Garmin eTrex 30, Worldwide

Wonderful little device that fits in the palm of the hand. It can use city and topo maps, and is capable of displaying superimposed high resolution (~1 m) satellite imagery. It should be noted that the available Birdseye imagery for Minneapolis is years old and out of date with respect to important buildings. Both Target Field (Twins) and TCF Bank Stadium (Gopher Football), for example, are shown as under construction when they both have been in service for a significant time. With a CityXplorer map of Minneapolis, it provides turn by turn navigation tailored to auto or pedestrian travel - accurately routes me on the complex sidewalks (called "alleys" by the device) 0.6 miles across my large college campus to my favorite wine bar, for example, giving me considerable confidence that pedestrian travel in a strange city would be a breeze. Has many functions and modes to serve specific needs. It is capable of using both GPS and Russian GLONASS satellite systems and ground based correction signals. Outdoor resolution is very good, said by Garmin to be 3 m 95% of the time with activation of ground based correction mechanisms. Functions inside light construction (wood frame houses without metal siding and commercial structures with open architecture and non metallic roofing with reduced resolution (circa 20-40 ft). My device is turned on by my keyboard as I write, inside my wood frame home, and it is showing a resolution of about 35 ft. Were I to walk outside, that would rapidly drop to about 10 ft most of the time. The device maintains satellite lock while walking under heavy metal bridge structures of significant height. Satellite acquisition times when using both GPS and GLONASS appear to be only a few seconds under conditions where satellites will eventually be found. Accuracy improves further over about 30 seconds after satellites are first acquired. I use my device for documenting city walks for exercise and the apparent accuracy when moving is very good, placing the path on or near the sidewalk or trail virtually all of the time, consistently placing the path on the correct side of a city street, for example. Waypoint averaging techniques are somewhat time consuming but accurate. My device converged to no further correction in 9 samples of a few minutes each taken at least 90 minutes apart which resulted in placement of a waypoint very accurately on a spot in front of my home, as indicated by a satellite image overlay. Battery life, using rechargeable NiMH batteries appears to be very good. Because of the complexity of the device and the number of functions available, it is clear from my reading of other reviews that those evaluating the device critically for a specific use may find some glitches, which seem to be continually refined by Garmin. In my limited experience, thus far, turn by turn directions in automotive mode are good but imperfect. When asked to give the quickest route to my local supermarket, for example, it fails to choose the freeway that is parallel to a slower city avenue and there has been one example of a mapping flaw that resulted in a suggested turn the wrong way down a one way street. Product support took my complaint promptly and promised to correct the map in future updates. Documentation and instructions are the weakest part of the package and it takes some experimentation to get a complete understanding of features and options but Garmin customer service is excellent. Overall performance of the small, rugged, waterproof device rates five of five stars. Consider the eTrex 20 as a much more economical option when the altimeter and magnetic compass are not required. I paid the extra $90 or so for those features but, in retrospect, I really do not need them for essentially all of the activities for which I currently use the device.

