garmin etrex summit HC Field GPS?

I have a 10 year anniversary gift coming from work. This is one of the gifts. I don't own a gps system for fishing. How will this do? Is it worth getting? Here are the specs:
Garmin eTrex Summit HC Field GPS Navigator. Features 2.3" color TFT display, 24 MB memory, built-in base maps of North and South America, and holds 500 waypoints. Waterproof. WAAS enabled. Accurate to three meters. Compatible with most Garmin MapSource products. Includes carry case, belt clip, cig lighter adapter. 4.2" x 2.2" x 1.2"

Can you use mapcards from lakes? I don't know a thing about these systems. Help, please.

Bassky

Garmin makes good equipment, but I am partial to Lowrance for marine applications. If you want a hand held unit, you may want to consider a Lowrance Ifinder H2O. This is a nice unit and works well with both Lowrance's hotspot fishing pro map card or navionics and it is very water proof.

If you want a unit that gives you turn by turn directions in the car and can be used for marine applications as well, I would suggest the Lowrance XOG. It is water resistant, but not submergable like the H2O unit. I just bought one of these units and I love it. It is a little more confusing to use than my Garmin GPS for the car, but it is an excellent all around unit. Best of all, you can get it from Bass Pro right now for $159. 6 months ago it was around $279. Good luck!

Thanks for the reply. The key here is that it is free, I am not buying a new GPS. I just need some understanding on how they function and will work when fishing.
Thanks,
Bassky

I second the Lowrance H2O. May get the garmin and sell it on ebay, then buy the H20 for about the same amount.

I have a Garmin hand held and a Lowrance unit on the boat and love both the Garmin is easy to operate. I used the garmin in the boat before I got the lowrance and it worked ok there to went with the lowrance on the boat because it has a bigger screen.

With this kind of handheld gps system can you download lakemaps like Hotspots? If so, how would you do it, with a sbs cable?
Bassky

yes garmin has hotspots you load on your pc and then to your unit.