Garmin eTrex Legend HCx - Dirt Rider Magazine

There is a lot of fun to be had while riding off-road with a Global Positioning System. I recently jumped on the navi bandwagon and have been a route-finding digi-geek ever since (GPS Tips article February '09). Garmin's eTrex Legend HCx is a handy little unit that helped me through the Carpathian Mountains. Since returning from the Red Bull Romaniacs, I've been fidgeting with the GPS stateside and can offer a thorough assessment of the 5.5 oz gadget.This thing has an endless list of features. That's cool, but it certainly didn't make for instant usage. It took several long hikes and a few trail rides to acquaint myself with the various features, pages, displays, settings and buttons, but the more I used the eTrex Legend HCx the simpler it became. Once I found settings and displays I liked to run, I started to get a sense of how trick this GPS really is.For one thing, the reception is amazing; only in the deepest, darkest ravines did the signal go out, and it didn't take long to reacquire the satellites once I moved to higher ground. Overall, the main map page is excellent for off-road use, and it's not incredibly difficult to make new waypoints, fire up a track log or open up a new data field. If I could change just one thing I'd ask for an internal electronic compass so that I could determine a heading while not moving.The durability of the eTrex has been incredible. It has been ejected from the handlebar in a crash, vibrated to high heaven on whooped-out desert trails and dunked in a Romanian river, and this little gadget continues to work like new. I broke the small plastic tab that the stock lanyard mounts to, but that's it. Also, even with the screen on full bright the GPS doesn't burn through the required two AA batteries too awfully fast. One consideration for hard-core users might be the inability to hardwire this unit to your motorcycle because of its 2.5 volt power consumption, though 25 hours of battery run time seemed fine by me. Additionally, the layout of the buttons is pretty good for on-the-bike use when cradled in a RAM mount (not included), though I wouldn't complain if the rocker were a little easier to work with gloves on.This unit is small and compact, but the super-bright screen is big enough to see as you're barreling down the trail. I've logged nearly 1,500 dual-sport miles with this Garmin and have determined that while it is proficient with on-road navigation, the eTrex Legend HCx is a born trailblazer. The absence of street-level data keeps this GPS from working like the one in your car-no finding the nearest pizza joint with the stock software-though you can buy more maps on a pre-loaded microSD memory card.If you are a veteran GPS user, I'm confident you'll find the eTrex Legend HCx to be one of the most capable personal navigators available. If you're a first-time GPS user, I'd still recommend this Garmin to you for off-road use if you're a quick learner who doesn't mind learning by experience. The Garmin eTrex Legend HCx is a top-notch device, one that's well worth the $249.99 asking price when you consider all it's capable of. -Chris Denison