I have just received my eTrex 30 unit, and so far it is perfect and a great improvement over the still amazing eTrex Vista HCx. The eTrex 30 is for all purposes, the new Vista HCx, both have barometric altimeters and both have compasses, however, the 30 has a tri-axis compass that allow to look at the unit perpendicularly to the ground and it will still mark to the north. Among the improvements are of course the new hi-color screen (Allows BirdsEye maps, like having a Google Earth in your pocket on the trail!). Wireless transmission of data via ANT+ that also works with heart rate and cadence monitors. And the most important geek factor, the reception of GLONASS signals! One of the new things that I like a lot is that everything now is a file, on the Vista HCx to download the files it was necessary to use the Garmin serial protocol, now with the 30, only with connecting the unit to a USB port in the computer it is possible to get all the captured data in standard-compliant GPX files. This also means that there is a 2GB (1.7GB usable) flash storage device in the unit. Placing GPX files in the correct folders in the unit also displays the information within those in the unit, like waypoints or tracks. It is much easier now. In Linux I use gpsbabel to convert back and forth from many formats, in particular I enjoy exploring my trips again with Google Earth and it requires KML files, gpsbabel helps to do that precisely. Also, there is an Alarm Clock on the unit, I just tested it a 4:30am and it woke me at about 2 meters from my bed. This is something I really wanted to have in my Vista HCx, as my traveling wristwatch isn't that loud, and I had to use a Casio traveling clock just for that. One less device to carry! Loading maps is now way more faster than with the Vista HCx, having both one for Europe and another locally, takes a few seconds, while before it took minutes As always, a GPS unit like this, now with a GLONASS receiver, will beat any smartphone on trails and while traveling abroad. Here in the tropics close to the Equator I got a fix pretty quick, but not with as many GLONASS satellites as I wished, that is because that GNSS constellation is best used way up in the north hemisphere. The User Interface looks better, with antialiased fonts and pretty icons, it is now more like a Windows XP UI, while in the Vista HCx with its limited color palette, was like a Windows 3.1 UI. The on-screen keyboard seems to be easier to use, and looks like a miniature version of those included in smartphones. Physically, the unit is lighter, more compact (A few millimeters more bulky in depth), easier to handle in your hand, the rocker is in the right side now, good for right handed, but my muscular memory keeps moving my thumb to the previous rocker position in the Vista HCx. The infamous rubber band used in the Vista HCx that unglued so easily with time seems to be substituted with a more solid rubber sides, now attached with screws. The micro SD card is placed like a SIM card in a phone, under the batteries. Now, this is something I have always wanted that was NOT added... An option to LOCK THE BUTTONS! Neither unit has the option to avoid the buttons to be pressed while having the unit on a backpack or in a holster. I would really like an option like in the mobile phones to do that ("Press such and such buttons to unlock"). Many times I have put my units in a bag to later retrieve them in a weird configuration screen and with a track erased or so.

I've had my eTrex 30 for about four months now, I use it primarily for bicycle rides and also for Geocaching and car navigation. I've been holding off writing this review, hoping that Garmin would come up with a fix for a significant problem with the eTrex 30 that others have mentioned. That problem was inaccurate "Total Ascent" calculation (you can see other reviews for more details). Since I base my bike rides largely on how much I climb, I was very disappointed with the eTrex. Fortunately, that problem seems to have been fixed. I'm currently running firmware version 2.80 and the eTrex 30 is now working great, so here's what I like and don't like about it: PROS: -Nice small size, fits into a pocket when not used -Display is very clear, especially in direct sunlight. It is typical of other, non-touchscreen, Garmin handhelds. -Battery life is excellent, I use Kirkland akalines and it runs quite a while on those (almost as long as my old eTrex Vista). I'm sure it would be even better using Li-ion batteries. -It has all the functions (and even a few more) of the Garmin GPSmap 62s for much less money. -It powers up and finds itself very quickly (15-20 seconds) if you are close to where you shut it down. (It can take well over a minute to find itself if you've traveled some distance with it off). -I found it very easy to learn to use. It's a bit of a hybrid between the old eTrex series and the newer GPSmap series. The button functions are similar to the old eTrex series and the menus and functionality are nearly the same as the GPSmap series. Since I've owned both, I had no problem adapting. If you are new to handheld GPS units, it may seem a bit overwhelming at first since it's got so many features, but you'll soon get the hang of it. -There are literally thousands of ways to personalize this unit, you can set up different activity categories (i.e. bicycling, geocaching, car navigating, hiking, boating) and assign pages appropriate to each one (maps, altitude, compass, geocaches, etc). -Good value, you get a lot of functionality for your money. CONS: -The processor can be a bit slow, it often takes a second or two between the time you push a button until something happens. This is the reason I give it four stars instead of five. I've got to admit that I'm somewhat comparing this to my GPSmap 62s, but even if I didn't have the 62s, I think I'd still find the occasional slowness of the eTrex 30 annoying, but still usable. -The display is a bit small. The unit has the ability to cram a lot of info onto a single screen, but sometimes the little characters or graphics are just too tiny. Fortunately, in most cases, you can also spread this info out over several screens (or pages) and use much larger characters. -As others have said time and time again, the base maps this comes with are pretty bad. I've added City Navigator on micro SD card to mine as well as a couple of free topo maps (from GPSFileDepot.com). If you want a Garmin handheld, you just have to live with this. Bottom line: If you want a handheld GPS receiver that does everything very well, I'd strongly recommend the Garmin GPSmap 62s. If you don't want to spend that much, the eTrex 30 does nearly everything the 62s does for a whole lot less and I highly recommend it as well. (In case you are wondering why I have both, I got the eTrex 30 to take on routine bike rides so I don't torture the 62s as much. I also use it as a backup for geocaching and to keep in the car in case I need it. I use the 62s primarily for geocaching).

