Garmin eTrex Vista HCx Color High-Sensitivity Mapping Handheld GPS by Garmin
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Digital camera reviews of Garmin eTrex Vista HCx Color High-Sensitivity Mapping Handheld GPS
Digital camera Review: Best buy, the difference between this one and the Cx is notorious!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was a little bit sketipcal when I bought it, but as soon as I turned on
I saw the speed, actually I have both gps, I'm trying the get ride of the Cx. The only thing missing is a termometer and floating.
Anyway I really happy with this item.
felco
Digital camera Review: Best small GPS
Summary: 5 Stars
I always swore by the Garmin GPSMAP 60CSX but now that the updated Vista is out, it is my top recommendation for a small portable unit.
Great software. If you have Topo and City Navigator it has 100% of what you need. Perfect for biking, geocaching, and even used it for driving (small screen though!)
With the updated antenna and firmware, I am even getting GPS fixes inside of my office and home!
Def. recommend.
Digital camera Review: Big Bang for the Buck
Summary: 5 Stars
Recently purchased this item after reading countless hundreds of reviews on various competing products both from Garmin and others. Along with this unit I also purchased a 2GB micro SD memory card (which I would recommend others do as well, you'll need it for maps). I had been looking to replace an earlier generation Garmin GPS for quite a while. Primary use is for hunting and off-road exploits. There seemed to be some growing pains in the hand-held market so I held off initially. I finally settled on the Garmin Vista Hcx. I'm glad I did.
As reviews go, I usually research reviews on just about any product I try. I usually sort reviews from lowest to highest so I can see the bad stuff first. There were a number of negative reviews for this product (still had a high rating, but it also had a lot of reviews too). After having bought the Vista Hcx, and using it a fair bit, I have to say most of the negative reviews aren't really applicable (i.e. must be a malfunction between the user's brain and the unit). Anyway, on with the review...
Pro's - Ease of use. One handed use; you really can operate this thing with only one hand and that is NICE! Color display; easy to read. Accuracy (in fact, it's so accurate that it will send you down a freeway off ramp if you're not careful). Intuitive; after you spend some time with it. Durability; solid little ruggedized, weatherproof, unit. Battery life; I've only used alkalines so far, but they last for many days of use if not on constantly. The 'Trackback' feature is excellent and works well. 'Sight-N-Go' is also another nice feature. Compass and altimeter features are very nice also.
Cons - The Mapsource PC software that came with my unit was terrible! A sixth grader could have written better code. Check for updates as soon as you install it (really, DO). The later versions are much, much, better (ver. 6 and higher). Additionally, the basemap (in the unit) lacks much detail, you almost have to install some kind of map (if you want more than just a basic GPS). Garmin's map software is needlessly expensive (over $100 retail). Fortunately, if you look around there are other maps you can install for much less (free in many cases). Just search the web (can't post links here). Garmin could add a little more detail to the base map though, without comprimising their marketing strategy for the map software. The lack of detail in the base map is almost as if it's a trick to force you into spending another $100+ bucks. Kind of crummy in my opinion. Only other minor annoyance is the backlight setting goes to zero when you turn it off, so when you turn it back on you have to reset the backlight setting (no biggie, but an unnecessary button push.)
Overall & tips - Read the manual(s) and go out and use it. The key to learning this unit is the time spent using it. One tip that may help some troubled users is to understand that the 'menu' key will open up a different menu depending on what screen you're looking at. Open them all so you know what menu performs which function, and how to find it. Another tip would be; the manual doesn't tell you everything the unit will do (not by a long shot). I expected to burn up a couple sets of batteries just pushing buttons to see what each button, menu and function does. This was very helpful. One other note; I run the lasest version of Mapsource on Windows 7 and it does work. I don't do the geocache thing, but it looks to have some pretty good specialized geocache features.
Lastly; price. Seems to me, with all the features you get, the just over $200. I bought right from Amazon, and it showed up quickly and worked like a champ.
Digital camera Review: Bought the Garmin over Magellan
Summary: 5 Stars
Bought the Garmin over the Magellen. For the past 5 years I have been using the Magellan Mariner 330 which has served my purposes, this eTrex Vista HCx is just the greatest upgrade. Coupled with the microSD expansion card, color daylight LCD screen, looooooooong battery life and turn for turn ability I'm a very happy camper. I also purchased the Maps for Topo/City USA. Bought everything from Amazon cheaper and everything was free shipping!
Update..Dec08. Been using this little unit and still find is a great upgrade. Battery life is excellent, bright color screen is great. Small but everything is so sharp and bright I have no problem viewing info.
The turn for turn is a great tool. Swap mirco SD card from Topo to USA and a route is planned very well. Have saved many time in getting to places that "other" people were so sure on how to get there. Thank God no voice."Take turn, make U-turn" Only complant is in the degree of detail the MapSource programs provide. National Geographic topo so much better.
Update April 2010. Still love this little unit, does it all, turn for turn, in topo or street maps. Battery life 25 hours longer.
Digital camera Review: Built-in maps are very sparse
Summary: 1 Stars
Be warned: the promotional pictures of this GPS unit show street-level maps, but the unit as shipped includes only major highways and city names. To get the kind of detail suggested by the marketing pictures on this site, you have to spend more than $100 extra to buy maps.