiquated Garmin III Plus). The Barometric altitude feature is great for anyone interested in hiking in the high country. Very Accurate! The electronic compass is a nice feature as well.

Over all a great product from one of the leaders in GPSr.

I'm quite pleased with this GPS. It's easy to use, accurate,compact, lightweight and has a very viewable screen. It can be viewed without the backlight sometimes and requires only a very low setting on the backlight when it is needed. The poor basemap is to be expected and I wanted a detailed topo anyway so got a Garmin topo map of the western coastal states.

The GPS comes with Mapsource software and the map comes with Basecamp. They perform similar functions but are different. Figuring them out will take some time to sort out. Garmin wasn't much help- said which one you use is user preference. Mapsource seems better at organizing tracks and routes, but Basecamp is much better for printing up maps.

I like having the altimeter, both for being able to more accurately measure my altitude (if I've been able to calibrate recently) and for being able to measure barometric pressure. The GPS altitude seems to be within about 30 feet and varies considerably (I live at about 1325 feet and have seen GPS altitude readings range from 1295 to 1345 feet. With the altimeter, it can detect if I've got the GPS on the floor or if I'm standing up with it. However you need to be able to calibrate it frequently at known altitudes to have reliable accuracy. If you don't want the altimeter, the Venture HC could be a good alternative.

Although I'm very satisfied with the Summit HC, unless I could get one at the price I got ($120), I think I'd go with the Vista HCX. Its superior battery life and extra memory capacity (once you buy a micro sd card) would be worth the small price differential that exists currently.

I purchased this for my sister to start Geocaching. It has the most needed basics: sensitive antenna, electronic compass, and lasts a long time on commonly available AA batteries. The internal memory has enough room for a large area of topo maps, but does not have expandable memory (the only downside with this wonderful GPSr).

All in all, an incredible bargain! It isn't a touch screen clone of an iPhone, but it gets the job done simply and reliably.

Granted, there are better units on the market with more features, but I wasn't looking for a $600 model that could do it all. I was looking for a basic GPS unit for a gift for my husband that we could use to start geocaching. I wasn't looking to invest $600 in a unit without even knowing if my husband would enjoy geocaching... but after finding out that he does, and using this unit for many excursions into random fields and wildlife areas- we are REALLY happy with the value for such a great unit! My father has used to for geneology, to mark coordinates of gravesites. We bought the maps so we can use it on the road, too. There isn't turn by turn navigation, but again, that's not why I bought this unit. If I had wanted that, I could have spent more for a different model. But, I also didn't want to spend a lot on a unit. This does everything we want/need it to do, and for the value it has some really cool functionality. It was easy to figure out how to download the cache data into the unit. We're very happy!

I am a mountain biker and suffered with having to make frequent stops to get a map out of my back pack and then spend a few minutes working out where i was........painful! The etrex became choice number one because of price mainly, i was not too sure how it would work on the trail but other reviews seemed favourable. Linked up to some decent software it performs like a dream, one minor problem is spending too much time "Heads in" looking at it to find out where on the planet you are, not ideal on a bike!! When loaded with a route it is dead easy, the compass page gives you a big red arrow to point to your direction of travel, and you get an audible beep when approaching a change of direction. Plusses are price, functionality, connectivity, battery life and ease of use even for a biff like me. Minus point is the fact that you get a bit engrossed in it when hurtling downhill!!!!!!

Bought this unit to replace an old Magellan that had been purchased years back with topo maps as part of the deal. Reading the reviews and description of this Garmin eTrex Summit HC lead me to believe that you would be able to use the included "Trip and Waypoint Manager" for hiking. Trust me the included base map is an absolute joke. Yeah it will show an interstate highway but much beyond that is just hype. I called Garmin for support because I thought I just was not understanding how to send the maps to the device. The tech support guy started off by saying that this unit is several years old and not one of their better units. He went on to ask what I intended to do with the device. I explained that we bought it to use for hiking this summer both in the U.S. and in Canada for a six week vacation. Well he says the U.S. topo maps will run you $100 and then another $100 for the Canadian topo maps. He said if only I had bought a better unit that would accept SD cards I could have bought 'slices' of maps for less.

Sending this back to Amazon.

I've had a Garmin hand-held unit before, but upgraded to this one for the added elevation change function which I need for work. The entire unit is user friendly, and easy to switch from different functions. The only challenging thing is reseting functions one at a time, without needing to reset the entire unit. If you want to reset the elevation change function, or the caching function it's a bit of a pain, but again, being a color screen with all the functionality this is a great model.