I bought this mostly for Geocaching, after using a couple smartphones for years. I was looking for better reception and better battery life. This unit does the trick! With fully charged batteries, I can use it over a few days without having to charge batteries again. The Basecamp software is a bit of a pain, but I had no trouble getting some maps onto the GPS with it. I was able to find topo and routable maps for free, and even one that shows trails. This makes the eTrex useful where I have no signal for my smartphone. I still prefer my smartphone for road navigation but the eTrex does great when I need it. I have been able to find free maps for places I have been on vacation pretty easily. I found that I can export GPX files from the c:geo app on my phone, place them on the GPS, and they show up under the list of Geocaches. It even recognized which ones I have already found. Keep in mind this unit is built for durability, not performance. I have used it in wet and rough conditions with no problems. It does not have an HD screen or exceptional graphics power, but it does its job well. The USB takes a while to move large files, and you have to wait a few seconds when scrolling the map around, but I am fine with that. Accuracy has been very good. I wasn't sure how well WAAS would work in my area (NW US), but even with trees and hills around I still get WAAS as long as there isn't a lot of terrain to my south. I get 8-10 feet accuracy in good conditions, and typically better than 20 feet unless I'm under really dense trees or cover. Reception is definitely better than my smartphone. I leave it on GPS+GLONASS+WAAS without issues. I was unsure about WAAS support outside the US, but I had no problem getting WAAS in Ecuador (and the satellites are at the equator, so it should be even easier to get a signal there). The antenna is designed to work best when horizontal, parallel to the ground. However, I can hang it from my bag or throw it in my bag, and it doesn't lose that much accuracy. You would really have to cover it to make it lose signal. I would definitely recommend updating the firmware from what it comes with. Mine did not come with the latest firmware, and they made lots of changes since my version. I have no need for very accurate elevation, the readings I get are plenty accurate for me. You can calibrate it with known elevation or atmospheric pressure. The compass needs to be recalibrated sometimes, but once per day is the most I have needed. For getting me pointed in the right direction, it was worth it for me to get the 20 over the 30 for the compass. I also enjoy having my tracks from my adventures to view in Google Earth. Overall, it's been a great little device.

