Garmin GPS 12

Advantages Robust, Easy to use
Disadvantages Buttons in awkward positions, Has the potential to leave you stranded with a flat battery

...only the up and down buttons on the receiver to set a 10 digit grid reference and save the waypoints to your harddrive should your GPS suffer a mishap, and you forget the location of your mound of buried treasure/fishing spot/romantic hidey-hole. The PC lead can also be used for updating the GPS's built in software, updates are available from the Garmin website. Other useful accessories are the car power cable to run the GPS off 12 volts and save the batteries and various different mounting options for cars and bikes. The bike mount is a bit flimsy however so whilst it might find favour with cycle tourists, mountain bikers will soon get annoyed with having to stop after every large bump to pick their GPS up. I've been using the eTrex for a few months now and my only real complaint is that the buttons can be awkward to use unless you... Read review

Advantages Basic mapping
Disadvantages Not detailed enough

...in the unit. But you can also store multiple routes on this unit too which is great because you can save a route you've walked then if you go back there after a year for say an aniversary and want to do the same walk again you can at the touch of a button. Although the unit is hand held it's actually got a pretty big screen, i think it's the second largest screen in the garmin range, behind the street pilot. It does only have a black and white screen but i really like this unit. It's nice and easy to carry round, easy to use and it looks damn slick too. Additions From Comments 29/12/03 How easy is the unit to setup a route? It's not the easiest to setup. It is of the older version of the garmin range, as opposed to the SP3, GPS V and IQUE. If you want to go from point A (current position), to point C you have to select that you... Read review