Garmin eTrex 10

Etrex 10 is all you need – I have found that the Etrex 10 is all you need in a GPS. It has all the features of the big brands without all the whistles and toots. If you take the time to set the Etrex 10 up correctly it will do just about everything you need.

Excellent simple and reliable – I bought the etrex 10 as the ideal and cheapest gps to use and complement bushwalking map navigation. It’s simplest and best function is to confirm an exact grid reference anywhere in the world and adaptable to every official map datum. It’s use as a handheld compass is limited as it will use up batteries quickly if on continually however if used for intermittent grid referencesthe batteries can last for many days.

Poor – Never got it to work, have even given it to 3 mates to use, all handed it back with what is wrong with this thing,.. come to the point it is junk

Great unit for geocaching – I bought my etrex10 after JB HiFi dropped the price from $135 to $95. It took a bit of getting used to the menu at first, but now I find it very easy to use. The accuracy is fantastic, thanks to the extra Glonass satellites it locks onto, and the battery life is super long. Downloading GPS coordinates and cache details is almost instantaneous as well, although Google Chrome in their wisdom have decided not to support the plugin any longer, so I have to use Internet Explorer. I use the unit in conjunction with the Geocaching Intro app, so I don't need to carry a map. Really can't recommend this unit highly enough, especially for the price! Brilliant!

January 6th 2019 Update: The AK47 of GPS units

I’ve had my Garmin for a couple of years now, and I still love it. I bought it to use for geocaching, and thanks to its ability to lock onto Russian satellites in addition to the regular GPS network it is incredibly accurate. I was able to use the backtrack function on a hike in rainforest to find the correct track out of a gully after taking a wrong turn; the Magellan unit I also own wasn’t accurate enough to allow that in thick bush.

It also spent 3 hours recently submerged in the mangroves after my kayak capsized and it dropped into the murky water. Once the tide dropped, I was able to locate the unit. The screen was still on, and it immediately locked onto the GPS network again.

Battery life is also very long, thanks to the simple display.

Bad points: The map is too simple to show any recognisable features; there is often a five-second lag when selecting a function, and loading geocaches requires a third-party app.

To sum it up, it’s not perfect, but it’s very rugged, very accurate and i would trust my life to it in the bush no worries.