Product Description: An RS232 Serial cable that is specifically designed for the Etrex models of Garmin GPS device / Enables PC Connectivity
Amazon.com Product Description: Garmin's PC Interface Cable allows you to connect your GPS unit to your PC. Now you can create routes and waypoints at your leisure on your PC and transfer them to your GPS. You can also easily download map detail from MapSource CD-ROMs to GPS units. The cable features a standard nine-pin D connector for ultimate compatibility. Note that the Garmin PC Interface Cable does not provide wiring for external power.
garmin serial port Does what it's supposed to do. It'ds much slower than USB, but I have an older GPS unit.
Old Technology Well Done The cable works as it should. Just be careful to note that this needs a Serial port connection at your computer. My laptop on which I made my map and waypoints doesn't have one, only USB connections. Luckily I have an older desktop with a serial port and transferred my work there to download it to the eTrex. I've heard of a serial-to-USB converter cable, that would allow you to connect to a USB port, but I've had no experience with one.
Garmin Etrex Serial Connection Product slides into place quickly and works exactly as described. Cable is long enough to conveniently use the GPS real time with a mobile computer.
Perfect mate for Google Earth. Perhaps is a expensive cable, specially if you don't earn dollars, but it is perfect to complete Google Earth software. I tried it in my contry, Costa Rica, and I am very happy with the results.
Frustration and success I started to give this thing 1 star, but I realized that it's not the cable's fault that Microsoft Windows is annoying. The cable is what it is, and once you have a free serial port, it works fabulously.
That said, it may be a huge frustration to free up a serial port if Windows says it is "busy." If you have a Palm, a Windows CE device, some other PDA, a camera, or anything else that connects or has ever connected to your serial port, you may have to go through your whole computer looking for software and hardware that is 'using' that connection, before this will work.
Once I convinced Windows that nothing else was using the serial port, I have been able to connect my eTrex to everything I needed: Garmin upgrade software, Easy GPS, Geocacher's Swiss Army Knife, and Google Earth. Being as this is your only PC interface cabling choice when you have an eTrex, it's great that it works, and it's important that we all acknowledge that it does work. But in this case, three stars is like a C grade in school: "OK, it just exactly/barely meets expectations."
It would get 5 stars if it was an eTrex-to-USB cable -- but then Garmin would not make another chunk of cash by selling the serial-to-USB adapters required to attach these GPS units to laptops & other computers where a serial connection is not possible.
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