I haven't used the Etrex, but have been regularly using a Garmin 12, ca 1997, for the last 5 years, and am quite impressed with its features, durability, battery life, and ease of use. Heavy timber can make it take a while to locate or even disallow it alltogether, depending also on the terrain (mountains shadowing the lower sattelites, etc). I very much approve of the dust-proof, water-proof, semi-armored construction, and the fact that it uses easily-replaced AA batteries (4). Backlit at night is a nice feature, too. Name was derived from 12 satellite capability.
Back then, it was a steal at ~$180.
I'm sure that the technology's changed over the past few years, but if Garmin's on the same track they were on back then, they're the stuff to go with, IMHO.