genophylus

Sputnik 57, MacBandit, and we3dements -- Thank you each for your response. I will watch the thread for another day or two until I purchase. Actually, I will keep watching while the thread is active as it contains a wealth of information. I appreciate the feedback and will get the model I really want, the CS.

Hello, all. I am impressed with all the great information in this topic and am prepared to purchase a 60 now. I did see a question without reply earlier about spontaneous shutdowns that might sway my decision of C v. CS. The reason I am concerned is that I currently am using my second Vista, a replacement for the original that shutdown several times a day despite good batteries, cord power, battery cover, battery contacts, multiple firmware upgrades, and 'politely' asking it to quit that sort of thing. Even the replacement unit has done this a couple of times. I have heard it theorized that the S models tax the processor more and thus display this behavior. If the CS is also having this sort of problem, I will probably go with the C and a compass despite the slight loss of convenience and cool-factor. I would greatly appreciate hearing anyone's experience with non-desired shutdowns with either the C or CS model.

Thank you to all who replied. I have new battery contacts and a new case back now. I am going to bolster the contacts from inside the fold to increase contact pressure. Should I encounter further shutdowns, I will note the unit temp at startup. (Thats a neat trick I hadn't known.) Should this fail, I will ocntact Garmin for an older firmware or perhaps another trip to the factory. Again, my thanks to all of you.

Thanks for the replies. Software version is 3.20. I loaded this at the suggestion of Garmin. Garmin is sending new battery contacts to try out, so I will post the results of that. One addition ... this weekend, although I never used my car power cable, I got several instances of the message "External power removed. Shutting off in xx seconds." Stranger and stranger.

I've had a Vista for about four months and really like the features. However, when using it for more than a few hours, it will turn itself off. I find this quite frustrating, especially when I wait through the boot and acquisition process six or seven times in a day. Below are what I hope are most of the salient points related to this issue. Any feedback or suggestions are most welcome. - The shutdowns occur more frequently, but not exclusively, when the signal is weak or diminished by trees. - The shutdowns occur more frequently, but not exclusively, when the unit is hanging on the neck lanyard rather than held horizontal in my hand. - The shutdowns occur more frequently, but not exclusively, when the batteries have been in use for two to six hours. - The shutdowns occur more frequently, but not exclusively, when I am walking. It does occur at rest. It has never occurred while in use in a moving vehicle. - I use alkaline batteries and the shutdowns have net seemed affected by the brand I am using. - The powersave feature is turned off in the setup. - The firmware has been upgraded. I have also performed a hard reset at the instruction of Garmin support staff. - I have sent the unit back to Garmin for diagnostic testing and had it returned with a clean bill of health. The problem continued to occur. Another behavior, which may be related, is that the signal strength and number of satellites acquired at any given times is nearly always less than my older yellow Etrex unit. I am hoping that the vast pool of knowledge and experience here in the forums will shed some light on a solution. Thanks in advance for your comments.

Personally, I enjoy finding two or three in close proximity. A good walk or part of a day spent getting to a more remote cache makes for a good time, yet an easier cache nearby makes the area more enticing as I plan my outing. The better descriptions of some caches and accurate rating help in this.