etrex venture gps, travel gadgets

On my last trip to Peru (2000), my digital camera was the most "wowed" gadget, this time (2001), it's the GPS.

Features:

1. Everyone will ask you, what is this?
2. Adventure to places that were impossible to reach before
3. Record your whole journey on to computer: good for revisiting or benefiting other travellers.
4. Travel longer distant
5. ...with shorter time
6. Identify current location relative to other known way points
7. Know where to get off when taking public bus
8. Know the current speed, distant to target, ETA and many more...

What is this?
It's a eTrex GPS (Global Positioning System) that use the satellites to calculate current location. It has a database for most of the cities in the world. Even small towns like Selcuk, Bergama, Palmyra and Asyut are included. It doesn't have a map. The higher model (eTrex Legend, Vista) has mapping functions but is totally useless for the places I went. To use this unit, you still need a compass, a map and a good sense of logic.

How to find a location without a map?
First find a known location in your guide book (e.g. a bus station) and mark it as a waypoint. Then figure out the relative direction and distant of your target (from writing description of your guide book or locals), you can then navigate to the unknown destination from the known position. It is an entertaining mental challenge, but as soon as you figure out one location, you can calculate the rest.

When it doesn't work?
1, inside buildings.
2, in deep vallleys
3, when climbing (with steep cliffs)
It works best in the desert where I marked the location of the camp and could navigate from the village to the camp with an unknown path. It doesn't work well when climbing. First the mountain will block most of your signals. Then even if you can get a signal, your path is usually going vertical and overlap with each other. If you follow the treks of your GPS, you might end up flying off the cliff.

Purchase Price: CDN$210 (tax included)
Pocket size, 12 channels.