Well, I my Garmin Legend showed up today UPS, now the fun part of formatting it to me. Anybody have any pointers for a newbie?

I need help too.....I have had my etrex summit for three years and still dont know how to use it...lol The only feature I know how to use it the MAX speed recall

Rob, what specifically are your questions?

One of the first things I did was skim thru the owners manual. Then, put batteries in it, turn it on, and take a little ride in the truck. only 5 miles or so. Then come back, and you can start analyzing the info it gives you. I'm still learning too....

You didn't learn to ride a snowmobile by reading about it; you won't learn a GPS that way any better.

Take it out and use it. As you do you'll have questions. Resort to the manual for those. It's a great way to learn. As long as you use it initially to 'play,' you can do whatever you want because if you do lose the data it won't be important. It's always frustrating to try things you're not sure about once you know you have stuff you don't want to lose.

Make sure you mark some locations, landmarks or waypoints, whichever term the unit uses - they all mean the same thing, and then let the unit bring you back to them. Also, walking with a GPS can be frustrating because you move too slow to make a positive linear path for the GPS to indicate which makes trying to follow the data frustrating. Being on a vehicle helps especially if another person drives (since it is better if you don't hit things). I learned GPS use in a boat where there are few things to hit. It is easy that way.

you will love your legend I got one around Christmas and still play with it (its in my truck right now ) Just bring it out and drive around set a way point and then go to tracks and tun on track back and play with the pointer and distance from course and such. The darn thing works ! It will be a real nice thing to have on the trail when you get all dissscomboobilated and dont remember wich way to the truck . Ohh the screen with all your data like max speed, direction and such you can customize that screen if you just click on the title of any box , wait until you see all the things that little blue box can do . Its a real nice thing to have and as soon as you figure out the basics go through the manual again and watch what you learn . Good luck and have fun !!

I would hate to ride without mine after a year of using it.
Tips:
- If you bought a cheap unit without a map send it back, unless you want to keep it for your boat.
- You need the map software to get all of the two tracks.
- Get a mount kit from Gander Mountain or a boating store and mount it on the dash, it's no good in your pocket.
- Forget about the 2-AA batteries in cold weather, buy an external battery or hook it into the sled if you know how. You can search in this forum for previous information on that topic.

Thanks for the responses, I think the best thing to do is just use it and figure it out, by next season I should know it.

I have a magellan meridian that my wife gave to me for a xmas gift(quite a girl ) :inlove: :inlove: i use Energizer rechargeable AA Nimh batteries in it, and they hold up very well.