Customer Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Amazing
Comment: I became sold on Garmin generally with two units; an older base eTrex Legend handheld and a Nuvi 360 auto nav unit for my wife's car that's just smashing and often 'stolen' by me. The handheld is used for taking radio signal strength measurements by getting me to specifically plotted topo map lat-lon coordinates based on distance and bearing where ever the plots might fall. The older, memory limited eTrex died in a recent mission now replaced by this eTrex Legend HCx with a lucky bundle find that included Garmin's City Navigator map option and SD card.
The SD memory proves superior over built-in 24mb models; the latter may not be able to take an entire "Map Source-City Navigator" state map. I will be adding the 1:100,000 US Topo option in time and have no feel it at this writing. 1:24,000 topo maps are also available for selected areas, notably national forests (see Garmin's site). "Map Source" allows selecting multiple map sections for upload up to the memory limit. Once uploaded to the GPS, one can create any map waypoint, including searchable street address points from within the loaded map area; remarkably easy to do. When a location has like named streets with different suffixs (court, place, road, ave., etc.) it is more reliable to use the base street name and pick from a list. Street routes can be created in the GPS from stored or temporary waypoints based on the map area loaded. Auto route creation is on par or equivalent to a Nuvi with very clear turn-by-turn non-vocal directions. It works so suprisingly well that my wife can relax about her Nuvi going 'missing'.
It gets even more flexible using a "Map Source" optional map like "City Navigator" where it is possible to select a map section, create waypoints and a street route, then upload the whole thing to the GPS (the previous map is auto-erased in the unit). These maps can be discretely stored on computer and one can also download/upload stored waypoints, tracks and routes between Map Source and the GPS. The system is about as flexible as it can get to include built-in features for the increasingly popular geocaching activities.
Summit and Vista are the eTrex models that feature an electronic compass; the compass in a Legend is NOT and will NOT work while standing still. The unit wants to know the AA battery type in use, probably to set options to achieve stated battery life, which is a nice 25-hours in this one. I like the screen but it MUST be backlit in low light. It's highly readable in the strongest daylight. If altitude values are important to you, it is best to manually state it with waypoint creation/storage - these units don't seem to do a very good auto-altitude job nor critical to my need. It displayed my 14-ft. above sea-level residence at 206-ft. until I told it otherwise. Within the model name:
"H" - stands for high sensitivity receiver which DOES work very well
"C" - stands for color display
"x" - says the unit takes an SD card - no built-in memory.
For ground missions like mine, this little guy is darn remarkable.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Amazing Sensitivity
Comment: I've had my Legend HCx for about a week now. I upgraded from a standard eTrex Legend. It has amazing sensitivity for receiving signals. I can pick up 5 or so satellites inside my house and track my movements from room to room!
Functionality wise, it's about the same as the model I replaced. I did add a 1 gig flash card and plan to pick up the topo dvd's from garmin shortly. This unit rocks! Don't hesitate to purchase it!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Finest Upgrade Available from Garmin
Comment: I won't waste your time if you are a previous Garmin user. I upgraded from an EMap, bought in 2001, that has served quite well. However, after all that time there are features one desires that scream for an upgrade. Yes, the color screen, the USB capability, far larger (and commercially available) Micro SD Memory, improved maps all contribute to the many reasons to buy. This is the tops, absolutely.
However, I saw this was coming out about 6 months ago and I waited. Why? The "H" in "HCx" stands for high-sensitivity. From my EMap experiences, I knew that GPS units were very sensitive to signal. My old EMap literally had to sit on the dashboard of the car on road trips, sitting in the sun, and sometimes still losing satellites. Well, friend, that's all over.
My HCx arrived today, and I opened the box, securing two AA batteries, and turned the unit on after about 45 seconds of perusing the Quick Start Guide. Sitting in a concrete building (dormitory, with a steel door, the HCx immediately began acquiring satellites and within mere seconds had found three...inside my little "bunker". Impressed? You couldn't wipe the grin off my face. I set a waypoint for Home - in the room - and then trudged over to work. Entering another concrete building, the signal strength was still fine and I set a waypoint at my desk. I marveled over the `track" I had wandered on the way to work, zooming in to 20 ft. resolution.
Friends, this is fantastic technology. The unit is small, comfortable to operate, feels solid, well-actuated controls and is far faster to acquire satellites than my expectations. Needless to say, it's worth every penny. It fits in my shirt pocket, not a great deal larger than a pack of cigarettes, and it is the best thing I've spent money on since the thrill of buying a VIC-20 PC at K-Mart in 1985. And a lot of technology has been issued (and passed through my hands) since then. I admit it - I'm geek - I carry daily 3 phones, a digital camera and a Space Pen.
Buy this unit. Amazon's price is current market price, so don't feel compelled to shop - I did and it was a huge headache to attempt to save $20. Your time is worth far more - don't delay another day. Hands-down, it is the one to buy, and you will be on cutting edge for several more years.
You will not be disappointed.
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