I've been using the GPS on my phone for hiking and backpacking for a couple years now. The EveryTrail app is terrific. That said, the phone battery only lasts about 4 hours when used constantly as a GPS, and after hiking with other people using Garmins, I finally bought this Etrex 30. It's light (4.5 ounces with battery), lasts MUCH longer than my phone, and works much better as a GPS. I can now leave my phone off and save the battery. (It's also much easier to read in bright light than my phone is, and unlike my phone, can be easily viewed using polarized sunglasses.) There's a lot of negative comments and reviews here, though, which I'm glad I ignored. No, maps don't come with this unit, but they are easily available for free online at gpsfiledepot.com, good-quality maps with installation tutorials. I fit a topo of California plus two separate overlays of hiking trails into the built-in storage, and I've still got over 1 GB of space left. A microSD slot is available for people who need still more space. You can also find GPX tracks for free on the web which can be transferred to the GPS. EveryTrail, for example, has many high-quality hiking tracks which can be saved as GPX files (from the EveryTrail web site) and then transferred to the GPS using Garmin's BaseCamp software. This is actually now my preferred method of getting trails onto the GPS, with the free California topo as a background. Yes, the instructions are poor to nonexistent, but the menus aren't that hard to figure out if you've used a GPS in some other form. Just walk through the menus and play with it a little. Some default functionality is annoying, but every problem I've had so far was fixable through a setting. (For example, I didn't see place names until I changed the maps settings, and I have no need for constant backlighting, which just drains the battery. The default track color is very hard to read against a topo background, so I changed the color to red.) I agree that they could have included a lanyard, and there's no clip with this thing. For now I carry it in my shirt pocket, but I'll probably attach a carabiner and a cable tie to the lanyard attachment point to make sure it doesn't get lost. This is my first standalone GPS, and I'll probably be figuring more stuff out over time, but given the weight and battery life and accuracy and wealth of free maps, I'm quite satisfied. It's much more reliable than using my phone.

I recently purchased a Garmin eTrex 30 for my outdoor needs. Here are some of the annoyances I have discovered about this product. The picture on the box shows a good looking screen with a map and terrain contours that look awesome. But those terrain contours on the basemap are so huge, that if you were out hiking you'll never walk far enough to actually walk around the hills. So you'll have to buy the more detailed map. I bought the Topo USA 100k on DVD, because if you buy the SD cards or download it, you can only use it with one physical GPS device, so if you change to a different device later, you'll have to buy the maps again. That's how I understood it at least. You can't load the entire map on a micro SD card. I bought a 32gb card thinking I'll load everything and just have it in there. But no, you can't do that. First there is a file size limitation of 4gb, which I believe is a FAT 32 shortcoming. 4gb also coincides with about 4000 map sectors, which is a device reading limitation. So even if you can get a file larger than 4gb, you still can't use it because the device won't read it. I thought ok, I'll just load it into different files with different file names, I'll have a western US, eastern US, AK/HI. No, you can't do that either. I spoke to customer support and they said that even if you can get multiple files on the card, it's the total amount of map sectors that count. The device can't be set to use one map file and ignore the others. Loading a map file caused my unit to slow down a lot. Screen redraws are painfully slow now, even when I fly to Europe where my Topo USA doesn't cover. Maps get loaded to the SD card via a software application called Mapinstall, which took over 30 hours to render a continental US map file on my Mac. It would have taken much less if the application was written with multicore processor support, but it wasn't. Didn't get to whether it will even see more than one file. I like to use my GPS when I travel on planes. This particular model has the barometric altimeter, which works great everywhere except inside a compressed cabin. Sure, I knew that, but I also thought they would have put an option to disable the barometer, or just read the GPS calculated elevation and ignore ambient pressure. Turns out they didn't do either. The GPS elevation data exists and is available to be seen on the Satellite page, but every other data field combines it with the barometer reading making it unusable within the confines of a compressed cabin. Now for the nice features. Love the GLONASS capability, but I would like more clarification on how it works. Can the device work solely on the GLONASS system? Also, hypothetically speaking, if it sees 2 GPS satellites and 2 GLONASS satellites, can it calculate a position? Tracking works great, screen is decent but I did expect more, battery life isn't too bad if you ride the backlight low or keep it off. Haven't tried road use, so I can't comment on that. No great circle routing. Am I asking for too much? Bottom line is buy only if you need. Unless you have to have a map you can't load on your older device, it's not worth it.

