Your Garmin, Your Story ...

We're constantly amazed at the positive feedback we get from people who use our products for just about anything you can imagine. Their stories range from geocaching to surviving life-threatening situations.

Scroll below to read about testimonials for this product and don't forget to check out the amazing testimonials and human interest stories on our Garmin Blog!

View testimonials on Garmin Blog

 

"Kindergartner helps Grandpa navigate with eMap"

I was returning home from vacation in Florida last March, driving through the Carolinas. All was very quiet about 10:00 at night when my five-year-old grandson Chandler spoke up and said, "Grandpa, you just passed Highway 77."

I said, "Okay, I don't need Highway 77, but thanks."

A few minutes later, he asked "What is C- O- L- U- M- B- I- A?"

I said, "That's Columbia." Chandler said Columbia is just ahead a few miles. I didn't see a road sign and wondered how he knew so much. Then he said, "Hey Grandpa! Columbia has an airport."

I said, "Chandler, do you have my GPS on back there?"

He replied, "I'm just playing with it."

I didn't even know he knew how to turn it on. He starts kindergarten this fall.             

Thank you,

R. W.

"eMap makes customer a city expert in Denver"

I was helping a friend move in Denver, CO. I don't know the city very well at all, and fortunately was carrying my eMap. I was driving my buddy Paul's car and following him to his new house, which was easily a half an hour away. Out of nowhere, a rain storm came. It was during rush hour and I lost sight of Paul. Luckily, I had inserted a waypoint into the eMap for his new house earlier that day. To make a long story short, by just using the eMap, I beat him back to his new house in his own home town by 15 minutes.

FYI, Paul is not an idiot. The eMap is simply that useful of a tool.

N. K.

"eMap proves its worth to hikers in Alaska"

Hello,

I was backpacking in Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska during the summer. Because this is such a remote park, I decided to get a GPS as a little extra insurance against getting lost, and to help me find my way as Gates of the Arctic is mostly wilderness with no trails. It turns out it was a good thing I did, because the GPS—along with the USGS paper map of the quad we were in—saved my partner and I from a rather serious mistake.

We were camped just north of Lake Takahula, our pickup point, and needed to go around a ridge to get to it as following the Alatna River was no longer an option. We had decided we should walk upstream a few miles from where we were camped and then circle back down the other side of the ridge. But after comparing the GPS and map (the GPS makes it very simple to find your location on the map, as you know), we discovered we should most likely go up and over the ridge instead of upstream. This saved us a couple of days walking. Although the wrong route would not have been much further distance-wise, it was a much, much longer route time-wise due to the nature of the terrain.

Thanks for keeping us from making a mistake. The GPS is now standard equipment on all my backpacking outings. It also comes along on any extended biking or driving trips.

T. H.

Jenison, MI

"Export manager thanks his eMap, Garmin"

I have my eMap now for over a year working mainly in conjunction with my notebook loaded with digital maps of Italy, Germany, France, the Benelux countries, Austria, and Switzerland. At home in the U.S., it works "solo" with the base map and a bit of help from MapSource.

I keep asking myself, how could I do my job before that? Forgot to tell you that I am export manager for a U.S. company traveling abroad about 50 percent of the year: Europe, Asia, Middle East, Australia, and Africa. Plans are on the way this year for South America. I am renting a car at the point of entry (usually Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, Sydney, or Johannesburg) and drive 3,000 to 6,000 miles for product presentations, trade fairs, training, etc. In addition, sometimes I have to take a local train or bus, or walk, or any combination of the above and in all situations.

The eMap has a solution for keeping me on the right track. The little devil is unbeatable for accuracy, reliability, and easy of operation. Gone are the days when finding the car in the right parking garage, or finding my hotel in the middle of the night, would be a major problem.

Thank you people for a great product!

A. F.

"This eMap conducts business and enjoys leisure in Europe"

I travel for my Internet company quite a lot around the U.K. and France on business. Problem: get to a town and get pushed off your chosen route, and then get lost. It wastes time and it can get stressful in bad areas.

