Gardner Hillbillies Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 Hello everyone! I am interested in beginning your sport and am starting from sqare one. Would a Garmin eTrex Vista be a good GPSr for a beginner? If anyone can give me any feedback I would much appreciate it! Quote Link to comment
Alpacas Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 Hello everyone! I am interested in beginning your sport and am starting from sqare one. Would a Garmin eTrex Vista be a good GPSr for a beginner? If anyone can give me any feedback I would much appreciate it! I would personally recommend a gps with a color screen and expandable memory for maps, something you will not get with the Vista (I assume you are talking about the non CX version). For something that has this of a comparable price try the Garmin etrex Venture CX, etrex Legend CX, or if you don't mind something more bulky and a little more pricey the gpsmap 60csx or 76cx. Quote Link to comment
+jon & miki Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 The b&w legend is a good unit for a beginner, at least if you are not concerned about maps (which often won't have the level of detail you need for geocaching anyway). The built-in compass is helpful for a beginner trying to get to the right area, but not absolutely necessary. The screen visibility in sunlight could be better (for that I would recommend the color units), but I've used my Vista for geocaching almost since we started geocaching and been very happy with it. I'll probably upgrade to a color unit when my Vista finally packs it in though. Quote Link to comment
Team Sidewinder Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 You will do just fine with the vista which is much better for geocaching than the basic yellow etrex we started out with. It is nice to see new people still wanting to go geocaching. Good luck and welcome team sidewinder Quote Link to comment
CountryRidersofArizona Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 I'm wondering how this package I found at wal-mart would work. I can't afford to spend alot of money yet I'm very interested and want to get started right away. Quote Link to comment
+BigLarry Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 (edited) The Vista is an excellent GPS. The higher resolution and more pixels in the B&W Vista compensates well for the lack of color that's on the color VistaCx. The two are about the same in terms of map readability. But I find my B&W Vista is much sharper, that also helps on other screens besides maps - like odometer, compass, waypoint lists,... You get expandable memory with the VistaCx, but I do fine with the 24 MB. I can store all street and topo maps for all of the S.F. Bay Area. It's all I need, and I swap out maps the once or twice a year I'm going elsewhere. The new SiRFIII chips, such as with the 60CSx, are much better receivers, but the Vista rarely looses signals anyway, usually only on the north side of very steep heavily wooded hills. The electronic compass on the Vista is very nice to have for geocaching, so the Vista can point to the cache when you're not moving. In software function, the Vista's got everything same as the 60CSx - altimeter, compass, tracking, maps. The Vista actually stores more waypoints and points per track than the 60CSx. I have three GPS units, including an eTrex Vista and the newer 60CSx. But I still primarily use the Vista for it's nice handheld size and ruggedness..... It's a great little unit that's way under-rated. Edited January 1, 2007 by BigLarry Quote Link to comment
+Dogs Dad Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 Hi I've been looking through the many threads about what to buy and earlier today seemed to end up thinking the Etrex Venture CX was the best bet for my needs - hiking and hopefully some geocaching. My rationale was that in terms of the Etrex range the Venture provided better value for money than the Legend (essentially you're paying for an SD card) and that there was little extra useful functionality in the Vista. Am I missing something? I'm happy to spend a little more money if I get something useful. Cheers Dogs Dad Quote Link to comment
+BigLarry Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 Hi I've been looking through the many threads about what to buy and earlier today seemed to end up thinking the Etrex Venture CX was the best bet for my needs - hiking and hopefully some geocaching. My rationale was that in terms of the Etrex range the Venture provided better value for money than the Legend (essentially you're paying for an SD card) and that there was little extra useful functionality in the Vista. