Garmin eTrex Vista HCx Color High-Sensitivity Mapping Handheld GPS
by Garmin
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin eTrex Vista HCx Color High-Sensitivity Mapping Handheld GPS
Customer Review: Great all around device
Summary: 5 Stars
After tons of research on multi-purpose GPSs, I went with the Vista hcX and i'm very glad I did.
Upon receiving the hcx, it took maybe 20 minutes or so to get a feel for the thing. The manual is not much help, so with some trial and error I was able to figure out the main commands like using the navigation for cars and "Tracks" for hikes/runs/cycling. What was a little confusing is how to start a new session (i.e - for a run/hike). If you press reset in the Trip Computer menu, it will start from scratch and you can start your tracking fresh (applies for both car navigation and by foot/cycle). Then when you're finished with a session, be sure to go to the Tracks menu and click Save. Then you can name the log file to whatever (Run/mtn biking/drive to wherever). The files store as dates and clumps all of the tracks for the day together, i.e - april 17 = 4172009.gpx. For saving map data, I use a 2gb microSD sandisk which works great in the device.
There are no maps preloaded in the hCX. You have the option of buying Topo US 2008 and City Navigator North America, this can get REALLY expensive. City Navigator in my opinion is better for general usage unless you're on the trails most of the time, where TOPO 2008 might be better.
What the manual doesn't tell you is how to switch back and forth between these different map sets(CityNav and Topo). The problem is that the HCX can only use ONE map set (.IMG file) at a time. There's a free program called MAPupload(google it) that allows you to merge .IMG files (what the HCX stores your map sets as) and this is VERY helpful, as you can use the same microSD card for two or more mapsets. Problem solved! This program is necessary unless you want to buy another microSD card to split them up. It takes quite a while for the transfer (using MAPupload), but worth the wait.
What I also really like about this device is it's ability to use the GPS data as GPX files. Most sites(like Motionbased, Mapmyfitness) can use these GPX files to map it out nicely on their site. Although Mapsource, the included software, can be a bit tempermental at times. Instead of doing the "Receive from device" command which the hcx often came up undetected, I ended up simply opening the GPX file straight from the microSD card (File->Open in Mapsource) and there it was with all the average speeds, elevation, maps, etc! From here you can save the file as an individual GPX (since the hcx automatically clumps them all together by day) which you can upload to most GPS websites.
For auto navigation I love that with CityNav, it's basically the same as most auto only GPSes. It beeps at you and the backlight goes on before you make a turn, which is nice. It also recalculates if you go off route. Although you might consider getting the mount unless you want a neck ache from looking down at the the thing while driving.
Lastly for batteries, these things work great with Lithium AA batteries (i.e-energizer). The hCX has a setting for what type of battery you're using under Settings->System. It's important to have the correct battery type selected or it will show as low battery life, which confused me at first as I thought it was the battery. I bought some Rayovac NiMH Hybrid rechargeables and they've worked great so far.
I hope my hours of trial and error could help someone figure out some less than obvious things, or at least discover that this is an extremely handy device to use as an all around GPS tracker.
UPDATE: Well after 6 months of use of the hcx, i'm happy to say it's still running strong and like new. A few weeks ago, the hCX actually saved us in a 4 wheel drive trip in the woods! Long story short, We went 4 wheeling 30 miles deep into dirt roads, and the GPS safely guided us back to the main highway. At times, the hCX would want us to go left at roads that didn't exist (probably the fault of the North America map), but we followed the general direction of the road on the gps toward the highway and it guided us safely back! I also bought this cheap gps mount on ebay for less than 10 bucks from a seller named northstar_gps, and it works great!
Customer Review: Vista HCx
Summary: 5 Stars
Great hand-held GPS... The high-sensitivity receiver picks up the satellite signals even when you're in a building (it works in my house). If you're always in areas without cover (e.g. trees and other obstructions), you don't really need the "H" version. But, you won't be sorry if you get the HCx model - I'm not...Customer Review: Great Until You Fry It By Plugging It In
Summary: 3 Stars
I have had mine for about 9 months now. This morning, I plugged it in to my computer because I wanted to do some geocaching. A few flickrs of the screen later, the device shut off. It hasn't come back on since.
If my navigation device fails on me during casual use how am I supposed to trust it when I would actually need it outdoors?
Customer Review: After you get it ... Free Maps
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had this almost a month now, use it almost every day when I run now to keep track of both my route and statistics. Anyway, just now the battery has gone down a bar. It has amazing sensitivity and battery life.
The worst part to me is that what comes out of the box is an almost empty map. All you see is a blank screen. Does anyone say "Yay, that's just what I wanted!"? One alternative is to buy Garmin's street and topo maps for about the same price as the product. That was not particularly what I wanted to do, and maybe you do get some extra features with that, so if those are worth it to you then be my guest. If what you want to see are the side roads, small streams (even a tiny creek behind my house shows, etc. then you do have another option. Visit this site (http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/19/) and download the 800MB map of the continental US (other world maps are available also). It downloads a ".exe" that you run, and after that when you start the mapsource program that you got on the CD with your eTrex, the ibycus map becomes one of the options on the map source dropdown list. Just click on that, zoom to a level that you see all you want to save to your device, and highlight the sections you want and save them to your device that you plugged in with the USB cable. I took everything east of the Mississippi and it came to less than a gig. That leaves me another gig on my 2G micro SD card for pictures or other maps. You can leave a donation for the map if you want to.
I haven't explored the topo maps yet, but that is coming. I'm sorry but I just can't see paying another $100 for just one map that I think they should have included with the device.
One other peeve I have is that it takes about nine clicks to reset the trip stuff (you have to do this through the trip computer - that will reset tracks and statistics, and you can select exactly what to reset as well). Of course this is offset by being able to change the data fields you see on almost any screen including the main map screen. Hint - when I use it for running or walking, I always keep it on the "trip computer" screen (available from the main menu), then just put it in a pocket or pack and forget about it. When it's on that screen, the cursor button, which is the only control on the front of the unit, becomes ineffectual. So it won't matter if something touches it. If you are on the map screen, you could wind up panning anywhere and setting up random unnamed waypoints. There may also be a way to lock the controls, which would work as well.
All in all, though, when I got it, I just said "wow!"
Customer Review: High Sensitivity is wonderful!
Summary: 5 Stars
After researching a number of units, and having friend recommend this one, and purchased the Vista HCx for Geocaching and have been very pleased. The High sensitivity is amazing compared to the previous GPS I had. I can be sitting in the middle of my house, and it still picks up signal easily. Tree canopy is no problem. I was hoping the base map that comes with the unit would be satisfactory, but it wasn't. However, I found there is an increasing number of public domain free maps becoming available for the Garmin units like this. The SD card storage made it a snap to use maps I downloaded from the internet (after some amount of research using Google). Eventually, I will likely purchase a Garman map. Overall, I'm very pleased with this purchase!