I purchased a Garmin eMap with a 64 megabyte card with the Euro bundle MapSource MetroGuide maps. Connected via a cable between my XP laptop and the eMap to make an incredibly efficient GPS system. The link acts as a medium to show the vehicle as a flashing icon on the map so you know exactly where you are.

You can put in the route on the map and download to the eMap, use the eMap on dashboard for quick reference, and have the laptop running, which the passenger holds as the navigator. Using this, we have always found our destination and even missed traffic backups by diverting and getting back onto the route.

Thank you Garmin. When we travel as a family now, the fight starts between the kids over who is going to be the navigator. Your system is brilliant—absolutely the best technical purchase I made this year. I even find petrol and parking in strange towns.

Off to France next week for a holiday driving from Maidenhead via tunnel to Tours, then down to Bordeaux. We shall enjoy not getting lost, thanks to the eMap which will be up and running.

Great product!

T. H.

(Garmin contacted him when he returned from his trips....)

Hi,

You should have seen us going around Paris! The navigation system was absolutely ace. At 500 feet, you can see the slip roads coming up, and we never missed an exit. Some were way before the actual junction, so eMap and Garmin could not have provided a better system. It is absolutely fabulous.

"eMap drops from speeding motorcycle, lives to navigate again"

I just wanted to say that you guys build an awesome GPS that is extremely durable! I use my eMap on my motorcycle, usually without any problems whatsoever. Just this past weekend, I was coming home from a motorcycle trip and was traveling via interstate as I had to be at work in the afternoon. I was in the left lane passing traffic when I rode into a rainstorm. Rain doesn't bother me or the motorcycle, but I don't like exposing the eMap to any more moisture than I have to. I reached down to pop my eMap out of the handlebar mount (like I've done a thousand times before) and was going to slip the unit inside my jacket until I rode out of the storm. Well, somewhere between the handle bar mount and my jacket, I lost my grasp on it. I watched it bounce off of my knee and then down to the freeway below. I looked at the speedometer and it said 80 mph. Then I looked in the mirror and, to my horror, saw an eighteen wheeler just behind me. I immediately got into the right lane, then onto the shoulder and stopped. Sitting there in the rain, cursing about what just happened, several more trucks and passenger vehicles passed me by while traveling in the left lane. I ventured back up the interstate on foot and in the rain to where I saw something that resembled an eMap. I waited for a lull in traffic and darted across the interstate, picked up the eMap and headed for the median strip. When I got to the grass between the north and south bound lanes I briefly inspected my eMap. Much to my surprise, it was in one piece! Next to some heavy gouging, the only other thing I saw wrong was the missing battery cover. I had seen these on sale before, so I was not concerned with the battery cover. I waited for another lull in the traffic and darted back across the interstate and headed for my bike. Upon reaching the bike, I tossed the eMap into a saddle bag and re-mounted the bike, figuring that it was a lost cause. I rode to a dry rest stop to further survey the damaged eMap. All four corners gouged, back gouged, sides and front gouged, but not even a scrape on the display screen. I put two new batteries into the unit, crossed my fingers, and pushed the power on/off button. Obviously to my surprise, the unit turned on and was functioning properly! It had hit the pavement at 80+ mph, narrowly missed getting squashed, and is functioning! Excellent product! Even if it hadn't turned back on, I'd have bought another one! Thanks for making excellence your "standard".

R. L.

"Garmin units help local network TV affiliate provide coverage"

I recently worked as a tech in the news department for a local (network) affiliate in Portland, Oregon. On two of the microwave vans, we installed a flux-gate compass on the mast and a Garmin GPS inside the van. All microwave receiver sites were entered as waypoints. To line up a shot for live coverage, it was just a matter of recalling the waypoint of the receiver site and using the compass to center the dish on the heading. It worked perfectly, especially considering the bad visibility here in the winter.

We not only used the Garmins in this application, but we also used it in the helicopter to "fly the line" to remote locations when given the map "lat-long" or the GPS readings off the ground units on the scene. The map functions were also very helpful in driving to unknown locations, and they freed the driver from trying to read a city map while navigating through heavy traffic. It certainly made my job easier.

