FYI - Garmin is redesigning the eTrex line and they should be available soon. They are advertising the eTrex 10, 20, and 30 models now.

I think if I wanted a basic, no-frills GPS I would go for the eTrex 10. Looks like it will be selling for a little over $100 MSRP. Just having the USB connection for the computer is worth the extra cost over the older eTrex H model.

All that being said, I've had too many Garmin models to count. None have ever given me a problem. Latest is the GPSMAP 62s -- probably more bells & whistles than I need, but it works great.

Yep -- the receivers with smaller displays are somewhat limited in the number of fields they show at one time, but often the other data is accessible using the arrow keys to tab through.

As a for instance, on the Geko 301 there is a page with a compass displayed and on the bottom of the display is a field for info selectable by the user. By using the arrow key you can tab through: Heading (you need to choose between True or Mag), Location (Lat/Long or UTM), Elevation, Speed, Time/Date, et al.

Similarly, on the Elevation page (next) the lower field has: Glide ratio, Min Elevation, Max Elevation,a 12 hr pressure graphic, Ambient Pressure, Normalized Pressure, Vertical Speed, et al.

The next page is a table of four fields and you can select which info is displayed in each. Mine currently shows (top to bottom) Elevation, Heading, Lat/Long and Time of Day.

Bottom line, there is a lot of info available on these receivers if you know how (on which page) to access it. Once you get a GPS, play with it a lot and do everything with it on a known course before you go wandering into the unknown.

cedfire -- How does the GPSMAP 62s compare to the GPSMAP 60CSx? It takes lithium batteries, but how else does it differ? TIA

Lots of extra features -- you can make/download custom maps, you can download Garmin's proprietary "Bird's Eye" imagery, support for paperless geocaching, ability to turn entire map sets on/off, wireless "Chirp" and exercise interface, lithium battery support as you mentioned, high-speed USB interface, etc.

I used to have a GPSMAP 60Cx and I would consider the 62s a relatively big improvement in terms of overall features. As far as GPS reception & performance, I think they are pretty close.

Realistically, I hardly use the lithium battery option, but it's nice to know it's there. A set of the Sanyo Eneloop NiMH cells work really, really well.

Agree with Garmins manuals (and software), they are a lot like HP, the software sucks but they have the best hardware, I buy for the hardware and replace the software with open source.
In my testing eneloops and Lithium get with 5% different in run time, a few minutes difference over hours so its close enough that I can't really tell a difference.

what are you charging you eneloops with, maybe they are not getting a complete charge, I get maybe 5 minutes difference between eneloops and lithium.
base camp looked nice but is using .net so even on a quad core processor with 8G ram its extremely slow. For those that don't develop or support .net is designed to make programming easier and makes extremely bad code which wastes a lot of resources and has a lot of problems. Any time you have a software vendor that needs any version of .net installed you know you'll be in for multiple support calls.
I've stuck with an older version of mapsource because its the last that will work under wine but recently found an open source package called viking that looks similar so I hope I can replace it. That will be the last program I need wine for

Okay ... a Garmin Foretrex 301 arrived and first thought was "wow, thing thing is small." The display is the same size as that on my Geko 301, but the overall package is much more compact; it has about the same thickness (probably dictated by batteries and display), but it's just slightly narrower and about 2/3 as long.

BTW, I can't find any way to show Lat/Long other than to Mark the location as in creating a waypoint. None of the fields I tabbed through listed location as an option. If someone can find that option, please correct me.

Edit: I'll correct me now that I've played with it a bit outside where it could get a location and update time from the constellation. If you go to the Trip Computer page, four fields are visible and you can select what is in those fields from a list of options. What I didn't see before taking it outside, is that the page continues down if you scroll with the arrow keys. Right below the four visible fields at the top, are additional fields, one of which is full width defaulted to Location. Below that is a full width field defaulted to Elevation and at the bottom is a full width field defaulted to Time (of day).

The compass page has a compass pointing to your next waypoint or final destination (as required) and two fields to the left in which you can display info from a list of options; location is not one of those options.

It seems that the Foretrex 301 is primarily set-up to show your location relative to waypoints you create as you travel or pre-load before you leave home. However, everything you need including location (lat/long, UTM and a bunch of other formats) is available if you look for it.

It's really small. I pulled the Lithium batteries out of my Geko to use in the Foretrex and will store the Geko along with pack of AAA's in my EDC backpack. Everything I had done with the Geko can be done with the Foretrex with the exception of the baro altimeter which I specifically declined.

I like it.

Go to the Trip Computer page, then select the data fields you want displayed there. Pick location coordinates in WGS84 lat/lon and/or user selected coordinates and datum.

This guy's review of the 301 has some errors and oversights in it, but at the 12:10 mark he shows the trip computer page set up with 2 fields: lat/lon and compass heading.

Thanks, I found that page and field, and discussed it and the other fields on that page in the "Edit" paragraph of my post above yours. That's a good YouTube video review.

I really like the Foretrex 301. For a receiver you can where on your wrist it has a lot of capability. While the display is small, it allows you to access navigation information that could easily keep you from hiking down the wrong water-shed.