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palmfish

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Everything posted by palmfish

  1. Mine hung on the "Transferring Data" screen too. Although it seems to be working fine (and shows version 2.60), I'm a little concerned about it not "rebooting" automatically. How can I be sure everything loaded up properly and completely?
  2. "And then my Vista arrived yesterday, and things went downhill. 1) The interface is a little different than the Legend. 2) I put the Vista in my Garmin holster and it doesn't fit as well. It makes it very awkward to use the menu and power buttons, and the rocker. 3) I tried doing a multi-cache this afternoon, and the compass was abysmal. From stage 1 to stage 2, it took me in a triangle. However, I hadn't calibrated the compass first, so maybe it will do better tomorrow when I give it another chance. 4) I find it annoying that I have to change the backlit every time I turn it on. Maybe I've missed something, but I keep setting it to 55% and every time I turn the unit it, it is back down to 0." 1) The PN-20 will be completely different. You'll get the hang of the Vista HCx in no time. 2) The PN-20 is taller, wider, and thicker than the Vista HCx, and doesn't even have a thumbstick. It probably won't fit in your Garmin holster at all. 3) You do need to calibrate the compass. It takes about 20 seconds. 4) After you turn on your Vista HCx and the "welcome screen" goes away, simply press the "on/off" button once to get the backlight "slider" to appear. Now press the "on/off" button a few times and you'll see the backlight slider switches from "off" to "your preset" to "100%" each time you press the button. So if you want the screen to be at 55%, press the on/off button twice (to get the slider to your preset position) and then press "enter" (the thumbstick). It's sounds convoluted in text, but it really just takes 3 seconds - it'll become second nature in no time. Bottom line? I think you're disappointed because you expected the Vista to be basically the same as your old Legend. It's not - it is vastly superior in every way and it will take a little playing with to get the hang of it. Any way you slice it though, it's more like your old Legend than the PN-20 will be.
  3. I'm not sure what I'm doing different from everyone else, but I just took a short walk with my Vista HCx and had no problems. I varied my walking speeds and my GPS indicated pretty much any speed between 0.8 and 1.9 MPH (it's tough to go steady slow, but to be specific, I saw with my own eyes 0.8, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 1.5, 1.8, and 1.9 displayed). Below 0.8 it would just drop to 0.0, but really, how important can this possibly be? I don't know if this matters, but I do have City Navigator 2008 installed. Maybe CN adds more tracking accuracy somehow? 1 - Approx. Date Of Purchase? December 07 2 - Purchase Location? REI 3 - Unit Software Version? 2.40 4 - GPS SW Version? 2.30 5 - Unit ID? 336770XXXX 6 - Have you updated the firmware yourself? Yes 7 - Have you noticed the Trip Computer bug firsthand? No 8 - Does your typical usage depend on the Trip Computer function? No 9 - Have you contacted Garmin about the issue? No
  4. Doh - I'm such an idiot! Yup, now I remember. I saw that part when I opened the box and then forgot about it. Problem solved - thanks! P.S. Do you plug your Vista in when driving? I'm wondering if using the AC adapter will keep the backlight on all the time automatically (as opposed to manually selecting that option in the menu) so I can see the screen better (especially at night).
  5. I purchased a windshield mount for my Garmin eTrex Vista HCx only to discover that the back plate doesn't fit over the battery compartment. It turns out that the Vista's SD Card slot sticks out to the side a little and the windshield mount back plate doesn't accommodate this. I confirmed that I did purchase the correct mount (I obtained the part # from the Garmin website). It seems to me that I can't be the first person to windshield mount an eTrex, so before I call Garmin support, I thought I would see if anyone here has already figured out the solution (besides trimming the back plate with a Dremel tool Thanks!
  6. Out of curiosity, I went to Newegg's website to look at the photo of the Triton. I searched and searched and couldn't find any reference to the Triton even existing, let alone being out of stock. I think somebody should get their $50 restocking fee back...
