Product Review: Garmin GPS Portable Navigation System

I will start out by stating that I fought long and hard against a navigation system. Working in my car, as I did while contracted by Insurance Companies, I often found myself pulled over on the side of the road poring over my many paper maps while whiling away the hours. It was always a challenge to figure out if my boss really meant Street, or if it could possibly be Avenue or even Court that we were in search of. As the price of gasoline soared upward, I felt the productivity pinch, broke down and bought my first navigation system, the Garmin eTrex.

First, I looked at a number of different models in our neighborhood electronics store, and with the help of an overeager twenty-something sales guy, decided that this model was exactly what I was looking for. I had no need for altitude and depth notifications, nor did I wish to be updated on traffic conditions for an additional monthly fee. Armed with a satellite radio subscription, I already felt that my mobile experience was becoming costly, and chose instead to utilize my radio's fine traffic reporting system in conjunction with the GPS.