question for siskiyou

[banjoman]

I am going over the specs on the new Garmin E-trex H and the Venture HC it says the battery life for the E-trex is 17hrs on 2 AA batteries and on the Venture it is 32hrs on 2 AA is this true? If so why is the Venture so much better with all the upgraded features it should be a no brainer which one to buy? Thanks for your input.

[Siskiyou]

GPS manufactures are striving to offer more features, increased battery life and high sensitivity.   A few years ago a top of the line gps offered about 12-hours of battery life burning four batteries.  And if I recall correctly that gps did not offer a basemap.  The problem is that more features eat batteries. 

Given the choice between the two I would go for the eTrexVenture HC because of its color screen and the ability to store maps.  Both of those features eat battery power. 

But I would save my bucks unit I could afford a Legend HCx it gets 25 hours of battery life, it has the high sensitivity chip, and it takes up to a 2 GB micro SD card. 

I have had a gps with 8 MB, and another with 128 MB of memory.  At the time I was happy as a clam then the (x) models with the micro SD chip came out.  I had to have a Garmin Mapping 76Cx, and I bought a 2 GB card and filled it with maps of the 50 States. 

A couple years back I loan my 8 MB Legend to my daughter’s family when they took a vacation to Hawaii, but I had to remove the old map set and create and load a map set for the islands.  No big deal if you have time on your hands, and the Legend had a base map to fall back on.

The down side of the eTrex H is the lack of a base map.

I get a full days hunt out of a set of batteries, but I carry my gps in a small camera case along with 4-extra batteries.  The batteries will work in my gps or in my headlamp.  The case also protects the gps.  The guy who has not taken a fall in the woods has not spent much time in the woods. 

I suspect that Garmin will be offering more rebates in the spring.  You will also see discounts from many manufactures on older units that do not feature a high sensitivity chip.  A real Catch-22 is that some vendors will be sell discontinue models for full price.  One sporting goods store has had a discontinued model in it's show case at full price.  I believe it was discontinued ten years ago.

[banjoman]

according to what i was reading the Venture HC has the high sensetiivity chip and the base map already loades and it has 24MB of memory.  That is what I was asking you with all the xtra features over the E-trex H can the battery life be that much better too. I am looking to replace my standard simple to use Etrex. I already have a couple of Rinos that work really well also just a little more complicated to use.

[Siskiyou]

I am going over the specs on the new Garmin E-trex H and the Venture HC it says the battery life for the E-trex is 17hrs on 2 AA batteries and on the Venture it is 32hrs on 2 AA is this true? If so why is the Venture so much better with all the upgraded features it should be a no brainer which one to buy? Thanks for your input.

   
eTrex Venture® HC
$ 214.27 USD
remove from list 
Picture viewer: NA 
Unit-to-unit transfer (shares data wirelessly with similar units): NA 
Preloaded maps: NA 
Unit dimensions, WxHxD: 4.2" x 2.2" x 1.2" (10.7 x 5.6 x 3.0 cm) 
Display size, WxH: 1.3" x 1.7" (3.3 x 4.3 cm) 
Display resolution, WxH: 176 x 220 pixels 
Display type: 256 level color TFT 
Weight: 5.5 oz (156 g) with batteries 
Battery: 2 AA batteries (not included) 
Battery life: 14 hours 
Waterproof: yes (IPX7) 
Floats: no 
High-sensitivity receiver: yes 
PC interface: USB 
RoHS version available: yes 
Basemap: yes 
Ability to add maps: yes 
Built-in memory: 24 MB 
Accepts data cards: no 
Waypoints/favorites/locations: 500 
Routes: 50 
Track log: 10,000 points, 10 saved tracks 
Automatic routing (turn by turn routing on roads): no 
Electronic compass: no 
Barometric altimeter: no 
Geocaching mode: yes 
Outdoor GPS games: yes 
Hunt/fish calendar: yes 
Sun and moon information: yes 
Tide tables: no 
Area calculation: yes 
Custom POIs (ability to add additional points of interest): no 
Additional: NA 

You should be able to get the 14 hrs of battery life from a set of alkaline batteries.  With the new chips you are most likely to exceed that number.  Battery life is also dependent on the user.  To reduce battery drain turn WAAS off and limit the use of the back light. 

[banjoman]

Hmmmm Cabelas catalog must be a misprint...thanks for your help