Idahogreggory

+1 for Cachemate. I using a Palm Pilot IIIxe running version 4.0 OS. In fact I just purchased two more Palm Pilot IIIxe off eBay (both including shipping for under $30); one for my wife and second for a backup in case one gets broken or simply fails.

When you register your Garmin Etrex Venture HC at Garmin.com you should get a MapSource Unlock code; I did for both of my nuvi 200Ws and my Vista HCx. I know the code works to because I have added Canada, Alaska and Hawaii from City Navigator NT 2008 to the nuvi and all of the contiguous states to my Vista.

The Garmin eTrex Legend HCx is equivalently the same as the the Garmin eTrex Vista HCx without the electronic compass or barometric altimeter. I was originally was going to buy the Legend HCx because I didn't have any interest in the compass or altimeter just the mapping capabilities; I was upgrading from my Magellan 310. However, when I went shopping online I was found the Vista HCx was actually cheaper at the time so I bought it instead. I have only used my Vista HCx a couple of times so far on geo caches, so I am still getting familiar with it and I am not sure whether the electronic electronic compass will be a benefit or just a gimmick like the altimeter. I could only recommend the Vista HCx over the Legend HCx if you think the electronic compass is essential or if you could get it for less then the Legend HCx.

I bought a Vista HCx about three weeks ago and it came with the quick release for the Garmin mounts. I also bought the handle bar mount for my bike and it come with a back, but I have read the old eTrex back does not fit the new Vista HCx ( I haven't tried it yet) and is why the new units come with the quick release that screws into the back above the 1/4 turn back release.

I have both the old topo maps and the 2008, depending on where you are there can be quite a bit if difference between the two. One of the things I noticed right off was that there are more back country roads and trails on the 2008 version. I can easily load the contiguous 50 states on my Vista HCx with the the old topo but I can only load western third of the 2008. I noticed that there is a lot more detail added in the central and eastern regions. If you use memory size as a gage the 2008 map segments range between 2x-4x larger then the old version. It still doesn't match the Delorme Topo USA ( I am still on version 3), but it is quite an improvement and worth the inverstment IMO.

Testing