Garmin Geko 201 Handheld GPS Navigator (Lime Green)
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Manufacturer: Garmin
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Garmin Geko 201 Handheld GPS Navigator (Lime Green)
The Garmin Geko 201 is one of the smallest and lightest waterproof GPS units on the market. This inexpensive unit has a sleek design and a simple operating system and is WAAS-enabled with an accuracy of 10 feet or less. With its distinctive canopy-green case, the powerful Geko 201 allows for ample waypoint and route storage, making it a perfect entry-level handheld GPS unit for basic navigation.
 Map page. View larger. |
 Compass display. View larger. |
The Geko 201 packs easy-to-use GPS navigation into an affordable, handheld device. View larger. |
The Garmin Geko 201 features a user-configurable trip computer with 500 user waypoints that allow up to 20 reversible routes, as well as an automatic track log with up to 10,000 trackpoints and 10 savable tracks that let you retrace your path in both directions. This unit also includes external ports that provide an external power connection and allow for PC connectivity–making it a breeze to upload software upgrades.
The Garmin Geko 201 has five keys located on the front of the unit for easy one-hand use that allows the user to quickly access all of the unit’s functions. The Geko 201 has a 64 x 100 pixel, high-contrast display for easy viewing and is powered by only two AA batteries (not included) that can run for up to 12 hours. In addition, the Geko 201 boasts an upcoming-turn feature that alerts the user of the next turn within 15 seconds by bending the compass arrow in the direction of the next waypoint.
Not just a regular navigational aid, the Garmin Geko 201 also includes four fun, interactive games that transform the great outdoors into a virtual board game. Enjoy a good workout while chasing a virtual lizard in Geko Smak, match symbols in a grid version of Memory Race, navigate to reference points without crossing one’s trail in Nibbons, and collect symbols along a path in Virtual Maze.
Designed with the user in mind, this Garmin GPS unit weighs a light 3.1 ounces with batteries, and measures a pocket-size 1.9 by 0.96 by 3.9 inches (W by D by H). The Geko 201 is waterproof to IPX7 standards, meaning it can be submerged down to one meter of water for up to 30 minutes, and is rugged enough to endure the most trying use. And the Geko 201 provides that most critical of benefits–peace of mind. With the Geko 201 you will always know where you are, where you have been, and where you are going. And since you will always know the way back home, you can concentrate on what you set out to do–explore the outdoors.
What’s in the Box
Geko 201 GPS receiver and manual.
Gekos are the smallest and lightest waterproof GPS units on the market - inexpensive, with sleek designs and simple operating systems.With its distinctive canopy-green case, the powerful Geko 201 allows more waypoint and route storage, as well as available PC and external power connectivity, and built-in WAAS capability. In addition, the Geko 201 boasts a user-configurable trip computer, 10,000 trackpoints, a new upcoming-turn feature, as well as PanTrack and TracBack.The Geko 201 also includes four fun, interactive games that transform the great outdoors into a virtual board game. Enjoy a good workout while chasing a virtual lizard in Geko Smak, match symbols in a grid version of Memory Race, navigate to reference points without crossing one’s trail in Nibbons, and collect symbols along a path in Virtua Maze.
Garmin Geko 201 Handheld GPS Navigator (Lime Green) Features:
- Compact 12-channel GPS receiver with high-contrast display (100 x 64 pixels)
- WAAS-enabled for 3-meter accuracy
- Stores 500 waypoints and 20 routes with 125 waypoints per route
- Easy operation: five buttons for one-hand use
- 12-hour operation on 2 AAA batteries; includes serial PC interface
Garmin Geko 201 Handheld GPS Navigator (Lime Green) Reviews
Garmin Geko 201: great for exercise and learning about GPS
I bought a class set of these for a teacher workshop mostly because they were inexpensive. But I stepped up from the basic Geko 101 which does not include PC data exchange. The Geko series is the smallest and lightest GPS receiver I have seen that has a display (i.e. is not a bluetooth GPS). Its smaller than many cell phones. As well as being lightweight, its waterproof and rugged so its great for mtn biking and trail running. I also connect it to my laptop with MS Streets and Trips for car navigation. My favorite thing to do is record a track of my running and bike routes and overlay it on Google Earth. The only thing it lacks which is common in other receivers is the ability to upload maps to the device. But the devices that have this feature (like the eTrex series) are twice the size. One strange thing happened with these… when a group of five of us were walking with them in a lightly forested area, some people would lose sattelites or have different estimated accuracies. I thought they might be the same… but that may be common to all receivers. Using my own Geko 201, I’ve not had too much difficulty finding sattellites.
