verdejt

you could try the Delorme Earthmate GPS it comes with software for 99 bucks. Or like you said you can get the Pharos GPS for 99 bucks as well from the Pharos website. I have the locater from S&T and use it with the Delorme street atlas program. It works great for me. I don't geocache but I am in field service and cover and entire state so it finds address pretty good, haven't had any problems yet. I also have a Vista Cx I got for hunting this fall, so I really haven't had a chance to use that much yet. Also you can get other GPS locators including the Pharos on Ebay.

If you go to tools then options under Streets and Trips you can select which units to use.

Try Delorme Street Atlas. You can use any external GPS as long as it output NEMA. What I like about Delorme over Streets and Trips is that you can use High Contrast colors to make it easier to use at night and you draw in new streets also in the GPS window you can check the status of the GPS and see how many and which satellites you are tracking. Also the GPS tells you when you have either a 2D,3D, or 3D DGPS (WASS Correction) signal. I have used S&T Faithfully for about the last 4 years. In March a friend turned me on to the Delorme product and I find it works better than S&T. BTW I am a field service engineer and cover a huge territory so I spend a lot of hours on the road and cannot afford to be lost. My suggestion is to find somebody with both programs and try them out to see which one you like. If you get S&T with the GPS locator then decide to try Delorme the GPS from S&T will work and the Delorme has voice guidance (I do find this feature a little annoying so usually turn that off.)

go to a Walmart of video store and buy a unit sometimes call Disk Doctor. They run about 30 bucks or so. follow the instructions and it should take care of most scratches. Keep in mind that CD/DVDs are read from the inside out. So don't waste your time with scratches on the outer edge that probably aren't the problem.

The GPS receiver that comes with MS Streets and Trips is a Pharos i360. It is a 12 channel receiver based on the SiRF StarIIe/LP chipset. This GPS works well with Delorme Street Atlas as well. I actually find the GPS more accurate with the DeLorme product than the MS product. The Delorme software gives you voice,high contrast display, and full satellite info. The MS software only gives you location (lat/long), altitude,speed,heading. There is no provision for high contrast display (I do travel frequently at night and this feature is great, and it makes seeing the map on my laptop easy.) Only 2006 version has voice. You can order just the Pharos GPS from their site for $99.00. No I don't work for any of the companies listed above,even though it sounds like I'm pushing Delorme. I am a field service engieer with Diebold Inc. and spend alot of time on the road due to the size of my territory.

You could try MS Streets and trips with the GPS locator. This will connect to your laptop and has the ability to track your route. Also the GPS locator output generic NEMA so it will work with all mapping software. You can get Streets and Trips anywhere for a little over 100 bucks.

If you can get your hands on a copy of MS Streets and trips with the GPS locator, you can use the GPS locator for most mapping programs that accept NEMA. I have MS Streets and Trips 2005 and just loaded Delorme Street Atlas and will give that a try. I use it on my laptop in my truck for work. I'm a field service engineer and have to a large territory and sometimes I'm sent to other states to help out. Yes a laptop screen is much easier to read than a GPS screen. I also have a Garmin Vista Cx for hunting and hiking.

I just received some paper maps from the USGS and the date on them is 1968 with a photorevision on 1985. I don't know how often the USGS updates the map data but I would hope that they realize that a lot of surface features changes have occurred since 1968.

The USB cable that comes with your GPS unit also takes over keeping the unit powered, it acts as a power cord as well as a data interface cable. My company makes ATMS and our latest product relies on USB for communication between devices. We have some devices that require a powered USB hub so that the voltage level doesn't drop. When that level drops, comms become unstable and fails. If you get an external USB hub make sure it has the ability to be plugged in to get it's power from somewhere other than the USB port.

I did the update and couldn't pickup a satellite inside either, but I couldn't before the upgrade either. I took my unit outside and it worked fine with 2.40

I did successfully update mine to 2.3 and then had manually install 2.4 as the webupdater said my unit was up to the lastest revision. I am wondering if maybe this problem only affects a certain batch of units. Is there a way to tell when your unit was manufactured by the serial number?

I have POI Edit but how do you get maps of the united states to be displayed in POI edit?

How long have you guys had your Vista Cx units. I just got mine about 3 weeks ago and haven't had any problems yet. Just curious if this sort of stuff is in store for my unit as well.

I had to install the 2.40 upgrade manually as well. The web updater didn't pickup the new update from 2.30 to 2.40.

I tried saving the track to the card and then shutdown the gps and put the card into a reader and the only files I see are loaded topo maps and the POI files that were already on the card.

See what happens when you read the manual. I figured it out. Just go to the main page and select setup system and it displays memory usage.

okay another stupid question. Is there a way to see how much free memory is available in the Vista?

I recently purchased a Vista for my girlfriend and wasn't paying attention when I loaded a topo map and it wiped out the preloaded basemap. Is there a way to download the original basemap from somewhere and upload it, or can I just load the map that came with my Vista Cx from the Trip and Waypoint Manager into the Vista?

I have the following Garmin Vista Cx for me Garmin Vista for my Girlfriend MS Streets and Trips with GPS locator in my work vehicle.

I got mine from http://www.jjielectronics.com/ for 289.99. I could have had free shipping but I opted for the 2day fedex.

You can get Topo maps from the USGS at www.usgs.gov the maps run about $6.00 ea

Johnny Vegas- I love that line you have "US congress--- A rudderless boat in a see of apathy-----" It's priceless.

I just got my Vista Cx and it also had a 64Mb card vice the 32Mb card. I got mine from here. http://www.jjielectronics.com/ The Legend Cx is 254.00 and the Vista Cx is 289.00

I use MS Streets and trips for work but am intrigued about what conversion table you're talking about. Please enlighten me as I am new to handheld GPS units.

it all depends on what you are going to use your GPS for now and in the future. If all your going to do with it is just look at Points of Interest then stay with what you have. If you are going to eventually use for long trips or going hunting/fishing then spend the money and something with some memory in it. I have the Vista Cx with the SD Micro card and the cards come in all memory sizes up to 5121Mb. I bought the Vista for my girlfriend, it has 24Mb of memory, but all she is going to do with it is hunt occasionally. I will be the one doing the scouting and such and once the trip has been planned out on my GPS I can up load it to hers. I got her that Vista so that she can load whatever Topo map area we will be in.