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: E-Trex Vista HCx
Summary: 5 Stars
I love the features that the E-Trex has. It has a lot of features, so it takes awhile to figure it all out. Even after a year, I'm still learning ways to navigate through the menus. The only additional map I've bought from Garmin is the city navigator, you will want this if your going to drive with the E-Trex. I also purchased a RAM mount, which I really like. I found some really good quality maps to download to the E-Trex at gpsfiledepot. Just for fun I used it to find the surveyed property markers for my property. The E-Trex was within 24" on all 4 corners.Digital camera Review: Easy to use
Summary: 5 Stars
Bought one for my trip to California. Was a bit put off by the reviews that said it would be hard to use, I think it is very intuitive and has worked great for be. If you use a mac you need to convert the maps using Mapconverter in Windows, which will generate a map file that you can use on the mac. This might be considered a bit of a hassle.
The sensitivity of the GPS is really good, mine localized satellites even when indoors. Battery time is superb.
Only drawback was that it froze a couple of times when I started using it, but since I upgraded the firmware it has worked without problems.
Highly recommended.
Digital camera Review: Ecellent
Summary: 4 Stars
Got this unit because of the small size and thinner profile. I also have the 60CSx and use them both for GeoCaching and in the car as well. The eTrex is as accurate as the more expensive 60 series and actually has a brighter screen [even if it is a little smaller] I'd recommend this to someone looking for an accurate - easy to read - expandable - GPSr for hiking or camping and in car use. I'm glad that I bought this one.
Digital camera Review: Ehh, it's good for the price
Summary: 3 Stars
My wife and I got a dog a few years ago and ever since we have been exploring the local trails and parks within an hour and half drive of our house. In the summer we have been doing 30+ miles a week of hiking. We have been collecting and printing out as many maps as we could find for local trails, some are of better quility than others, so I was pretty excited when my wife bought this GPS for my birthday in 2010. I had used a much older similar version of this GPS a long time and basically all you could do is lay out waypoints and trace your steps as you go. So I was a little dissappointed to find out that GPS wouldn't do much more out of the box.
A week after I got it, I purchased the NorthEast topomap on a microSD card from EMS for $99. With out the topmaps the GPS is almost useless for anything more than back tracing your steps, there are very few reference points included in the OEM software, just the basic shape of the US a few major bodies of water and major higways. They claimed itthe topomap would have trails and street maps for the entire area. The street maps are great but the trail maps are severely lacking.
While I didn't expect every trail to be included I was expecting much more than what was included. We hiked Pack Monadnock in southern NH, which is a very poular state park, I was really dissappointed to find that of the entire park area there was only 2 trails included. Good luck if you plan on finding a small loop trail under 20 miles, none of the minor connecting trails are on the map. So basically even with this GPS and the Topomap, you still need a good paper map to reference and find out where you are.
So I tried making the best of it and decided I would just start logging all of our hikes and naming all of the trails, but then I was dissappointed again to find out that you only have the ability to name a few dozen trails. There maybe funtionality that I am not utilizing but I am fairly certain I've figured this thing out after reading the instructions several times.
Digital camera Review: Essential Gear for fun
Summary: 5 Stars
My recent purchase of this Garmin GPS was an exact replacement for one that was so rudely stolen from the front seat of my car. To me it is essential equipment for having fun...my hiking, road trips, and especially geocaching. It's the perfect size for me to carry hiking, reception of this Vista HCX is much better than previous models, and fun to check out what's at the next exit on road trips. It actually does much more than I do, or know how to do, with it, but easy enough once you get used to it. I truly consider it to be essential rather than luxury in my outdoor fun and adventures.