Cracked Screen On Etrex, Repair Or Replace?

[+Adimension]

After almost exactly 3 years to the day of faultless service my Vista has been mortally wounded. It has survived previous heavy knocks and an occasional drenching on the motorbike, but this time gravity won the battle. I can’t complain about its general ruggedness because it’s survived moisture and vibration (fnar) when other electronic stuff would just give up….. but a drop of several feet onto concrete did the trick and the top left of the screen has vanished:

 

 

So does anyone have experience of trying to get an Etrex repaired? The unit is fully operational and it’s only the display that’s damaged. However I suspect that, while possible, such work could be prohibitively expensive. The model is an older one and the screen dimensions are different on the current mono Vista.

 

Or do I bite the bullet and go for an upgrade? While the Vista is a great GPS the limited memory and mind-numbingly slow serial interface have always been a frustration. Some of the newer kit is very tempting, but I’m reluctant to part with large amounts of cash if there’s a chance of resuscitating the Vista.

 

What do you reckon?

 

Simon.

[+davy boy]

I also have a 3 yr old vista and had a few problems with it but not a cracked lcd,Garmin replaced the unit free of charge.

I also Know that Wadders cracked his lcd on a night cache hunt and was charged for it and think it was around £100!!

My unit has again broken,the toggle button does not work at all now so i will be contacting them again this week.

[+tteggod trackers]

i have had contact with customer supportat garmin about repairing my rubber seal, they were going to fix it free of charge,just not had time to send it yet. may be worth sending the same photo to them and they will probably come back to you with a price. can you claim on house insurance? guy i dealt with was andy.phillips@garmin.com

[+Adimension]

Thanks for the input. So far I have only heard positive things about Garmin customer support so I’ll give that avenue a go. I’ll look into claiming on the insurance if the bill’s a whopper, but I always fear the damage to next year’s premium.

 

So is no one going to come forward and insist that I buy a brand new GPSMAP 60CSx??

 

No?

 

Oh well, repair it is then. Curse you sensible people.

 

 

Any other tales of Garmin galloping to the rescue of butterfingered cachers?

[+Sensei TSKC]

 

So is no one going to come forward and insist that I buy a brand new GPSMAP 60CSx??

 

I will -

 

Replace!!!!

 

[+The Bolas Heathens]

I will too - replaced our eTrex Yellow with one and it's the best move we ever did.

 

We were out caching yesterday under light tree cover and the eTrex Yellow had 2 satellites locked on and an accuracy of 50ft - the 60CSx had 9 satellites locked and an accuracy of 14 feet. Say no more...

 

It will get a decent lock just about anywhere - I had it to 20ft whilst sat at the bar at the Nortwich meet last week - probably 40 feet from the only (not very big) windows in the room.

 

So is no one going to come forward and insist that I buy a brand new GPSMAP 60CSx??

Edited April 24, 2006 by The Bolas Heathens

[+Mad H@ter]

Our GPSMap60CS gave up looking for satellites. we contacted Garmin who told us that the repair charge would be a maximum of about £85 (if replacement required) depending on what was needed (no guarantee as 2nd hand and no receipt). Less than a week later we received a brand new GPSr free of charge .

 

Excellent company, I would get in touch and find out. Even if you do get charged the maximum charge for a replacement is still excellent value.

[+Adimension]

Just in case anyone is interested I’ve had a reply from Garmin quoting a fixed rate repair charge of £91.80

 

While I would love to pick up one of the new super sensitive 60CSx’s as a replacement, when I compare £91.80 with £398.94 and consider my current level of geocaching activity (i.e. not much) it’s hard to justify.

 

So it’s off to the workshop then and I’ll post the final bill and the time it took in due course.

[+FollowMeChaps]

I will too - replaced our eTrex Yellow with one and it's the best move we ever did.

 

We were out caching yesterday under light tree cover and the eTrex Yellow had 2 satellites locked on and an accuracy of 50ft - the 60CSx had 9 satellites locked and an accuracy of 14 feet. Say no more...

