Brainerd

The MTK chip draws only 1/2 the power of the sirf3 chip. So, you also get better battery life with it.

I also have the WAAS issue. It still may be working on your unit after you enable it. It's my understanding the a satellite's signal is error corrected with a WAAS signal when a "D" is in is strength of signal bar. This takes a little bit after enabling the WAAS. I've also started using Eneloops. Great batteries. Sanyo is the top producer and after many years of experimentation, I won't buy another brand. The Eneloops have a very slow self-discharge rate, so they will remain charged in the drawer. The regular Sanyo's have about 700mAh more that the Eneloops (rated at 2000mAh). So, if you charge them often, get the regular Sanyo's. If you don't want to get caught without fresh rechargables, get the Eneloops. No idea on hours on the Eneloops. I've used my HCx for over 5 hours (with 50% backlight set at 30 sec., and finally one of the battery status bars has gone away. **Make sure you change your battery type to NiMH in the "Setup...System" menu. The discharge characteristics of alkaline and NiMH batteries are very different. Auto-routing. Wow is it fast. I had a 60cs and it was quick. From memory, I would say the HCx is at least twice as fast. Also, when recalculating (If I purposely miss a turn) happens so fast that the "calculating" status bar just pops on and goes away. It's that quick.

I bet you're right. The software guy I spoke with was working with getting me a new unlock code. So, he may not be familiar with the HCx.

I just spoke with Garmin (to get an unlock code for my City Select 6) and I asked them about the WAAS issue. This rep. wasn't appraised of it specifically, but he did confirm that "internally" they have version 2.70 of the unit software. It is not available online (or for him to e-mail me), but it is good news that a new version is in the works. My unit arrived today with version 2.20. My HCx is great. very fast and light. I'm getting 6 satellites from inside my apartment. The error is +- 68 ft. But, it's amazing that I get a fix at all on the 1st floor of a 3 story apt. building. The WAAS turn off issue does occur. I plan to do some caching with it this afternoon. Yee-Ha.

Here's a link to an English Translation of the German comparison page.

My tracking information from offroute.com just changed from "Pending" to "Processing." The Shipment date, which originally was the 24th, and then the 25th, has changed to "Packing for Shipment." Yee-ha! Looks like I'll be getting it buy the end of the week. Their tracking info has been pretty accurate. If you order one today, it should ship on or before the 31st. The price is still $234.95.

I thought of doing that, but I'm holding on. The ship date listed on my order tracking is the 25th. It's my understanding, that the ship date of the 31st is for orders placed today. They expect delivery from Garmin on Tuesday or Wednesday, but all of those units have been spoken for by those who placed their orders earlier. I'll let you know on Wednesday if I'm correct.

I agree. I have a Nuvi 350. I tried to use it geocaching. Not recommended. Even with 500+ find, I was very frustrated with the Nuvi. It is fabulous for driving. For geocaching, get the Legend or Vista HCx. I've got a Vista on order.

These models just came out. They are hard to find new. I pre-ordered my Vista HCx on the 9th and I'm still waiting for it. Good luck. it will probably be at least a year from now when used ones become available.

Actually, I believe that the "x" is for "expandable." It means the unit takes external memory such as a flash card for map data.

It's also in stock at Offroute.com (Legend HCx)

The Legend and Vista HCx 's are also smaller, so they are nice on the trail. Their battery life is near double the other units listed.

2 GB is probably the limit. This is from Garmin's Web site (FAQ link from the Vista HCx page. "Question: What is the largest size microSD card that I can use in my X-series GPS unit? Answer: At this time, the 2 GB cards are the largest microSD cards that can be used for the X-series GPS units. However, the X-series GPS units are not compatible with the San Disk Ultra II cards and therefore we do not recommend using the Ultra II micro SD cards with any of the X units. Last modified on: 06/01/2007"

I echo these remarks. I used to have a 60CS and used it for both road and trail. It was very good at both. After it was stolen from my car, I replaced it with a Nuvi 350 and I have ordered a Vista HCx. The Nuvi excels on the road, and the advantages listed above makes the HCx a better choice for me on the trail. I'm chomping at the bit for Offroute.com to send me mine!

I'm in the same boat from offroute. I downloaded the Vista Cx manual to get ahead before the HCx arrives. Vista Cx Manual

I agree... Here's a good place to get them: Eneloop at Thomas Distributing As stated above "the key-advantage of the Eneloop compared to usual rechargeable batteries is its extremely low self-discharge." They may have less capacity, but with the discharge rate of traditional NiMH's the Eneloops will usually have more of a charge when you grab for them. I've got two waiting for my new Vista HCx.

the vista hcx was considerably more on the same site... still not the best price. vista hcx only please. Yep. The Vista HCx is $259.40 from PcNation.com

Everything is the same except the Vista also has an electronic compass and a barometer.

I've ordered one from Offroute.com (Vista HCx link) to replace a 60cs that was stolen from my car. Looking forward to the smaller size and improved receiver. Here's a good price comparison site for the memory. I order a 2GB just days ago. - Dealram microSD prices

Here's a good price comparison site for the memory. I order a 2GB just days ago. Dealram microSD prices

Bump... Harrumph. Harrumph. This one is going back a long time. I remember when the non-geocaching.com cache alert service was put out of business, we were told that something better was in the works. Is it still being worked on? What is the ETA? It was really fun to run into fellow cachers at a new cache. The "New" new cache alert tool is something that many premium members have been waiting for. If it is not going to be implemented this year, is it possible to post the new caches on the homepage, so that the old service can be restarted until geocaching.com's version is active?

Welch touched upon the issue... Your dad's license for City Select will permit him to unlock it on two units. Yours would be #2. If he buys a new unit, he would not be able to unlock the maps for it.

I upgraded from 4.01 to 6. When I "installed" 4.01, it removed MapSource, too. Because I used the upgrade version of 6, my original full version must remain installed in order for it to run. I had to re-install everything. I imagine that you can delete the "data folder that was mentioned in the log above. Just make sure that you are only deleting the maps and not the install and program running files.

Thanks. So, basically it's similar to what I am doing now. GSAK will be doing the same thing for me as Spinner. Then I will still have to run plucker. I was hoping that I could do it all within GSAK.

Hi Ed, I'm currently using Plucker, on my computer and on my palm powered cell phone. I just did an export of html files to a folder on my computer. How do I upload those to my Palm? What "browser program" do I need on my palm to read the files. I am currently using Plucker on my Palm. Tom