March 12, 2010

Garmin Vehicle Power Cable

Brand: Garmin
Average Rating
23 reviews

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Filed under Etrex Handheld Gps by .

Comments on Garmin Vehicle Power Cable »

February 28, 2010

Warren E. Davis @ 8:01 pm

12 volt adapter cable for GPS
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
With this item, I don’t have to rely onh a battery to run while using the GPS on my Polaris Sportsman 500. Plug it in to the power plug and take off.

March 5, 2010

Robert D. Baker @ 2:43 am

Happy
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The Garmin 12 volt adapter is just what I was looking for, Garmin quality, but at Amazon price. Nice.

March 7, 2010

Don @ 4:11 pm

Good Accessory
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Works as advertised on my 60Cx, I was wondering after reading a review that it didn’t, it does. Using on a motorcycle so I wouldn’t go for the USB power because it seems like it will create a weatherproof seal whereas the USB won’t. It’s a must have for me. 4 stars because of the price, yes it’s steep.

March 15, 2010

Rangerover @ 8:26 pm

Don’t leave home without
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Makes use of GPS in vehicle easy. Keeps batteries available for use on trail. Not big drain on car battery.

March 16, 2010

James Schnack @ 9:58 am

Works as expected
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The cable works just fine. It’s great to be able to have my Garmin Legend turned on for hours while traveling in the car, without the hassle of batteries (rechargeable or not).

April 3, 2010

E. G. Wolf Jr. @ 1:18 am

Works good and saves batteries
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Purchased to save batteries while travelling. LED is a plus letting you know that the unit is working.

Victor Vaughen @ 4:38 am

Garmin Power Cable for Etrex Vista C.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The Etrex Vista C uses a USB port connection to the computer, and the power cable matches the GPS end of the cable. It functions well, supplying power as needed. However, the cable attaches at 90 degrees to the back of the unit. Thus, the GPS cannot lie flat on the dashboard, in contrast with the previous Etrex Vista model.

The user must either buy the Garmin window mount, or come up with a way to hold the GPS unit off the dashoard. I use a dry kitchen sponge wrapped with a strip of rubberized drawer liner. I would have preferred the cable enter the GPS unit parallel with the back.

April 14, 2010

Mac Tech @ 6:20 am

What can you say? It’s a power adapter, gotta have it, and they know it!
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Works fine with my Vista HCx, just way overpriced!

But, it allows the use of the GPS in the car without using your batteries, and is great for turning up the brightness, as others have noted.

Garmin really does need to think some things through however. Both their AC and DC adapters are just that, adapters. The Vista HCx GPS I use accepts rechargeable batteries, but neither of their adapters are designed to charge batteries, but only to supply voltage to operate?! Kind of short-sighted on their part.

Good product, but I’m deducting points for price, and being unable to function as a charger.

April 17, 2010

R. Gardner @ 6:46 am

Beware!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I ordered this item from Electrogalaxy through Amazon.com and received a 110 volt power cable. I’m not sure what it would fit.

Electrogalaxy did not respond to my emails as to getting the right product or determining if the description is wrong. Instead they refunded my purchase, minus the $8 it cost to ship it back to them. This is their stated policy so if you can’t trust them to send the right product, don’t buy from them.

In short, I’m $8 in the hole with nothing to show for it, other than the knowledge to not buy from this company.

I would recommend you email the company before purchasing this item to verify what you are getting.

April 21, 2010

K. Zimmers @ 8:51 am

WAY OVERPRICED
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
No matter how much I want continuous power to my Garmin I just can’t pay that much for a little power cable that costs probably $1 to make. It’s the principle of it.

Instead I did some research and discovered a nifty little item called a USB car adapter for as low as two dollars! – then I can just use the USB cord that came with the unit! Only the wires needed for supplying power are used and not those for the data (they are separate wires in the cord). For more info do a search on Wikipedia for USB, and Goggle and right here at Amazon for USB car chargers.

I found a great dual charging unit elsewhere for $15 including shipping. With the dual unit I can charge my eTrex Vista HCx and phone or PDA, both at the same time. Just make sure the power output is 4.75 to 5.25V, that’s the USB power specification. All but one of the units I found where in the proper power range though one was 7.2V, which is too high.

BTW, the little connector at the eTrex is also a USB connecter, just a different type (shape) then you may be used to. They call it a `mini USB,’ while the larger one on the other end (of the cord that came with the unit) is a `USB type A’, the same you typically see for computers and flash cards. It doesn’t matter though, they are just differently shaped connectors that do exactly the same thing.

