GARMIN ETREX VENTURE HC or HCX

[Eric Osborn]

Has anybody used these before? Do they show the outline of everylake or just the big ones? Is the HCX with turn by turn directions worth it?

[BobT]

A GPS by itself doesn't show anything but waypoints, routes, or tracks you've added.

The units you are asking about come loaded with a bare bones basemap. The lake shores illustrated on the basemap are very crude and smaller lakes may not even be shown.

The Etrex Venture is capable of accepting map data from other resources. Garmin offers a variety of mapping software packages. If your looking for lake contour maps, check out their Lakemaster software. You can find it on their HSOforum. They include an online viewer so you can see the kind of detail found in the software.

Good luck.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Dont quote me but I believe Garmin uses the X if a unit has the ability to take a micro SD card but the HC version cant take chips. Unless Im wrong and both take chips Id highly recomend getting the HCx version and getting the Lakemaster chip for it.

[BobT]

I like the PC version rather than using the chips because I can preview a lake, mark waypoints, create a driving route, etc. and then download the data to my Garmin. The PC version of Lakemaster includes detailed roads as well.

[bloc004]

I have the HCX and fish on some pretty small lakes/ ponds and they have been on there. Mine came with a topo map, so that could be why, but I yet to be on a body of water not on the gps.

The depths of the smaller lakes/ ponds are not on it, but the larger ones have depths.