j.harbs

Garmin 60CSx, Vista HCx or Legend HCx. All these are great field GPS' plus they have auto-routing, which is very useful for vehicular use. Only thing missing is the voice feature which is replaced by beeps & onscreen guidance.

I would choose the following, in order of preference: 1. Vista HCx 2. Legend HCx 3. 60CSx If you're gonna be in BFE, IMHO battery life is most important. The Vista & Legend HCx win hands down over the 60CSx battery life. Accuracy wise & ability to hold a lock, all 3 are about the same, although the 60CSx may have a slight edge due to its external antenna. Weight & size wise, its a no-brainer, Vista & Legend HCx are the clear choices. Build quality, 60CSx seems better. All 3 units are waterproof to 1m (IPX7). I've used all 3 units side by side & I feel the Vista & Legend HCx screens are much clearer & brighter than the 60CSx. The 60 seems to be using a previous generation TFT screen. Have a great time in BFE

Upgraded my Vista HCx to 2.80/2.80 a couple of days ago & went on a trek yesterday. Trip Odometer 15.5km Mapsource Track Log 15.5km. Relatively flat terrain with little overhead vegetation plus lots of heavy rain. No stray points & drift detected. However, when I compared with my buddy's Legend HCx (2.60/2.60) side by side, his satellite page showed better strength of a few individual satellites & his unit detected a couple more satellites than mine (although at a very low strength). Accuracy range throughout the trek was from 3 to 10m. Also noticed, at times the map redraw was noticeably slower (by 1-2 secs) as compared to before upgrade. Left my unit at my window untouched for 2 hours today. Trip Odometer showed 59m with a moving time of 1min 19 secs. Accuracy ~ 5m. Edit - Just checked the unit again. Total time 2 hrs 30 mins. Trip Odo 304m Moving Time 6mins 45 secs ! What changed in the last half hour is that it stopped drizzling & the sky became overcast. I don't know what to make of all these yet but the overall experience with the upgraded Vista HCx still feels very good.