[pct-l] Altimeter watches, GPS

[vichanson at hotmail.com (Vic Hanson)]

I'm looking a getting a new altimeter watch and see that Campmor has the 
Nike ACG Ascent Compass Watch on sale for $80 and the High Gear AXIS Wrist 
Computer for $90 (both with altimeter and compass). Does anyone have 
experiance with either of these? I currently have the Timex Helix but it 
drifts alot. I finally realized that the indicated altitude is affected 
greatly by the tempature. Is this the case with all altimeter watches? The 
Nike says it has "zero drift technology. I'm wondering if it works?

I am also thinking about getting a GPS, looking at the Garmin eTrex Legend 
and Venture, both without altimeter as I have that on the watch, which seems 
more practical as it is always "on" and easy to see. The main differences 
that I see is that the Legend has 8 MB of memory verses the Venture's 1MB 
and also has the Americas base map included. How much memory is needed 
(specifically for the PCT map) and is the Americas base map of any value?

Thanks for any help.

Vic
PCT Class of '06