Functional Difference Garmin eTrex 20 or 30?

[FairbanksFatty]

Looking at the spec sheets, the eTrex 20 and 30 appear almost to the same.
From a bike packing standpoint, can anyone make the claim for the additional $100 for the eTrex 30?

To be specific, are there functions that a bikepacker would care about.  Unlikely I'll need the wireless function or more advanced compass/barometer.
 
Same memory, same processing speed, functionally similar displays...I figure there must be something I'm missing.

I haven't had my hands on either model.

I'm still chugging along with the eTrex Venture.
 

[honkonbobo]

I didn't think I would need the wireless transfer feature either til I had a problem with a track and had another racer transfer me a working version of the track before the TNGA.  Nice to have.

[FairbanksFatty]

That's exactly what I wanted.  Never thought of that.

Thanks!

[bikelite]

Or stick with the Etrex 20 and take backup cards with the same track.

[FairbanksFatty]

Or stick with the Etrex 20 and take backup cards with the same track.

I was just trying to figure out if that would work.  SD cards are cheap, If the track is on the SD, then having a copy would be a good fix.

[bikelite]

Only buy quality cards. And don't buy on Ebay.

[Marc40a]

The compass on the Etrex 30 is swaying my decision - one less item to carry.

[Biggus Duckus]

The x model has the compass, not the base 30.  I have the 20 and 30x and I barely notice the difference, just slight resolution

[Marc40a]

The x model has the compass, not the base 30.  I have the 20 and 30x and I barely notice the difference, just slight resolution

Interesting. I didn't realize that.

[bmike-vt]

Compass that doesn't work without batteries would be a deal breaker for me as backup gear. If the device is running you will likely have full functionality unless you don't get sat registration. If SHTF I'd want an analog compass. My .02$

[rhino]

I don't think the etrex 20 displays elevation gain, and the 30 does. Not a big deal, just pointing out some differences. I have the 20 and that is one feature that I miss on training rides. If I had to buy another gps I still would buy the 20 over the 30. The color of the 20 (Orange) alone almost made me buy the 30.

[bakerjw]

I can't remember why, but I went with the 30x. It has really performed great for me.

[THE LONG RANGER]

The altimeter in the etrex 3(0|5) is actually pretty useful, as it keeps track of elevation gained, and plots it. If you have a goal on elevation gain for a sess, this will help you out plenty.

The 30/35 also has ANT+/Bluetooth compat. if you would like to hook it up and record things like HR Monitor + cadence.

There's stories of people going the wrong way on the TD, because the compass didn't work on their GPS. Also remember this year's Trans AM. Dumb dumb decisions happen, maybe not with a simple heading showing the heading?


Whatever you do, please get a lanyard for this model. It has a tendency to fly off.

[AZTtripper]

How does the battery life compare between the two. As I recall from the early eTrex line the more accessories the less battery life.

If that's a consideration for you.

[THE LONG RANGER]

I have the etrex Touch 35 , which admittedly is a different beast than the etrex 30 or 30x. The battery life is poorer than the 20 or 30 - instead of 25 hours, it's "up to 16 hours", but battery life can be greatly extended if you just set the screen timeout to something like 10 or 15 seconds or whatever. It still takes 2 AA's, and I just use rechargable NimH's. I don't think it listening to the ANT+ signal takes too much of a battery hit, to be honest. It's nice to know what you're HR is doing when training.   

The hit on battery life is worth the touch screen IMHO, which is MUCH easier to navigate with, rather than using the little nubby. On the etrex 20, I would use either the screen, or just the dashboard with all the stats of my ride. Navigating everything else was just painful. With the Touch, you just swipe left/right. I HAVE had problems with the touch screen being unresponsive if it gets too cold. Which IS infuriating.


 

[mandivided]

... the touch screen IMHO, which is MUCH easier to navigate with, rather than using the little nubby ... I HAVE had problems with the touch screen being unresponsive if it gets too cold. Which IS infuriating.

Can't speak to the etrex touch but i've had [two] oregons (I'll second the lanyard comment above, way cheaper than a broken screen), and while I've had no problems with the screen in cold, it can be an absolute bane when it's raining. raindrops register as touches, so you look down and all the sudden the map is somewhere totally different and you've created a bunch of waypoints or gotten into and changed settings.

You can lock the screen out to prevent that when it rains, but then you have to unlock the screen to do any map functions (zoom, scroll, etc), and then lock it back when you're done.

The other thing I've noticed, from looking at my oregon vs others' etrex, the better the screen resolution, the thinner the lines. There's no setting for lineweight, and depending on the area/road/path colorings of the basemap (I use OSM openfeitsmaps), i've found it very difficult to discern my route line from the rest of the map. zooming in/out doesn't change lineweight either.

-Donald

[MikPat]

The other thing I've noticed, from looking at my oregon vs others' etrex, the better the screen resolution, the thinner the lines. There's no setting for lineweight, and depending on the area/road/path colorings of the basemap (I use OSM openfeitsmaps), i've found it very difficult to discern my route line from the rest of the map. zooming in/out doesn't change lineweight either.

-Donald

I have a Dakota and had the same problem with following a track.  I found that if you "Navigate" the track and it gives you a pink line that's "thicker" that the roads, etc.

[FairbanksFatty]

I ended up with the eTrex 20x.  The only issue I have is the battery life in the cold.  Even with lithium batteries, it craps out about -10F in 30 minutes.  My old eTrex Venture would work down to -25F all day.  

I put the 20x on external power and put it outside. So far its good to -15F, we're forecast for -25F this weekend.  I have an Anker cell phone charger that will put out good power down to -25F.  That might be the fix.  

On my snowmachine I run the eTrex Venture off the machine's battery and it works down to -30F.

The lithiums were a few years old, but new. That may have been a factor, but I hate to have to shell out big bucks for them all winter.

The specs say it's only good to -4F, so I'm not really whining.

Has anyone had cold weather issues/experience?