My first experience with the Garmin Etrex 30 was not a pleasurable one as I had problems updating the software from off the shelf 3.50 to 3.90. Once I learned the trick things went smoothly. In order to update the software one needs to make sure they select the unit's internal memory before starting. The new user will need Garmin's Webupdater and communicator plug in. After that the process goes well. After I made it over the hurdle of updating the instrument's software I found the GPS to have a very sensitive receiver and it acquires the satellites quickly. The accuracy is very good. Setting the battery type and calibrating the compass was easily accomplished. The screen really does show up in the sunlight so this is an added plus. The variety of maps available for the Etrex 30 is good and the prices are reasonable. One observation, it appears that it is not possible to update the maps and if one desires updates they must re-purchase the map(s). I haven't downloaded my maps yet, but I learned that the instrument will apparently only accept 4GB Micro SD cards and one card may be needed for each map series purchased. When I first attempted to update the instrument's software I learned assistance from Garmin isn't the easiest thing to get. I went to their site and after some delving found how to submit a written inquiry. Four screens later I was only able to submit the subject line of my issue. After submitting my request I received an automated response that I will be contacted usually within three business days. I am a Garmin fan and have only owned Garmin GPS' but I am not impressed with their online assistance. It would appear they're hoping given three days or more customers will eventually resolve their own issues. I've given the Etrex 30 five stars because it is a quality handheld GPS that performs very well. It deserves the potential buyer's consideration.

UPDATE July 2013: My daughter carried my eTrex 30 in her school backpack on a field trip on Seattle's Underground Tour. In the late 1800s, Seattle got fed up with tidal flooding of homes and businesses in the low lands near Elliot Bay. The city built new streets and sidewalks one story up, turning what had been the ground floor into basements. The tour took the kids among some of the thickest downtown development, above ground and below. The eTrex recorded a 5.8-mile track that was ragged at times, as its satellite location estimates got a bit imprecise, but there are only a few minor instances of straight segments that indicated the unit had lost satellite lock and regained it later. For a system that's only supposed to work with a clear view of the sky, that's impressive. ----- This is my first GPS, though I've used others on search and rescue missions. The eTrex 30 does a surprising amount of stuff, but it has a bit of a learning curve. I downloaded the owner manual before ordering the unit, and read it all before it arrived. I've used the unit while hiking & driving, and I still keep finding new things it does. It does have some quirks, though, even with the latest firmware (ver. 2.80, downloaded & installed automatically when I plugged it in with BaseCamp running). I chose the eTrex30 over the 20 for its compass and altimeter, but on a hike in the North Cascades the altimeter disagreed with the contour map by hundreds of feet sometimes, even telling us we'd dropped elevation when our legs, our eyes, and our sweat said otherwise. I still haven't learned whether the unit was reporting elevation based on atmospheric pressure or GPS, either of which has its limitations. But the contour map on the screen is easy to read, and you can move the arrow to point at any object or line on the map, and it will display what it is, whether a road or hospital or contour elevation. Satellite sensitivity is over the top. I'd been thinking about buying a GPS for years and read how they can be limited by their view of the sky - heavy tree canopy, deep canyons, tall buildings can all block its view of the satellites it needs. But this eTrex 30 locates itself quickly, locking solidly onto a bunch of satellites, even indoors! It can use Glonass, as well as GPS and WAAS, but on my hike Sunday I limited it to only GPS, on the theory that it might reduce battery drain. A press of the power button when it's already on shows I still have 3 bars out of 4 on my pair of Eneloop AA NiMH cells. (My thanks to Garmin for designing it around AA batteries, which I always carry as spares for my camera, radio, flashight, bike headlight, etc.) I've seen a couple of things others have complained about. After our hike, the trip computer reported that our average speed was about 1.5 times the maximum speed! And while it seems like it's magic that this unit will tell me the tides for any tide station near me, it only reports them once. If I return to the same station's data the area of the screen where the tides had been remains blank. I think I have to turn the unit off & on to see tides again. Strange. Until Garmin fixes that, be prepared to write down any tide info you need. If you're going to use your eTrex 30 in the real world, buy a GizzMoVest and screen protector with it. It will thank you for years.

EQUIPO MUY VERSATIL Y FUNCIONAL, FACIL DE MANEJAR Y EXACTO EN SU RESULTADO, TIENE BUENA RECEPCION Y ES UN EQUIPO MUY RECOMENDABLE.

