OLATHE, Kan. – Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN) , today introduced the latest additions to the company’s best-selling eTrex(R) Personal Navigator(R) family of products — the eTrex Legend C and eTrex Vista C.
These new eTrex units are Garmin’s smallest, least expensive products to combine a color TFT display and advanced GPS auto-routing capabilities in a waterproof design.
"These pocket-sized units will help you see where you are, where you’ve been and where you’re going in brilliant, sunlight-readable color," said Gary Kelley, Garmin’s director of marketing. "The eTrex Legend C and Vista C are lightweight, compact, easy-to-use products with additional features that bring the benefits of GPS technology to outdoor enthusiasts in an affordable package."
Several improvements have been made in the eTrex Legend C and eTrex Vista C that expand the legacy of the eTrex product line. First, the units have a bright, transflective color TFT display that offers daylight-viewability to the user. Second, these products both offer automatic route generation, off-route recalculation, turn-by-turn directions with alert tones, and icon-driven menus for finding points of interest (when combined with Garmin’s optional MapSource(R) CDs). Third, they run longer on 2 AA batteries, giving users more hours of outdoor enjoyment with their GPS unit. Fourth, both units feature a mini-USB port that enables users to download map data rapidly from Garmin’s entire library of optional MapSource CDs using a PC. Finally, both products boast 24 MB of internal memory for map storage.
The eTrex Legend C and eTrex Vista C resemble other products in the eTrex family in terms of compact size (2.2"W x 4.2"H x 1.2"D), lightweight design (5.6 oz.) and ease-of-use characteristics. The units provide outstanding accuracy of less than three meters (10 feet) when enabled to receive enhanced GPS signals from the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) in the United States. Like all eTrex units, the primary controls are oriented on the side of the unit, so the user can operate it with one hand. An innovative rocker switch is located on the face of the unit that enables the user to input data, scroll through menus or pan the map page.
Other key features of the eTrex Legend C and eTrex Vista C:
— Display: 256-color transflective TFT display (176×220 pixels); 1.3" W x 1.7" H (2.0" diagonally)
— Auto-route basemap: General map data including highways, major roads, rivers, lakes and borders
— MapSource compatibility: City Select(R), U.S. Topo, U.S. Topo 24K, BlueChart(R), Recreational Lakes with Fishing Hot Spots(R)
— Battery life: Up to 36 hours (Legend C) or 20 hours (Vista C) on two AA batteries (typical use)
— Waterproof to IEC 60529 IPX7 standards (submersible in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes)
— Waypoints/Routes/Tracks: 500 with graphic identification / 50
reversible routes / 20 saved tracks, 10,000 trackpoints and TracBack(R) technology
— Sensors (Vista C only): Electronic compass for accurate bearing
information while standing still; barometric altimeter with automatic pressure-trend recorder and elevation computer
— Alarms: Proximity waypoint, anchor drag, and off-course alarms;
built-in alarm clock
— Other features: Selectable audio tones and color schemes; stopwatch; hunting/fishing calendar; sun/moon calculations; trip computer
The eTrex Legend C and eTrex Vista C are expected to be available in July 2004 at a suggested retail price of $374.99 and $428.56, respectively. Each unit will ship standard with a USB PC-interface cable, MapSource Trip & Waypoint Manager CD, lanyard, owner’s manual and quick-reference guide.
Garmin International Inc. is a member of the Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN) group of companies, which designs and manufactures navigation, communication and information devices — most of which are enabled by GPS technology. Garmin is a leader in the general aviation and consumer GPS markets and its products serve aviation, marine, outdoor recreation, automotive, wireless and OEM applications. Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit Garmin’s virtual pressroom at http://www.garmin.com/pressroom or contact the Media Relations department at 913-397-8200. Garmin, eTrex, eTrex Legend, eTrex Vista, Personal Navigator, MapSource, City Select, BlueChart and TracBack are registered trademarks, and AutoLap is a trademark of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries. Fishing Hot Spots is a registered trademark of Fishing Hot Spots Inc.
Notice on forward-looking statements:
This release includes forward-looking statements regarding Garmin Ltd. and its business. Any statements regarding the company’s product introductions and expected product availability dates are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking events discussed in this release may not occur and actual results could differ materially as a result of risk factors affecting Garmin, including (but not limited to) risk factors listed in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 27, 2003 filed by Garmin with the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission file number 0-31983).