# Garmin etrex 20



## bamaboy (Dec 25, 2012)

My wonderful wife bought me a Garmin etrex 20 handheld gps for Christmas. Anyone here got any thoughts or experience with this model? Are there any options or anything that I need to know about it? Instruction booklet is only 3 small pages,not a lot of info,just basics like turning it on and off,backlight,what the buttons are,not a lot of good useful info.Have not done anything with it just been sitting around the house all day. Thanks for your assistance!


----------



## Danny Leigh (Dec 25, 2012)

I got one a few years ago, but I am not impressed with it at all. I've used the E-trex Vista and Legend (both in Hcx) and they are much easier to use and see than the extrex 20. I gave the 20 to my 14 yo and hopefully it will be a good starter gps for him


----------



## Randy (Dec 25, 2012)

I have the ETrex 30 and love it.  I also got the topo chip for it.  Harmon's are very easy to use.  Play with it some and you will know all about it in no time.


----------



## bamaboy (Dec 26, 2012)

Maybe should have put it somewhere else/another forum topic?


----------



## Danny Leigh (Jan 2, 2013)

Bamaboy, I have to change my opinion of the extrex 20 after playing with it over the weekend. I love it! 

I was used to the extrex Vista and Legend and how their screens were setup. The 20 just had the main menu come up and then you had to hit "map" or "satellites" to see those pages. After "adding" those pages I can toggle through them just like the Vista.

One thing I REALLY like about the 20 is the "Hunt and Fish" and "Sun and Moon" options where you can very easily look at a whole month. With the older Garmins I could see today's information, but if I wanted to see any other days info I would have to manually enter the date.

I haven't noticed the tidal information yet on the 20, but according to another forum the tidal information is on the 20. On the older models the tidal information was a seperate page.

I'm not sure what software came with the 20. The older models used MapSource to organize maps and waypoints.

For the older models I bought "Topo 2008" which has all the topo maps for the US. Then I copied the maps I wanted to the unit and onto the micro-SD card (non included with the unit). The slot for the micro-SD card is under the batteries.

The newest version of topo maps is Topo US 100k and it looks like you can get all the maps on a single Micro-SD card. Not sure of the advantages of the SD card over the CD. All the formats looks to be $100. The base unit has most roads, but the topo maps have alot more detail.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=28229&pvID=67028

Feel free to PM me with any questions. Certainly not an expert on the unit, but I am starting to get a little for familiar.


----------



## bfghunter (Jan 2, 2013)

I also got one Christmas and had it figured out in about 10 mins!! Just sit down and play with it!


----------

