Garmin eTrex Summit Handheld GPS

It is great for recreation, has all the waypoint and track/route storage you will need. The "Geocaching" treks are great with this little gizmo. It is a great starter for the kids too! They are not intimidated by it and find it fun to play around with. I am so greatful that it is waterproof and for a second or three it floats!

I have been using it in my geophysical surveys to gage the general elevation change from a known surveyed-in well head elevation and have seen 1.5' accuracy relative to the survey point calibration. With a 1/2 to a mile-ling line this us very useful and you don't need to bring survey equipment with you. This is a great navigational tool! We input well locations and/or our planned survey lines and nav to them and end up where we wanted to be based upon an aerial photo review.

The odometer and speedometer are sure to surprise you in that they are very accurate considering most GPS units can track a vehicle, of any kind, up to 1,500mph to 1,800mph, ha, ha.

I do wish that the "Auto" calibration process would keep up with me after I have calibrated it once and have not moved more than three or five miles away from the cal point. It seems to loose it's cal quickly. This is a problem if you are not in a position to do a field cal on the fly, if you don't know the elevation or the altimeter.

I wish it had a WAAS upgrade! This would give me a 2-3 meter diameter of accuracy.

I may need to buy a WAAS gizmo and retire this one.


Little to offer over the GPS 12   December 8, 2001
 9 out of 16 found this review helpful

I really love my Garim GPS 12. It is easy to use and move between screens and features. The Summit is not as easy to use. It is not as convenient to identify way points, does not work with mapping software and its display is to simple. It was not a step up but sideways. I use it in conjunction with my GPS 12 mostly just to keep the track log.


Amazing Technology but ...   October 17, 2001
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

My eyes were wide the first time I turned on this unit. I couldn't believe that it was talking to satellites in space.

The up side: It is fun technology! I've enjoyed having this unit on my bike. It's actually replaced my bike computer, because it gives far more and greater information during the ride. The down side: I have been disappointed with it's performance hiking. Under heavy forest canopy and deep mountain valleys (typical trail conditions in the Pacific Northwest), it has a very difficult time finding the satellites.

The pluses outweigh the minuses on this one. Just don't expect miracles on the trail.


Great product but buy rechargable batteries!   February 24, 2001
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

I use the eTrex Summit on my bicycle. I get my trip distance, net climbing, speed, average speed, time of day, sunset, etc from this unit. I also hook it up to my laptop and mapping software for road trips. Now my wife doesn't yell at me to ask directions! Of course, I'm a gadget junky and INVENTED reasons to buy it. If you're going to use it in the car, though, I'd suggest getting the combo cigarette lighter adapter & data cable as the batteries wear down relatively quickly.