 

It will get a decent lock just about anywhere - I had it to 20ft whilst sat at the bar at the Nortwich meet last week - probably 40 feet from the only (not very big) windows in the room.

 

So is no one going to come forward and insist that I buy a brand new GPSMAP 60CSx??

 

You are suggesting that the Vista has better reception than the Yellow. I am curious as to whether this is a fact, ie better parts in a higher end machine, or whether you have the older non-WAAS version of the yellow that can't pick up the EGNOS signal. Does any 'teccy person know the answer?

[+Adimension]

You are suggesting that the Vista has better reception than the Yellow. I am curious as to whether this is a fact, ie better parts in a higher end machine, or whether you have the older non-WAAS version of the yellow that can't pick up the EGNOS signal. Does any 'teccy person know the answer?

 

I believe they were comparing the Yellow with the GPSMAP 60CSx rather than the Vista. I think you’re right that the Vista has no significant advantage over the Yellow other than extra functionality.

 

As I understand it all the “x” series handsets have enhanced reception over the previous generation, so a newer Vista Cx would have an improvement, but my older model would not.

 

Correct me if I’m wrong.

[+Nellies Knackers]

I think the csx series uses the newer sirfstar3 chipset which is much more sensitive than the older chipset, I have a bluetooth reciever with it and it is far better than my etrex vista (not c) for getting a fix.

[+third-degree-witch]

Ive had both the Yellow and Vista c....the Vista is FAR better under tree cover.Ive not lost a signal in trees as yet.

[+Mr Hedgehog]

Ive had both the Yellow and Vista c....the Vista is FAR better under tree cover.Ive not lost a signal in trees as yet.

I have both an old Yellow and a Vista C and can only agree that the reception on the Vista is MASSIVELY better than on the Yellow.

Richard

[+Adimension]

Well I sent my knackered Vista off to Garmin about a week ago and today I received back what would appear to be a brand new (or professionally reconditioned) model as a replacement.

 

Super fast turn around time and, to my great surprise and joy, no charge!

 

So despite the unit being well out of warranty and the damage being entirely down to me (with a little help from gravity) they have graciously replaced it for free. It even arrived with a set of fresh alkaline batteries in it.

 

I still have every intention of upgrading my GPS in the fullness of time, and now Garmin have pretty much guaranteed that they will receive my custom.

 

Top effort, great service and a bunch of very helpful people.

 

Many thanks Garmin.

[kulgan]

Top dollar! (or pound)... or not!

 

I've got a summit which bounced off of the A24 when I hadn't clipped it to my handlebar mount properly. I've cracked the corner of the screen, but thankfully not the LCD. Bit of a close shave actually as an artic' swerved to avoid it as it bounced - otherwise I could have been looking at a rather more intensive refurbishment!

 

Based on everybody's report I must get mine sent off to get it looked at - it would seem that Garmin have the customer service which many mobile phone manufacturers do not!

 

Cheers

 

Mark

[+Sue and Bernie]

Ive had both the Yellow and Vista c....the Vista is FAR better under tree cover.Ive not lost a signal in trees as yet.

I have both an old Yellow and a Vista C and can only agree that the reception on the Vista is MASSIVELY better than on the Yellow.

Richard

 

We have "upgraded" to a Vista Cx from a Vista C. The biggest advantage for us is Garmin's move to incorporate standard memory cards into these and other units as indicated with the "x" suffix.

 

Our Cx currently presently has a 256mb microSD card fitted. With this, we can installed the whole of the UK and Holland with street-level maps and full autorouting data from City Navigator V8 (using second "unlock" from the software that came with a Streetpilot 2610). We can now leave home on holiday with all sorts of different maps installed or on additional cards - brilliant move!

 

...so if you have a Garmin unit with separate autorouting software and have not made use of the second (free) "unlock", get yourself one of Garmin's autorouting handhelds and you are away!

 

Now we use the Vista Cx to steer us by road to the cache location, switching over to "off-road" when we exit the car.

 

Now thinking of getting a 1GB card...