highrolla7

I dont recall ever getting an email. I just showed up one day after work and found a box from amazon, with the GPS in it (appoximately 5 weeks from when I first used the card). To be honest I had forgotten all about it- didnt really know if it was legit or not. Worked great!! Now... what to do with the Vista HCX when not geocashing.....

I also did the free nuvi deal. I already had the vista hcx and I use the Nuvi for going paperless. I still use the Vista as my main geocaching GPSr but I use the nuvi for the car and I just pull it out of my backpack when ever I need more info on a cache. there is a macro plugin that you can use with GSAK that loads all of your caches with all the info, spoiler pics and logs automatically. excellent! I'll check out the plug in. Having 2 GPSs seems overkill, but now I can use both which will work great! Thanks for the heads up

I have a buddy that had an earlier model and has never had a problem. But like him, I never leave mine in the sun or a hot car. I keep it in the protective case at all times unless I need to change batteries of course. Had mine for a while and havent had a problem either. I honestly think heat can kill just about everything, including the rubber on the etrex's. It does make sence, like vinyl, rubber contracts and expands with temperature (from what I have been told)

I have only used handheld units in the past, currently using a Vista HCX with CN 08 NT, but wow, this NUVI is great! So much easier to use in the car and it even talks to you. The screen is big and bright, directions are perfect! Now Im wondering why Im invested in the Vista HCX, I guess I need to do some more hiking or something.....

After some of you guys had good luck with the free NUVI 200 giveaway, I decided to give it a go. Signed up, which does include your personal info (which made me nervous at first). But, I figured Discover is a big name company and wouldnt mind having a Discover card anyway. Signed up for it and bought grocerys and a tank of gas. Not exactly sure how long ago it was, (maybe 2 months ago or so) and I get a box in the mail, which is a brand new NUVI 200. Unbelievable. I figured I would get junk mail for sure and havent yet (well anymore than I already do), and never get a junk call on my cell phone because I didnt use my correct cell phone number. I am normally pretty reluctant about these things, but I actually like my Discover card and didnt have to jump through hoops or anything to get a GPS. This NUVI goes well with my Vista HCX, which Im letting the 'ol lady use. Im not recommending this at all, just told everybody I would report back on my personal experience. Glad I did it!!

Like everybody else has said, turn off your tracklog. I turn it on when I need it to track, works great.

I use the electronic compass all the time. Its just a personal preference I guess. I leave my magnetic one at home now and can completely trust mine. Maybe some people have problems with theirs, but a simple calibration (takes literally 10 seconds and only need to do it when I change the batteries) will insure its accuracy. But, if your batteries die, then the GPS is no good and maybe a good idea to carry extra batteries. Good luck!

Im assuming Garmin has one. My Vista HCX outdoor bundle came with neck strap and carrying case. Worked great while hiking thg grand canyon...

the trails along the grand canyon work great, for example. I just used them a couple of weeks ago. Now, for the trails around a park in my hometown, non existent. Cant expect them to have those though.

when I go on a trip outside of my state, I would load the states Im going to. I just got back from a 2 week vacation and loaded the states I was going to. If im staying home for a while, I just have my Topo map and CN NT 09 state loaded in my unit. I could load all, but I dont see the reason to do it. Also, when I do plan a trip, I also load waypoints and along with the maps, so I guess i load specifically for my trip Im going on. Good luck,

no problems here yet, but thanks for the heads up. I'll be a little more careful with it now.

I can be sitting in my office and if I turn the unit, the arrow turns as well (in map page). As for compass, I have seen it off a very little bit, but havent calibrated it yet either. Im using 2.40 software I believe.

I lost reception with my Vista HCX for about 4 minutes driving through Yosemite Park in California. Have never lost a signal other than this one time.

the chipset issue (I personally have no idea what this is) must not be happening on mine, but maybe some people do have problems. I for one love my Vista HCX and used it on a 2 week drive from Iowa to California and back. Routing worked great, was able to hike the Grand Canyon with TOPO 08. Does everything I needed and more. I havent tried other unit, but if you do decide the vista, you wont be disappointed. Oh, and i never did update the unit when I purchased it. I am using 2.40 I think still. I prefer not to, if it works, dont fix it.

With a 2 gb card and mapsource, I am able to load a lot. Probably not much help here, but like everybody else here is saying, when I load things, the list will give size so I know exacty how much room will be left. Good luck

Basically comes down to which one you want. I was in the same boat and chose the Vista HCX (my reason was price). I figured I could take the cheaper route and then invest it into city nav maps. Good luck with the decision-

Without a little better definition of your issue, I'm not sure I can tell you how to deal with it. My first suggestion (not specific to the map issue) is to go to the Garmin website and download the user's manual for one of the earlier models (I used the one for the Vista C - you have to look in the discontinued section). The earlier user's manuals are more complete that the one that came with your unit. In Mapsource products, there is a great help section also. Gives you pictures of the icons you are using as well. I used this once or twice until I figured out what I was doing. To be honest, I learned just the "basics", then while on a 2 week vacation driving, I used it all the time, reading the manual and just trial and error. It will just come to you after getting down the basics

Excellent advice! I honestly had no idea that this was possible. I just know that I had to use my measuring tool, then draw a line from where I was at the starting point (Point A), note the miles, then draw a line to the ending point (Point b ), subtract the miles from the current position to starting point, then I would add a few more miles for curves etc. not really confusing, but kind of a pain. The only thing I dont like about the turning GPS off is I would lose my tracking info. Not a big deal I guess, but would be nice to just be able to calculate distance from point A to point B neither of them being your current position.