Exlent working

Bonne autonomie, précis (mode glonass), lisible même en plein soleil. Mais indications de distance et de dénivelée assez fantaisistes, malgré une mise à jour du logiciel. L'analyse de la trace une fois à la maison nous donne des meilleures indications. Le tracé enregistré est précis, sauf dans des conditions difficiles (fond de vallée, falaises). Précision de l'ordre de quelques mètres (et souvent mieux, le tracé colle de très près à la photo aérienne). Le compas et le baromètre sont un plus. Précision altimétrique pas mal (grâce au baromètre).

Muy contento con este dispositivo, pues es perfecto tanto para llevarlo en la bici (hay que adquirir el soporte para ello), como para hacer senderismo. El que funcione a pilas, es una gran ventaja, pues siempre puedes llevar de repuesto un par de pilas, al contrario que si fuese de batería, pues te obligaría a comprar otra de respaldo con el consiguiente sobrecoste que supone esto. El que tenga brújula es una gran ventaja, pues si paras, no se gira el mapa, quedándose orientado con respecto a tu posición. No ocurre lo mismo con el etrex 20, el cual, si te paras, se gira el mapa y cuesta orientarte, pues lo que ves enfrente no es lo que te muestra el garmin. Otra ventaja es que dispone de ANT+, por lo que por ejemplo en mi caso, uso la misma cinta de cardio cuando voy en bici que cuando salgo a correr, registrándose y almacenándose las pulsaciones en el dispositivo. En mi opinión, a mi me ha merecido la pena gastarme los 40€ de diferencia que existe entre el etrex30 y el 20.

Ich verwende das Etrex 30 zu Wandern und Radfahren mit der Topo Deutschland 2012 Pro. Ich bin sehr zufrieden mit dem Gerät. Ein Quantensprung zu Karte und Kompass. Positiv: - das Display ist sehr gut ablesbar, insbesondere bei Sonnenlicht - hochwertige Verarbeitung - die Batterielaufzeit ist sehr gut, Mehrtageswanderungen mit zwei vollen Batterien kein Problem. Notfalls bekommt man ansonsten fast überall AA-Batterien. - der Kompass ist sehr genau, muss jedoch öfter nachkalibriert werden, was aber sehr schnell geht - mit der Software Basecamp kann man die Garmin-Karte und mehrere OSM-Karten auf eine 8GB-SD-Karte übertragen und auf dem Gerät parallel nutzen. - die Übertragung von GPX-Tracks funktioniert bei mir einwandfrei, ich benutzte dazu Basecamp - bisher nach mehreren Regenwanderungen absolut wasserdicht. - die Knöpfe sind gut bedienbar - es gibt sehr viele verschieden Halterungen - auch beim Fahrradfahren gut bedienbar - bis jetzt mit der Software keine Schwierigkeiten, Updates über Basecamp funktionieren einwandfrei. - GPS-Empfang und Genauigkeit unter den üblich Bedingungen sehr gut. Negativ: - lahme USB-Schnittstelle - der Prozessor ist nicht gerade sehr schnell, in die Karte rein- und rauszoomen dauert gefühlte Ewigkeiten. - bei der Verwendung im Fahrzeug mit Autohalterung zwar verwendbar, aber eher weniger geeignet, weil der Standort bei hohen Geschwindigkeiten sehr langsam angepasst wird. Im Gegensatz zur Verwendung von Papierkarten bietet das GPS für mich beim Wandern und Biken einige echte, für mich entscheidende Vorteile: Eine sehr genaue Anzeige des eigenen Standortes, einfachste Handhabung, der integrierte Kompass, Unempfindlichkeit gegen Regen, endlich in schwierigem Terroir nicht mehr verlaufen... Die Papierkarte habe ich trotzdem immer dabei, aber nur für den Überblick, der bei einer großen Karte einfach besser sichtbar ist. Für mich eine lohnende Anschaffung!