Where do I even begin?
After nearly seven years of faithful service, both my old Garmin eTrex 30 and the 30x started showing wear, specifically, holes forming in the silicone bumper. While they still function perfectly, I know it’s only a matter of time before water or dust sneaks in and kills them for good, leaving me stranded in the middle of nowhere. To avoid that fate, I decided to upgrade to the eTrex 32x last November.
Unfortunately, the new device came with a bizarre and frustrating issue. It would randomly power off—about every 10 to 15 minutes during my rides. This was especially maddening when navigating through busy city traffic, as I’d suddenly find myself stranded on the side of the road, trying to figure out where to go next. Lots of backtracking, lots of frustration.
To make matters worse, it had another inexplicable flaw: it wouldn’t connect to my MacBook if an SD card was inserted. So every time I wanted to load maps or routes, I had to remove the SD card and use a separate adapter. Alternatively, I could skip the SD card entirely and load everything directly onto the unit, but if the device failed, I’d lose all my data. Not exactly a confidence-inspiring backup plan.
Since it was still under warranty, I returned it and soon received a brand-new eTrex 32x.
Excited and hopeful, I didn’t change any settings, I just took it straight out of the box and on a few rides. And at first, it seemed fine… until it started powering off randomly again. Not every 10 – 15 minutes this time, but still about once an hour, enough to be frustrating and disruptive.
So back it went. I’m now waiting for yet another replacement.
Honestly, I’m baffled. I’ve been using eTrex units since 2012, and both my older models (the 30 and 30x) are still working flawlessly – apart from the wear on the bumper. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have even considered upgrading.
For now, I’ll just slap a silicone cover over the 30x and take it along for my next ride. It may be old, but at least it works.