D. M.

Garmin contacted D. M. to find out which units his crews used. Here is his response:

I believe the mobile units were eMaps, and the van units were definitely 128s. The helicopter was a color version of the StreetPilot. I also wrote because I have purchased another eMap and a StreetPilot to use with my new job as engineer on a sports production truck. With all the stress on the job, the last thing I want to worry about is how to get where I have to go—your units take care of that. Thanks again.

 D. M.

One active eMap® Deluxe

Hi!

Just caught your Geocaching page. I thought I'd tell you that I have been very successful using my eMap to both place and find caches. Like many other models, it has the ability to use MapSource® Topos. This is a great feature. Although it's not WAAS compatable, it still gets me to within a few meters. In fact, even though its stated accuracy is 15 meters under ideal conditions, I've learned how to use the eMap to get me within 1 meter even in the moutains of Colorado with only four acquired satellites!

It has another advantage too. It's cheap! I bought my deluxe and upgraded the 8 MB chip just this past week to a 32 MB. It's gone with me on search and rescues, on geocaching, on geodashing, hiking, and degree confluence, as well as just plain driving. It's indepensible in the mountains on foot.

Thanks for your GPS's! I've tried most of them (list of competitors' units) and you make the best product, hands down.

Joey

"This eMap leads an active life"

Hello Garmin®ites,

My name is M. P. I live near Toronto Ontario, Canada. I bought your eMap two years ago. I am very happy with this product, and I have managed to sell three more for you by showing off to my buddies what it can do. I lead a very active life and use the eMap for many applications. Here are the ones so far:

• Snowmobiling
  • verifying my locations and mapping trails
  • clocking top speed on the lake (max speed saved was 120.6 mph, by the way, and it made my day. I also saved a thousand bucks on a radar gun.)
• Biking
• Boating
  • same two uses as snowmobiling, but it was 60 mph.
• Hiking
  • help get us home

I think the best time was when my wife and I were on an 8-hour snowmobile trip up north. We were almost at the resort when we stopped on a small lake. It was pitch black except for the stars. I wanted to enjoy the view, but my wife was nervous, not knowing where she was. I quickly pulled out the eMap, hit the light switch, and zoomed in on our location. Once she knew where we were, she was so relaxed that we sat there and gabbed for an hour. The resort was only 10 minutes away, but we were happy where we were. The eMap was a great guide (verifier) when used with the trail maps and waypoints.

I also tell my friends that your GPS might some day safe their lives in the boats. Good work people!

Thanx,

M. P.

PS-I never write to any companies, so you are doing well!

"Still love my eMap"

I have sent you feedback before, but I want to reinforce that.

First, although I have an eMap, I like to have the most capable product. I have been using the active buyers guide http://www.activebuyersguide.com/ to find things like my next digital camera, my next PDA, my next phone, and of course, my next GPS unit.

I entered my preferences of what I want in a GPS unit. I did not give preference to brand so that my search would be pure. As I came to the part where I compare all my best choices, I noticed four of the six were Garmin units. Then, as I eliminated those that did not carry desired features, I came down to three choices. Can you guess? They were ALL Garmin units! Specifically, the eMap Deluxe, the GPS 12CX and the GPS V®. Well, I wasn't really surprised. After all, I LOVE MY EMAP because of all the things I can do with it. Bottom line...if I do purchase another, it'll be so I can have two Garmin GPS units!!!

Second, I want to tell you what I've been doing. I have been astounding my coworkers. We have gone on several road trips, and I
always bring my eMap. Along the way, I find restrooms, places to eat, places to get gas and snacks, etc. I can tell what services are at any exit ahead and how far. In addition, If we go to a site, I can always find it again, even if I wasn't watching where we went. At first, they mocked and laughed. But now, they ask me to find things and track our route. They are becoming believers.

Last, I want to thank you for posting free updates to the firmware. The unit I bought must have sat on the shelf for a long time because it had version 2.05 on it. When I went to your website, I noticed the current version was 2.50. This was right after I bought it. Well, by the time I acquired a cable you were up to 2.71 and I was happy to see the improvement in my unit. I just got done loading 2.73. Thanks again.