Don’t pay Garmin’s outrageous prices. Get a USB car adapter and power your eTrex through the USB cord supplied with your unit. It’s the same as when you plug your unit into your computer’s USB port and the computer supplies the unit with 5V power. Enjoy

May 10, 2010

Sherri A. Misiuk @ 8:45 am

Works Great!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Works Great. Have used this on long trips got geocaching and it saves on batteries.

M. Rouse @ 4:37 pm

faulty adapter
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
If you have Garmin Legend GPS, do not buy this adapter. I purchased it, used it in the truck and every time you turn off and turn on the engine, it will damage GPS. I had my GPS replaced 3 times.

I purchased newer Legend HCx and got it damaged by adapter also. After replacement, I simply use standard cellphone cigarette adapter and haven’t had any problem at all.

May 18, 2010

E. Rehm @ 1:33 pm

Ok Charger
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
It’s fine as a charger but I wish Garmin had designed it as a standard 1 pin charger and placed the access point at he base of the unit not the top rear. Horrible placement. Also cord is way too long and is difficult to get the charger into the usb port. I am also concerned that the constant opening and closing of the rubber flat the waterproofs the usb port will damage it.

May 26, 2010

R. Linder @ 4:32 pm

Saves Batteries
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Whenever you have a portable device that has an available 12V adapter, it’s always a good idea to purchase one and use it on the road or water when you can plug into a 12V socket. You can turn up the screen brightness without using up the batteries. The Garmin eTrex Legend Cx has such amazing battery life, however, that I only have been using it on extended trips.

June 4, 2010

WJT @ 7:54 pm

Adapter is good but…
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
compared to an older model that I have for the early Etrex series this adapter seems to be of a lower build quality. The cord is a smaller diameter and is not as flexible as the previous model; I wonder how it will be when the weather turns cold. But, as I said, it works fine and you really do not have another easy choice if you want to power your GPS from the car.

June 8, 2010

V. Suhocki @ 10:49 pm

Works just as expected
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The cable elecrically works fine. The length (6 ft.)is adequate and it has a little green power LED on the cigarette Lighter plug that indicates the presence of 12 volt power. Appears to be well made.

June 21, 2010

James R. Coleman @ 8:17 pm

Use caution with this item
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I have two of these things. When used with a car lighter outlet, they cause my Legend Cx to overheat. When used with a true 12v. power source, they work fine. Most cars actually run at about 13.6 to 14 volts instead of 12. Garmin is trying hard to help me resolve this, but in the meantime, be aware that certain units may experience problems with this system.

June 25, 2010

fd1 @ 4:09 pm

Its a power cord, what am I supposed to say…?
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
If you’re using your GPS in the car and want to save on batteries I recommend it. My car doesn’t goes with my hiking, and I don’t have an adapter on my snowmobile, mountain bike, or motocross bike so I probably didn’t need it. But hey the cord works like its supposed to when I did use it.

June 26, 2010

Roger Bellinger @ 7:52 am

Way to expensive
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
The trouble with Garmin it charges way to much for all of its add ons. If you were buying this for a cheap radio you could buy it in the dollar store, but because of the interface you have to buy from them.

July 24, 2010

Guy Smith @ 4:36 am

Works great with the Garmin GPS
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This adapter works great with the eTrex… It allows you to set the display lighting on all the time while driving… A big plus for visibility. And it saves on batteries.

The only negative I’ve found so far is that the USB connector fits my blackberry, so I thought I could charge it with this cable. This power adapter must have some curcuitry to detect the load being drawn, though. When my blackberry’s power level is low, the power cable switches off every time I plug the phone in to get recharged.

Overall, no problems using it with the eTrex.

July 25, 2010

John @ 8:13 am

Fantastic on longer trips or for use at night
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I took a six hour road trip last summer and this device was fantastic in that I was able to use the backlight on my Garmin all the way and never had to worry about running down the batteries. I also use it at night when a backlight is pretty much essential. It conveniently plugs into the USB plug on the unit, and works fine with my dashboard mount. Yes, it is expensive, but I told a friend I would get him one for his Garmin as he was going to try and rig up one homemade in the hopes of saving some money. I thought that a car fire or toasting his Garmin is not worth the meager savings, or the risk that his homemade rig could go terribly wrong, so he will have a proper power source for his Garmin this Christmas.

I took one star away because I do think it should have been priced less for what it does.

July 31, 2010

William Kenworthy @ 1:39 am

ease of mind
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I used this item for the first time this last weekend. It was nice feeling that I was not using the batteries up before even getting to our activity center. No need to carry a bunch of batteries along. Good to go.

August 7, 2010

S. Levy @ 2:57 am

Delivers power to Garmin eTrex
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Cable delivers power (as one would expect a power cable to do). No particular “features” to note other than the cable length seems to be quite ample to reach from the lighter socket to the device.

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