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Garmin eTrex Venture Cx


With the eTrex Venture Cx, Garmin offers all the basic features of the much-loved Legend Cx, without all the bells and whistles. You get the same great hardware and software with the Venture Cx as is found on the Legend Cx, but Garmin has removed the included MicroSD card, the USB cable, Trip and Waypoint software, and the bike clip. The result is an even more affordable little unit that keeps things simple -- perfect for the first-time GPS user or someone who doesn't want to fuss with a lot of extras. The Venture Cx is designed to go right out of the box, so there's no messing with computers or CD-ROMs.



The StreetPilot 2720 offers clear, easy-to-read 3D directions to your destination.
See more details.


An internal trip computer provides a range of data about hikes and drives.


Check your location from a variety of different views while also locating the nearest recreational and fishing hot spots.
Don't be deceived, though, the Venture Cx has got power and features where it counts. You get a bright, full-color TFT display and a long, 32-hour battery life (using two AA batteries). All of this makes the Venture Cx a great companion for your next outdoor or boating adventure.

You can also use the Venture Cx's memory card slot with preprogrammed microSD cards from Garmin (sold separately) that provide topographic maps, city streets, and nautical charts. In fact, the unit is compatible with most Garmin MapSource products including BlueChart, City Navigator, U.S. Topo 24K, and U.S. Topo and Recreational Lakes with Fishing Hot Spots. The unit comes preloaded with an Americas Recreational Routable Basemap and you can get automatic, turn-by-turn directions with optional preprogrammed City Navigator cards, which navigate you safely to your destination. An integrated trip computer provides odometer, stopped time, moving average, overall average, total time, max speed and more.

Like on all eTrex units, the primary controls are located on the side of the unit, so you can operate it with one hand. An innovative rocker switch on its face makes inputting data easy, and with it you can scroll through menus or pan the map page. If at some point you want to integrate your computer with the Venture Cx, you can purchase a USB cable, which makes loading charts and maps to an optional MicroSD memory card quick and easy. Plus, navigation instructions can be shared with repeaters, plotters, and autopilots using NMEA protocols through the dedicated serial port. Additionally, the case is water-resistant to IEC 60529 IPX7 standards (can be submerged in one meter of water for 30 minutes).

Another key feature of the Venture Cx is the 10,000 point automatic track log; 20 saved tracks (500 points each) let you retrace your path in both directions. Meanwhile, there's a large numbers option for easy viewing, as well as a dual position display mode. Lastly, the unit includes built-in celestial tables for best time to fish and hunt, plus sun and moon calculations.


What's in the Box
eTrex Venture Cx GPS receiver, basemap (Americas Recreational), wrist strap, quick reference guide, and owner's manual.



Customer Reviews

Average rating:

Good Product!

This is a very nice unit with a ton of features. The interface is easy to use and it is easy to transfer data to and from a PC with the Garmin software. However, my one major complaint is that you have to buy the software separately and it is rather expensive. The basemap that comes with the unit is very minimal. Overall this is a good product.


Great Cache finder

Does what it's supposed to do. A bit complicated to set up, but once it is,
a great search and find device. Only drawbackMap is that the map cards are expensive.


Nice little GPS

It's a nice little GPS system, but it is ridiculous that in order for it to be a good system you have to go out and buy, in addition, extra memory (for $22), the US Topo(for $59), and then to add insult to injury go out and buy a mini-USB to USB 2.0 cable (for $26)so that you can download the topo to the unit from your computer. The hidden costs are really an extra $100 or so to make this work well. (And Amazon apparently doesn't sell the mini-USB to USB 2.0 cables for some reason, but they are readily available at Office Depot or any computer store)


Solid Versatile All-purpose GPS

This is a device I currently own, after having experience with
Explorist 210, StreetPilot 2720, and Nuvi 360. I'm completely
satisfied with my choice and it is the best compromise I was able to
find to suite my needs.

I don't really need GPS very often in my regular life, so I didn't
want to spend a ton of money on something that will be sitting in a
closet most of the time. But when I do use it I want it to be an all
purpose "swiss army knife" kind of tool, and this tiny unit is.
Although, that required putting a 2GB microSD card into the unit and
loading it with MapSource US Topo and City Navigator 8 maps.

Every time I go out of town I take it with me, no matter if it is a
road trip, if I fly to another city, or if I go hiking, or do other
outdoor activities.

This unit has autorouting capabilities for using as a standalone GPS
unit for road navigation. It can be connected to a laptop and work
with more sophisticated mapping software (unlike the Explorist). And
it is also small, rugged, lightweight, waterproof, and totally
suitable all kinds of outdoor use.

And outdoor use is where it shows its best. The screen is bright, the
controls are quite suitable for one hand use. I liked the USGS based
topo maps much better for outdoor use than what Magellan has to offer
for the Explorist. They may not look as good on a PC and are
definitely outdated for use in populated areas, but that only helps
you to find old roads and other small terrain features missing from
Mapsend maps.

The stand alone automotive use is more of an emergency feature. It
pales in comparison with StreetPilot 2720. The screen is small, the
controls are by far less convenient, the route recalculation speed is
several times slower and the results are noticeably less optimal.
Entering destinations and browsing the POI database while driving is
almost impossible. Text-to-speech feature could have saved the
situation somewhat, but it's not supported. All in all, you will
probably need another person to do the navigation, and there will
still be a lot of reasons for your copilot to get angry with this
device. That being said, if you just want to get from point A to point
B in an unfamiliar city and program your destination before you drive,
you'll be just fine. It's looking for detours, or trying to find the
best place to stop for food or gas while hurling down a highway that
will get you frustrated.

Fortunately, if I go for a road trip there is usually another person
and a laptop with me in my car. And with this unit hooked up to a
laptop and with a good electronic map, navigation becomes a breeze.

The biggest disappointment was, after all, the sensitivity of the
receiver. It is on par or with the Explorist and maybe just slightly
worse than in StreetPilot 2720, but after seeing what Nuvi, and other
units high sensitivity receivers can do, you get a bitter taste in
your mouth. The reception is adequate, but it is not solid, you loose
signal indoors, close to high-rise buildings, in mountain canyons, -
the usual places. There are also quite a few dead places inside my
car, so I place it under the windshield to be safe. It's just sad to
know that there are a lot of units now, that don't have this problem.

Another down side is that software is fairly slow. To the point where it becomes annoying. You can see the progress of how different features on a map are drawn and the screen is updated, it is much slower than StreetPilot 2720 where the map is redrawn almost seamlessly (even in 3D mode, which eTrexes do not have). But at least the software is very stable and there are periodic updates with new features coming out regularly, even now, several years after the product was released.

To summ it up. This is a great GPS for outdoor activities, it can be your "swiss army knife" for all your other GPS needs. The only thing I would wish for, is if it was a bit faster and had a higer sensitivity reciver. But, then, for less than 200 bucks this is the best thing you can get, anyway.


I love my eTrex, it was worth the extra cost!

I really love my new eTrex!
I'm glad that I saved up some extra cash and went for the eTrex Venture CX. I was considering purchasing the eTrex Legend, but that one doesn't have a color screen, doesn't have the ability to connect to the computer via USB and doesn't have the ability to use memory cards.
I love that when I'm ready to purchase the City Navigator maps, I can get them on a memory card and just pop it into the back of the unit! I also love that this unit, unlike other older eTrex units, can do turn-by-turn directions!
Great product!


Get the Garmin eTrex Venture Cx from Amazon.com.