Upgrading My Vista

[rafke74]

Hello,

 

I want to upgrade to a new gps-unit with colour screen. I use it mainly for geocaching, walking and cycling. What I need: a solid, light-weight unit with long battery life, enough memory for maps and off course a good reception. And it has to be a Garmin: topo maps in Europe are mostly only designed for use in Garmin units.

I'm chosing between the Legend Cx and the 60Cx.

 

I think it basically comes down to the following:

Pros of the Legend: size, weight and especially the long battery life (for my long distance cycling tours, often in desert regions). And the price.

Pro of the 60: the sirf-III chipset.

 

But I still have some questions:

1. The screen on the 60 may be bigger, but the Legend has a few more pixels, so I think they can both display about the same map size and detail on the screen?

2. I think my Vista has already an acceptable reception, even locks indoor in my house with good accuracy. (Belgium, capital of the satellites? But in the woods the reception is not that great... I hear the colour versions of the Etrex have a better reception than the monochrome versions. Is this true? I would love to hear some experiences with the Legend Cx...

3. As you may have noticed I tend to go for the Legend Cx, but are they any properties/capacities of the 60Cx I forgot and could change my opinion?

 

Thanks for any help,

 

Raf.

[+Milbank]

I hear the colour versions of the Etrex have a better reception than the monochrome versions. Is this true?

 

Yes, much better.

I have had the monochrome Legend, Legend C and now the Legend Cx.

The Legend C and Cx have much better reception in the woods.

[+Olar]

Another consideration is how you must orientate the unit while walking/hiking. I believe for best reception the Legend should be held horizontal whereas the 60 is best in a vertical position although with the new SiRF chip that may no longer be necessary.

I'm leaning towards the 60CX myself mainly because of the improved reception but also it lends itself better to hanging from a neck lanyard or belt clip/pouch.

 

Cheers, Olar

[+geofindr]

I own the 60CSx and just bought the Legend Cx for my daughter. I have used both and they are both very good units. The Legend Cx is so lightweight! The only real difference is the receiver sensitivity, but if you are not in heavy tree cover, it won't make any difference which unit you choose. Both will autoroute if you want them to, the software in each seems to be about the same. The buttons are different to access things. I actually like the LegendCx because you can do it all with one hand, whereas the 60CSx requires one hand to hold the unit and another to push the buttons on the front of the gps.

 

You can't go wrong with either.

 

Geofindr.

[kerecsen]

I actually like the LegendCx because you can do it all with one hand, whereas the 60CSx requires one hand to hold the unit and another to push the buttons on the front of the gps.

 

My brain is wired very differently, it seems. I couldn't for the life of me use the legend with one hand (without various fingers covering half the map), but used to be quite adept at entering addresses into the 60cs while driving

[Neo_Geo]

Perhaps another thing to consider is that right now the 60Cx can record tracks to the memory card. A firmware update was just released for the legendCx, and it still doesn't have this capability. There's no way of knowing whether or not that feature will be inplemented on the LegendCx or not.

[rafke74]

The Legend C and Cx have much better reception in the woods.

Good to hear, and since there's not that much forest left here in Belgium, and none of it in the desert regions I visit, reception shouldn't be a real problem.

I believe for best reception the Legend should be held horizontal whereas the 60 is best in a vertical position although with the new SiRF chip that may no longer be necessary.

On a bicycle mount it's ok for the Legend. Indeed the 60Cx seems more handy for walking, but maybe it can be arranged by mounting the Legend in some way on a backpack?

Perhaps another thing to consider is that right now the 60Cx can record tracks to the memory card.

Nice feature indeed. I hope it will come for the Legend also, but as you say, we don't know yet. But not a very big problem for now. A few months ago, on a 1000 km cycling trip in Tunisia, I set the tracklog to 1 point for every 100 meters. So I had the whole trip nicely tracked

You can't go wrong with either.

I think you're right! But it doesn't make the choice more easy. Anyway, it's a luxuriously problem

 

More advice welcome!

 

Cheers,

 

Raf

[+drbugs]

A friend I cache with has a legend CX, while I have the 60cx. The size/weight and the patch antanane (hold horz) is really nice. I have to hold the 60cx somewhat vertical to get the best reception (it works great horz, but is better vertical, say above 45 degree from horz). I tend to clip it on my belt with the belt clip if I'm not close to the cache.

 

Under cover I get noticibly better reception than the Lcx. My unit so far has always brought me much closer to the cache under heavy cover (we don't have leaves yet in MN, but there are some good caches that are under woods with thick branch cover and pines). A couple of days ago my unit brought me to within 10 feet of the cache, my freind Lcx was indicating 50 foort or so.

 

The screens on both are nice and bright. the 60cx is a bit easier to read, especially in a car with autonav due to the size. I haven't tried it on a bike.

 

My friend commented on how much easier the 60cx would be to use on car navigation, both from the screen size, and the fact that the buttons are all on the front.

 

another non related note is that the autonav kit with the beanbag mount is really really stable. I'm impressed with how good it holds the unit.

 

Just my observations. Overall I think the Lcx is a great unit, and my friend still finds the caches before I do about half the time!

[+Alan2]

The Vista you currently are using has a magnetic compass something the Legend Cx and the 60Cx do not have. The magnetic compass alows the bearing arrow to point to the cache even when standing still. If you want to keep the magnetic compass you should consider the Vista Cx or 60CSx.

Edited March 25, 2006 by Alan2

[+Team 5150]

Read my post about the Legend CX and handlebar mount.

 

Never mind. I'm a retard.

Edited March 25, 2006 by greenninja5150

[+team5150]

I have recently purchased a Legend Cx, and I feel that it is a great little GPSr. I had previously been using an etrex legend (ol' blue.... ). I really like the Cx, the reception is excellent, definitely a step above the old unit. I would have probably purchased a 60Csx, but after factoring in the cost of the maps, the legend cx was all my budget would allow. I would suggest that you buy the best that you can afford, it will have the latest and greatest bells and whistles, plus customer support well into the foreseeable future...but thats just my opinion...