Best regards,

K. W.

"Grounded planes leads to long drive home guided by eMap"

Dear Garmin,

I wanted to let you know that with the recent plane groundings following September 11, I was forced to drive home from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to New Jersey. As an owner of a GPS III and a StreetPilot® III, my familiarity with Garmin products and GPS in general caused me to pull over at a Wal-Mart and buy an eMap since I was travelling without my other two Garmin products. Well, 22 hours later, I arrived safely at home, and I want to let you know that a long, boring trip like this was made much more comfortable by knowing exactly where I was at all times thanks to the eMap. Obviously I am a Garmin fan, and I think the eMap is a tremendous value. Priced under $200, this product was perfect for my budget this week, since I have already invested in two other receivers. I was able to look up my hometown from the database, and had feedback as to my trip progress at all times. Thanks again for designing this great value product.

B.D.

"eMap guided them out of gridlock"

My grandparents have used Garmin products for deep sea fishing, and they first introduced GPS to me years ago. I have wanted the Garmin GPS II® or III, but with newborn twins, it hasn't been on the top of my wife's approval list. My wife saw the TV commercial with the dad walking around reading how fast he was walking, his elevation, distance from other points, etc., and I guess she understood this "guy thing" as she says.

Last week, we took a Christmas roadtrip from Atlanta, GA, to Orlando, FL, to see my parents (perfect Christmas). Our kids are 1-year-old twins and a 3-year-old. We returned via I75, Sunday afternoon, 12/26/99, along with a few million others. My wife and I were not paying attention to exits and zipped past an exit, driving right into gridlock somewhere south of Gainesville. If you've spent any amount of time in the car with small kids, you know the type of scenario we were faced with: A 7-8 hour trip extended to 10-11 hours in a minivan with Barney videos and music. Kids can be distracting, Barney can be numbing; we weren't sure how far we'd travelled or which exit was where, so our paper map was useless. Looked like we were joining the others in the sit and wait.

Our Garmin eMap (a Christmas present) pinpointed our location, showing the last exit and alternate route detail. We backtracked to the exit, took alternates and saved a lot of time (hours) sitting in traffic with screaming kids. My wife was happy and said the investment 'had paid off' right then and there. The rest of the trip she was acquainting herself with the new GPS. She quickly found which restaurants were at which exit, and how far to the next rest area and gas station. She was measuring the distance between the points and the eMap was calculating ETAs for our different stops. It actually took a lot of the stress out of driving long distances and trying to figure out all of the logistics. I've even found alternate routes to work, which will save much commuting time over the year. eMap is a great tool with a lot of great features. While the eMap came with a preloaded basemap, I highly recommend getting at least the MapSource Roads & Rec CD for great detail. It's an excellent product—I have recommended it to all my friends. To the people of Garmin, you do good work.

R.W.

"eMap goes where he goes"

I've just returned from a business trip to Oregon where I tried to mix as much pleasure with business as I could. Of course this meant bringing my newly acquired eMap, Hans. Excuse the name, but "he" travels with us almost everywhere and we needed to properly identify him in our predeparture checklist. (Hans...Hansel and Gretel...breadcrumbs)

Before my trip, I downloaded maps from the MapSource Roads & Recreation CD to a 16 MB data card that I used with my unit. As I've used other GPS units during plane flights before, I've had the pleasurable experience of knowing my ground speed and approximate elevation. Now with my new eMap, it was particularly enjoyable because I could readily identify city, street, and land features with just the basemap. I tracked SVs as easily from the northeast-facing return flight as I did from my southwestern-facing outbound flight. Delta Airlines provides a similar map and speed and altitude readings on most of their flights. My eMap correlated wonderfully with their data and was always within 2 mph of their ground speed. I used the eMap to navigate around the Oregon coast and to our final destination in Corvallis. Overall, the map data was very accurate and displayed even the smallest coastal roads and byways. I'm particularly impressed with the trip function of the eMap and the accuracy of the odometer function. I'm very pleased with the small size of the eMap and the ease of use of the front panel buttons and their respective menus. Very, very intuitive. All in all, I'm most happy with your product and would highly recommend it as a very useful position locating and map tool. Keep the cool toys coming and I look forward to the next generation of GPS products from your company.

P.A.