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Is An Etrex Vista, Or A Meridian Gold Enough For Now?


team5150

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This is just my 2nd post so I hope that you all will forgive my continued ignorance..... I have narrowed my immediate choices to these two units...the garmin trex vista, or the magellan meridian gold. I hope you will all feel free to share any input.....

Just for reference, I am a full time single father with 3 kiddos( B16, B10, G5 ), so at this point price is a major consideration. All of the units that I am considering are from Wal-Mart, my only choice(another story). My price range is 200-250, for the unit, leaving us a little $ for maps. We do a LOT of back country traveling, mostly in Wyoming, Western South Dakota, and Montana. We enjoy ghost town hunting, coolest camp site locating, historical places, camping, fishing, rock hounding, gold prospecting, and now geo-caching...

This would be the primary use for a GPSr for us, just finding our way, and remembering where we have been...We always seem to be able to find a great path, but I want to be sure that I can find my way back, and then remember where I was , so I can get back there again just in case we might want to. There are a lot of wide open spaces in this area. I don't need to be able to find my location within inches, I just need a reasonable idea of where I am, thats part of the fun....

I am comfortable with paper maps for city driving, just don't want to strand me and the kids in no mans land...We are going to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks this summer, will the 24 Mb of the Garmin be enough, or should I opt for the Merigold?

I would sincerely appreciate any advice that you can give me--Gary

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I have a Vista with the optional MetroGuide mapping software, and there is plenty of memory for what you want to do.

 

But, I have been using a GPS Map60CS at work, and I gotta tell you, I hardly use the Vista anymore. I am sold on the auto-routing feature and the 60CS has a processor that redraws maps three times faster than my Vista.

 

Therefore, I would recommend the Legend C. Walmart has them for $226, but you can find them for $200 or less at most GPS internet retailers (I have used and recommend offroute.com). The Legend C has the same fast processor as the Map60s along with a color screen to enhance readability in sunlight. It also has 24mb of memory and battery life is rated at 32 hours. What the Vista has over the Legend C is a barometer and electronic compass. These are two gadget items you really don't need in a GPS.

 

You will not be disappointed with the Legend C otherwise.

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I'll give a good word for the Meridian. One thing that might influence your decision is the map software you will be using, and if you have an interest in obscure back roads you might find the older Mapsend Topo USA to your liking (see this thread).

 

The expandable memory gives you a lot of room to grow with your use of the unit, and the Meridian--being phased out of the market--offers great value. If you decide to add autorouting at a later time, you can buy Mapsend DirectRoute (a helpful, if less sophisticated autorouter than the Garmin offering). You have to balance the value of the Meridian against the fact that, being at the end of its product run, the Meridian won't be getting any software upgrades anymore and may not be able to run new software that comes out in the future.

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If you search the internet (GPSnow) Legend Cx can be bought for $250. My wife and I have one each and love them. We bought Mapsource CS and love the autorouting.

Wal-Mart seems to be selling the older models that they must be getting on clearance from the manufacturers.

The way I see it is I now have a GPSr that will last me a while without needing to upgrade.

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The most basic is the etrex.

It has a trackback feature to let you go back the way you came. No maps, but with the additional purchase of Trip and Waypoint Manger, you can keep a record of all of your Waypoints and tracks.

If you can plot the Long./Lat or UTM coordinates of USGS maps, before your outing you can chart all of the locations in or about your trek and download them to the unit, so you will always know how far you are from these points.

You can create your routes and know where you are in relation to your routes, and you can always use the backtrack feature to go back the way you came.

This would come to about $100

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I have the Meridian Platinum and it gets a lot of use. Geocaching, hiking, driving on long trips, and even in airplanes. It works great and I am very pleased. Never had a problem with it and I have upgraded the firmware twice since I have owned it. I placed a 512Mb SD card for topographical maps which also includes the streets and it works great!!

 

I bet you could find one of the Meridian series cheap, but if you want to upgrade and keep up with the times you may want to go with the Explorer series. But I think I would start with the Meridian and get used to the sport, then you may want to upgrade into something that isn't even out yet!.....

 

BTW.....The 3D compass I have gets a TON of use when geocaching!!!

Edited by Big Sky Explorers
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Hi,

Can't speak for Garmin, i've never owned one.

Magellans SD card expandability is excellent. I've just upgraded from a Meridian Platinum to an Explorist 600.

The only reason I upgraded was for the smaller size of the Explorist.

My Meridian was very reliable and robust and satellite aquisition was excellent when in tricky environments ie. under tree cover etc.

Regards

Tony.

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I have been using a Vista for a few years and have found it to bean excellent GPS unit. While the newer ones are more advanced, I am still on the fence about "upgrading" to a 60 CSx or similar unit. When I bought the Vista, I planned on using it for hiking, motorcycling, and in the Jeep, and got all the accessories I needed to accomplish that; now that the 2005 Jeep has a built-in Nav system, I mostly use the Vista while on foot or in a rental car. When on the bicycle or M/C, I wear it on my belt and stop every so often to check the map. By the way, except for the routing, the Vista beats the Jeep's built-in system.

 

Under light-moderate cover, it works quite well; in the wide open areas, it is exceptional.

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One more unit to consider if price is a major concern. Look into a GPS V Deluxe by Garmin. It works great for both hand held and in car use, and does a respectable job of autorouting. Most importantly, it comes with the most recent version of CitySelect map software included (actually, it comes with an older version, but Garmin will send you the latest version free for the asking, including a second unlock code to use on another unit that you might purchase later, like a Legend C, 60 CX etc. which need but do not ship with the maps). There are better and fancier GPSRs on the market, but for the price, there is no better deal available, considering that no unit is useful without the maps, and maps are expensive. An even better unit that includes maps at a higher but still excellent price is the Garmin Quest.

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I'm probably chiming in a little too late, but I own a Vista and Meridian Platinum. The MeriPlat was my first GPSr. I absolutely love the thing! Kudos to Magellan for releasing the Direct Route software that made a good receiver into a great receiver with turn by turn navigation. Geocaching was never easier! I acquired the Vista as a backup receiver. I cached with both receivers at first for comparision and then forced myself to leave the MeriPlat in the car (for car navigation) and use the Vista in the field. I say 'forced' because the more I used it, the less I liked it for it's awful reception. I should say that I live in VA...we have a lot of trees here in the Mid-Atlantic. Even in the winter with no leaves on the tree, the reception was rather poor. I just can't deal with that. The MeriPlat on the other hand rarely had trouble in the trees. I remember lossing reception once in moderate to heavy tree cover...in the rain. If you live in an area without a lot of big trees (Great Plains/Rockies/Southwest) states, the Vista is probably a pretty good unit. Here where I live it now stays at home...and my MeriPlat no longer stays in the car when I head out on foot.

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I use a vista. The antenna stinks. but it works fine if there is little tree cover. I have friends that use an etrex yellow. It's also fine. Point is they all work buy what you can afford. A C60 would be great. I plan on upgrading to a C60cx with the memory card but thats after using the vista for 5 years.

 

Just a thought.

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