If its anything like TOPO 08, there are 2 icons in toolbar, one is recieve from device, one is send. Just click on send to device and you can click on the map, it will highlight the ones you want, then your good to go. What I did was read the manual and thats where I learned pretty much everything I needed. Good luck TJ

Easy, the Vista has a calculator - use Pythagoras' theorem. If you become a premium member, you'll discover pocket queries and how to take advantage of customized POI's. Essentially, waypoints that get stored on your data card. Approx 10000 waypoints take up 2mb of memory space with each waypoint holding 132 charaters of information. Im still working on changing my home position while navigating- Im taking it on a small trip this weekend, I'll see what I can do. It really shouldnt be too difficult. Premium member??

I have gotten a few PM's from people here and the write up seemed to help. Im still a newb, but have learned quite a bit from just reading the manual and playing with the GPS. Im just glad I took the plunge with the vista hcx. TJ

Just thought I would post this for people looking to purchase a GPS or for people to see how my success was with the unit.... I drove from Iowa to California and back and used the Vista HCX to track almost every movement I made (2 week trip). I have TOPO 2008 loaded as well as City Nav NT 08 as well. Let me start out by saying this unit is GREAT!! I loaded 14 waypoints before I left, such as Grand Canyon, Tropicana Hotel in Vegas (we stayed there for 4 nights), friends house in San Diego, Route 66 museum in Kingman, Arizona, Hoover Dam, Meteor Crater, etc, etc, (you get the idea). As we took off, I set everything to zero and have a 2 gb card for memory. Set tracking to "on". City Nav NT 8 kept me on course and depending on where we were at, I just found my next waypoint and push "goto". It would give me the route wouldnt let me get lost. At the end of each day, I took a picture of the trip details like odometer, elevations, hrs stopped and moving, etc. I would turn it off at night and loaded recharged batteries in the morning. When we arrived at the Grand Canyon, I "hid" CN NT 8 and it showed TOPO 2008. It even showed trails I was walking on and contour lines to show elevation as well. Very cool! When we decided to turn around and head back a different direction, I was able to "track back" and went to our starting point on the trail. One of the best things about this City Nav is the fact that is stores phone numbers and business info. I cant tell you guys how many times I would find a pizza hut and it would give me a phone number, I would call them when it says I was within 15 minutes, have one ordered and it would be ready when we get there. I also used it a lot for getting gas, it gives you info on gas stations ahead and how far away (gives you miles away as well as minutes and time to get there). As for negatives, the screen is small but does work well. I wish it would beep louder, you cant really have a bunch of people talking and the radio going and still expect to hear it beep. Another thing is I did lose signal in the Yosemite National Park (for about 5 miles). Pretty much the only time I did lose signal, so cant complain too much. Another gripe I had was Im not sure how to change my home position so I can see how far one place is from another place while it is still tracking where I am currently at. For example, Everybody wanted to know how far ROUTE 66 (I-40) was from Meteor Crater, we were at Kingman Az. I could easily tell them the distance from Kingman, but not sure how to calculate from a different place that where I was at. I know this is long, but just wanted to post this for people to see how a complete newb was able to figure out this unit (for the most part) and LOVE IT! I have never owned a GPS before and was overwhelmed at first. But, I learned the basics then while on the trip, I learned the ins and out of it (on that long of a trip, there was really nothing else to do) If somebody is looking at getting a GPS, I would highly recommend the VISTA HCX with the City Navigator Maps. Without the maps, the unit is basically worthless in my opinion. I purchased the VISTA HCX TOPO 2008 bundle for $199, then purchased the City Navigator NT 08 maps (DVD) for $82, then upgraded to 09 for free. Hope this helps and gives an idea on how the unit handles a long trip. Im planning on Geocaching next week, we'll see how it holds up for that. Thanks for reading, TJ

I was in the same boat... I bought a Vista HCX Topo 2008 Bundle and then purchased the City Nav 2008 and then updated to 09. With these 2 programs, you will be completely covered. I have a 2gb sandisk I purchased off ebay for $12 total. It comes with an adapter so as long as your computer can read smart digital (sd) cards, you'll be alright (like cameras have). For example, I used the Vista (same as legend except vista has barometric altimeter and electronic compass) for a trip to california from Iowa- drove the entire way. Used it for go to directions and only map I needed. Then had grand canyon area loaded from TOPO 2008 and used it to hike (yes, it had the trails on there!). I recommend both programs with it to get the best of both.

mine works great! I dont even take a magnetic compass with me anymore. have you calibrated it yet?

The Legend HCx lacks both Electronic compass and Barometric altimeter, that's why it cost less. Other than that, they are the same. Compare link. The vista hcx altimeter and electronic compass work great! Very simple to use and when I had the choice of legend vs vista and the GPS thing was new to me, I just wanted something that did it all- that way I can decide if I would need it or not, rather than buying something and wishing I had it. which ever one you get, you wont be sorry. If you really want to see the difference, read the manual for these units. They go in great depth on different options etc.