  7. Well, I just bought City Navigator V8 for my Vista HCX and am installing it on my PC right now. I paid $105 for it. I could have bought this remanufactured Streetpilot i3 from Amazon.com for $120... http://www.amazon.com/Streetpilot-Reman-Fu...6449&sr=8-2 In the end, I decided I wanted it all in one unit and I also wanted the superior receiver chipset and current "City Navigator" vs. "City Select" mapping software. I still think the low-end Garmin car GPS units are a screaming deal and may yet pick one up...
  8. I bought my first GPS unit (Garmin Vista HCx) two days ago and my original plan was to purchase City Navigator software to round out its capabilities for geocaching and general traveling. If I decided to do this, I think I would outfit my Vista with City Navigator, a windshield mount, and 12v car adapter to make it a serviceable street navigator. Total price would be about $150. However, browsing online, I see I could purchase a refurbished low-end Streetpilot for between $110 and $170 (depending on model). A Streetpilot would include the software and car accessories, plus have a larger screen and voice prompts. This got me thinking... Why would anyone EVER purchase City Navigator for a handheld when a Streetpilot (especially a refurbished unit) can be purchased for about the same amount of money? I'd appreciate some wisdom from folks that have use both setups to help me consider the pros/cons of each option and make a choice. Great forums by the way! I've been lurking for a weeks learning and looking forward to participating. I finally went out yesterday and found my first cache.
  9. I spent a week in Mystic back in July and I thought I had found every restaurant. Looks like I missed a good one...
  10. How about this: the choice a newbie might be offered between the eTrex and the eTrexH. Choosing the eTrex will ALWAYS be a bad choice for everyone, would you not agree? There is no possible way that choosing the basic eTrex (as the lineup currently stands) is a good choice. Ever. Someone who doesn't need the high sensitivity receiver might choose the eTrex for its superior battery life.
  11. Pardon my ignorance, but regarding paperless caching, can you also use the PDA for primary mapping (street and topo) and navigating? For example, could you place a handheld GPSr on your dashboard (basically using just the built in antenna and receiver), and then use an interface cable to your PDA and use the PDA for on screen navigation? Could I use this setup in the car, and then when I reach the trail, just unplug the PDA, grab the GPSr and follow the arrow? I'm wondering because I'm looking at purchasing a GPSr and comparing a $300 "do-it-all" handheld such as a GPSMAP 60CSx vs. buying a $100 eTrexH plus a PDA.
  12. I appreciate the feedback I've gotten so far, thanks. Any more paper caching enthusiasts with comments? Actually Sputnik57, you reminded me of another question I have. I noted that one could also copy and paste the cache coordinates into Google Earth, print the satellite image, and hit the road without ever using a GPS receiver. It doesn't sound like much of a challenge to me (and my kids wouldn't learn much about land nav/dead reckoning), but I'm wondering if anyone does t this way - or is that considered cheating somehow?
  13. I discovered geocaching last weekend when a friend brought me along to look for some caches. We printed out 4 cache pages, grabbed a paper 1:50,000 topo map, and hit the road with his Garmin Legend. When we had found our 4 caches, I was ready for more, so we went to the public library (in the area where we had been hunting), got online, and printed out a few more cache pages. I enjoyed the day so much that I've decided to buy a handheld GPS and take my kids (7 and 10) geocaching. But I've gotta say, I've been doing a lot of reading here over the last few days learning about GPS units and the geocaching community, and I'm getting turned off by all the talk about GPS mapping, electronic compasses, mapping software, waypoints, etc. Seriously, maybe I'm just old-school, but what's wrong with getting a basic GPS unit, a paper map, and hitting the road? I liked the whole "treasure hunt" feel of the day, and it seems to me that we'll have more fun and my kids will learn more about land navigation by using paper and pencil. Am I missing something? Do I really need to keep a file with 500 waypoints in my hip pocket at all times? Are there any experienced geocachers out there that purposely haven't "moved up" to advanced mapping GPS units because they just plain enjoy having a real map in their hands? Thanks in advance for the feedback and happy hunting.
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