KG GeoCachers

We got the Vista HCx to replace the old reliable(?) standard Legend B&W. The altimeter provides a smoother elevation profile than the satellite-derived elevations. A lot less bounce in elevations. We love our new Vista HCx. The accuracy is much better than our Legend. Much faster transferring data to and from the computer over the USB. Color is great, and the maps (CityNavNT) are very helpful.

For my 50th I bought myself the new Garmin Etrex Vista HCx that was just released in Spring'07. What a great improvement over our adaquate Etrex Legend B&W. The receiver is MUCH stronger; as good as the 60 CSx. Color is great. The refresh speed on the screen is fantastic. All the early software bugs have been worked out. Compass and barometer for smoother elevation profiles. And the price was OK ~$230. I went through Amazon so I could bundle it with City Navigator NT DVD and some other acessories.

The NT means the map and info are compressed. This feature only works with the units with fast processors, like the Garmin 60Cx. Check the Garmin site to see if your GPS is compatible with NT.

When you're having problems like that it's always a good idea to reboot your computer. After it starts up, make this task the first and only thing you do. Sometimes that clears it up. Recently, our PDA wasn't communicating with the PC. Rebooting cleared it.

Great timing on this question! This has been happening to my Garmin Legend. I just pounded the thing as TimPak suggested and it went away immediatly! I'll looking into the other fixes, too. THANKS ! ! ! ! But no thanks, I wanted to upgrade to a 60Cx!

Thanks for all the great replies. Great help! I may wait and get a GPSr that has more memory and will handle the NT versions of TOPO and MetroGuide.

I have the great starter-geocacher GPSr, the Garmin Legend. It's the little blue one with the B&W display. I would like to keep it and use the street maps from MapSource North America V8. I'm trying to hold off getting the color Legend Cx, or similar GPSr. Does anyone have experience using MapSource with the B&W Legend? How well do they work together? Even if I get the Legend Cx later (~$400), I can still use the same mapping software on the new unit, right? Frank

We've found many things can throw off a signal; mostly buildings and walls, and heavy trees. Sometimes if a cache is near obstacles it's better to find some clear ground nearby, keep walking, and notice where the arrow is consistently pointing. "It's under THAT tree" or "That corner of the building". One time we arrived in a new location and our GPS was about 200' off. Had a heck of a time trying to find the cache. Good thing this has happened only once in our 1.25 years of geocaching. Most of the time our little Garmin Legend is within 20 feet of the cache. Frank