( 9 reviews )
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Posted: 04-03-2008
This has been a solid GPS receiver for general situational awareness and logging trackpoints. After several years of pretty heavy use while hiking, walking, mountain biking, commute biking, and the occasional trip up in a model airplane, the receiver still works fine and has decent battery life. The only problem I've had with it is that sometimes the display will get corrupted on a button push and the system will require a reboot - I honestly can't tell if it's a software or hardware problem, but I've never had any trouble working around it. Even with the extension strap it was too bulky to wear on my wrist, I typically leave it attached to the top of my backpack or put it on my handlebars. Modern GPS receivers have slightly better acquisition and sensitivity, but for the kinds of things that I use this one for I have not been bothered. I handle the lack of a user-replaceable battery by adapting the charger connection to accept a standard 5V USB plug for charging; I carry a 5V-regulated USB-interface power source and can re-charge and power on the go if necessary. A GPS alone is never a sufficient plan to keep yourself found, but I've been impressed by how much you can do with just a tracklog and waypoints. I would consider carrying just a datalogger with better battery life and such but the basic interface here is just helpful enough to make it worthwhile.
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Posted: 01-07-2008
The item turned out to be not what I thought it was. In the item description Not once was it put forth as a trail and hiking GPS. I bought it under the premise that we could use it for our car. The one good thing that did happen with this transaction was that I received it within 5 days, which was extremely good service.
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Posted: 12-07-2007
The Garmin Foretrex 201 is a great product. I ordered it when my eTrex bugged out on me during my deployment to Iraq, and the Foretrex was the perfect replacement to navigate around with. It's wrist-mounting capability was essential to keep both hands free at all times, and the controls were easy to use and figure out. The fact that it is rechargeable means that I don't have to run around looking for batteries to keep it going. A quick charge is all it takes. It also acquires it's signal quickly, so I don't have to wait around to know my location. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a handy little GPS without all of the bells and whistles of the more expensive models.