cool gadget
compact,accurate and fun. i reccomend to anyone thinking they might want or need a gps unit. i’ve also dicovered geocaching. this is most likely what i will use it for. it also measures speed and distance that i may use to check customers cars when they question the accuracy of their speedometers.(got a ticket)
What it does, it does very well and it’s fun
Here’s my recommendation in case you don’t want to read the whole review: If you don’t want or need extra functions, this is a capable basic GPS unit. And it is small enough there is no excuse to not bring it. Just remember to store you car’s location *before* you start your hike…
Here’s what it can do:
It gets positions quickly and in moderate tree cover. I can get a lock easily through a wood & asphalt composite roof, even WAAS information most of the time. Naturally, in trees where you cannot see landmarks is where you want a GPS unit to work, so I give this some weight. I have an older GPS that only works in situations where I don’t really need it. The Gecko gets better reception that my Garmin Vista.
You can store and use waypoints, and tracks. I can easily tell one side of a 2 lane street from the other when looking at a track. The user interface for looking for waypoints (and the interface in general) seems pretty easy to use. Although the names of the way points have to be short.
It is small enough, fast enough, and accurate enough that I have considered (but not yet tried) to use it to store my car’s location when at a shopping mall. My typical hiking use is to store my car’s location when I start my hike. Then I use the unit to get distances and bearings from the car for navigation, since most paper park maps I get have the parking lot marked on them prominately. (Use the “goto” funtion to get the info.)
Battery life seems to be most of a day with non-rechargable batteries (2 AAA’s). Carrying spares while hiking is light enough that I would do it just so I don’t have to throw out partially good batteries to have a fresh set when I start. And I can change batteries during a hike since the memory is maintained during a battery change. Re-acquiring a lock is fast enough that it is fesible to leave the unit off when you’re not using it.
I have a computer with a serial port and have been using the Garmin mapping software with it. Although you cannot load maps to it, you can load routes (of the point to point type, no road following here) and way points. It can be moderately useful in driving if used to remind you where, and in what direction to turn. But with no map it cannot help if you get lost other then to tell you where you need to be. You can also download waypoints and tracks to the computer to store them. But the software to do this costs about as much as the Gecko, so I give this little weight in my review.
Short battery life
Using Rechargeable AAA batteries, with the Battery Saver feature turned on, about two hours. Sometimes I get more using alkalines, but not much more. Honestly, this unit is worthless, because I can’t trust the batteries.
Order a Garmin Etrex Legend instead. It isn’t much more expensive, larger or heavier, and it includes a base map of roads, towns, and shorelines. The Legend comes with a cable to transfer data from your computer. The Legend’s screen is a bit larger, but shows much more detail. And - the batteries last hours and hours.
Small, accurate, very user friendly
Many years ago when I lived in Utah I used a Garmin 12XL for exploring the desert areas. I sold that when I moved to Illinois as what little public land space there is has well marked trails.
A few months ago however, I decided to purchase a Geko 201 to work as trip odometer for my main exercise which is walking around our small town or on country roads. I was very surprised to see how well this GPS worked in comparision to the 12XL. It seems much faster at acquiring satellites and is more accurate. It does as well, if not better, under trees. The trip odo feature is easy to use and all the info you need to check your workout; such as distance, avg speed, and time moving is on one screen.
I also tried it on a business trip to find my way back to my motel from a location across a good-sized town. Instead of backtracking the indirect route I used following freeways to get to the location, I wanted the GPS to show me the shortest way back on city streets. It has no map feature but just using the arrow to judge which way to turn got my right to the front door with no problems at all. I also found it even worked sitting on the console of my car!
Two small downsides: The track feature that shows a breadcrumb trail of where you have been is so small it is pretty much useless. However, that is a trade off I will take for the small size of the GPS. If there is a way to manually plug in coordinates for a place you want the GPS to guide you to I have not found it.
I highly recommend this GPS, as for its intended use, it is close to perfect.
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