Garmin eTrex Vista HCx Color High-Sensitivity Mapping Handheld GPS
by Garmin
|
List Price: Our Price: $186.18 You Save: $113.81 (38%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $160.00 (click here) Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin eTrex Vista HCx Color High-Sensitivity Mapping Handheld GPS
Customer Review: good - not great
Summary: 3 Stars
Overall the Garmin eTrex Vista HCx is a good - not great - product. The high-sensitivity receiver is the most important point. Even with heavy brush and tree cover (or in a car or house) the unit keeps on track. AA batteries, Waterproof, PC interface, Ability to add maps... like Topo... great. I'm not sure if the extra expense for the Electronic compass and Barometric altimeter were worth the money. They have to be recalibrated all the time. Legend vs. Vista. The "enter/rocker key" sticks out too far and snags on everything. If you want to protect the unit by placing it into a pouch the key gets activated and the map goes to the edge of the world. I taped a flip-up bonnet over the key to protect it. (bonnet = plastic bubble from a blister pack - hey, it works). I didn't have this problem on my old eTrex Legend with the same type key.
The 3D or "highway" view is worthless... no streets, roads, or trails even with maps loaded. I called Garmin about this. I called Garmin about transferring my unlock code from my retired etrex Legend to my new Vista. Sorry, but for another $99 they will sell me a new unlock code WITHOUT updated software. The free update is for only 1 unit even if you paid for several unlock codes.
If I had it to do over again I think I'd wait till the Magellan Triton comes out.
Customer Review: Garmin eTrex Vista HCX
Summary: 5 Stars
When I purchased this unit at Amazon the price was $199.00. The shipment arrived on time via USPS which took about 9 days with the super saver shipping option. I prefer UPS and choose to use UPS from now on. This GPS worked as advertised. No problems so far. I was able to download free NorthAmerica City Navigator NT from a torrent site, but I also ordered and received the latest microSD card for the unit with the same city maps preloaded. The version of map I got for free was not current. I tried to find topo maps for free somewhere on the net, but have been unable to do so. The unit seems to be accurate to within 13 feet as described by technical specifications of the unit. The battery life seems to be amazing which was an important purchasing decision point for me. The backlight is very good and the color display although small is very good. I have used it on some hikes so far and a short camping trip. I also have used it in a vehicle to help me find restaurants in an unfamiliar city. Worked great! This unit tells you when to turn in advance and is accurate to within a couple seconds with its turn commands. I did a lot or shopping before deciding on this particular model. The other acceptable model for my needs was the Garmin 60csx, but costs about $100 more than this Vista HCX. Not worth it in my opinion.Customer Review: good features, but not as one would think for the price
Summary: 3 Stars
After doing quite a bit of research, I decided to buy the Garmin eTrex Vista HcX,
which basically seemed like the top of the line for a hiking/handheld GPS.
Although all the features are there, not all of them work as effectively as one would hope.
I bought also a topo map of Germany.
Negatives:
Transfer time for about 10% of the map from my computer to the GPS took over 3 hours!
So VERY slow data transfer.
Also scrolling on a highly detailed map is very slow. One has to wait several seconds (8-10), for
the new part of the map to be rendered.
Also the least important negative. This GPS is mainly for hiking, but it does have a road routing function.
Where supposedly it can give you road directions to go from some point a to b.
This function is embarrassingly bad, where I either the system cannot compute this, or gives some crazy route
which is 4-5x longer than some obvious route one would pick. I didnt actually buy the system for this routing
function, but including it with the GPS when it functions so badly, is just embarrassing.
Positives:
Otherwise the etrex Vista does what it says. Its a good detailed GPS, color screen, compass, pressure gauge, altimeter, and does have the claimed battery life.
Customer Review: Etrex Vista Review by a Newbie
Summary: 4 Stars
Hi,
As a first time user of this or any GPS product, I find the product very useful. It is actually easy to use but the ease of use is made difficult by lack of instructions. The instructions are not very helpful for a 1st time user. Here are some comments I have on what the package lacks:
1. The GPS unit does not come with any external memory. While it only fully functions with an external memory (to store maps) in it, I would think that the manufacturer should at least include even a 32mb microSD card with it at least to store basic maps.
2. The instructions on 1st time use are not really very helpful. First of all, it does not mention clearly that you need to install an external memory (microSD) card to make it fully functional.
3. While the mapsource CD is included, it should at least have a tutorial on loading maps and guiding the user with simple functions between marking waypoints and uploading them to mapsource or loading maps to the GPS unit.
Overall, once I learned to use the unit (or at least I think I now know how to use some of its basic functions), I think this unit is very nice and useful. I plan to use it for my bike trails as well as 4x4 trails and it will fit perfectly with the intended use I plan for it.
Customer Review: Great Mapping Device, poor choices in map downloads
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had my Garmin eTrex for about two months now and by itself it's good product, but when you couple it with a fully functioning map software, it's great. It's small, compact, easy to use, and you can carry it with you anywhere. There's just couple of things to be aware of. When I purchased the eTrex I assumed the mapping software included in the purchase was sufficient to guide you almost anywhere. I was wrong. You almost have to purchase the mapping software, in order to get up to date information on locations, waypoints, areas of interest etc. That's an additional $100. But you have to be careful which of the three choices you choose. Down loadable directly to the device, a CD Rom, or a SD card preloaded with the software. I chose the down loadable version which took several hours to download via FIOS connection, only to find it was not compatible with the software that Garmin provide at the time of purchase. The way to go is to get the CD rom so you can manipulate the information on the computer that you would like to see on the hand held. So the software that I have on my computer that Garmin provided is virtually useless without some type of mapping software. I would prefer that Garmin package the software and the device together, but I imagine the price would not make it conducive to the consumer.