Roger_Ramjet

I use it!!!!

Saturday, October 19, 2002 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SUBJECT; Adventure Pass and Appellate Court. The U.S. Forest Service can no longer threaten forest visitors who choose not to purchase or display the Adventure Pass with a criminal offense carrying excessive penalties. The Appellate Court decision on October 11, 2002 ruled that the violation is not a class B misdemeanor with a maximum $5000 penalty and/or six months in jail. Instead, the offense has been reduced to an infraction, which carries a maximum fine of $100 and no jail time. This is no more severe than a parking ticket. It will not result in a criminal record, nor will it jeopardize the vehicle's registration. Thought you'd like to know..... Rj

I'm not using XP but it rocks on 2k. Of course I have "high speed" internet access too. No issues at all. I can download huge chunks pretty fast for the amount of data that's there. It could be you connection to the net. You might see how many hops away you are. There could be a slow router along the way.

I'm serious. It's the greatest!!

I'm serious. It's the greatest!!

I'll go out on a limb and say it looks blah. I'm sure the GPS part of it is the usual Garmin quality and easy to use. The radio part looks less than stellar especially the GMRS radio. A little background. FRS radios are limited to 1/2 watt and can only transmit in simplex mode. Simplex mode is simply transmitting and receiving on the same channel. On the other hand GMRS radios have a limit of 5 watts and can transmit in duplex mode. Duplex mode is transmitting on one frequency and receiving on another. So what, you ask. With duplex mode you can use a repeater. A repeater is just what it sounds like. A powerful retransmitter that can greatly extend the range of a radio. Repeaters are put up on mountain tops to overcome the lack of line of sight. Now that you have some background info on the difference between FRS and GMRS I'll tell you why the GMRS version of the Rino sucks. The radio is only one watt and will only operate in simplex mode. This is a big deal since the range of both radios is quite limited. FRS radios claim a range of up to 2 miles. That is an outright lie. Only in the lab can that range be achieved. That's why GRMS came about. To give people a choice to get more range with having to get a HAM license. Garmin has neutered what could have been a great product. Rant over.

Start Here You'll find reviews and links to a lot of online vendors. Three vendors I've used are, Action GPS, Adventure GPS, and GPS City. All of them have given me great service and prices.

I have both the yellow Etrex and the vista. The yellow Etrex is a great beginner GPS. I picked mine up for $80 at BestBuy. The vista has all the bells and whistles which are cool but really drain the power. If I were gonna buy a unit to replace them both it would be the Etrex Legend. It has most of the features of the vista except altimeter and compass. Both of these features kill batteries quick and are really not needed. The legend can be had for around $200. This makes it a real value.

I have both the yellow Etrex and the vista. The yellow Etrex is a great beginner GPS. I picked mine up for $80 at BestBuy. The vista has all the bells and whistles which are cool but really drain the power. If I were gonna buy a unit to replace them both it would be the Etrex Legend. It has most of the features of the vista except altimeter and compass. Both of these features kill batteries quick and are really not needed. The legend can be had for around $200. This makes it a real value.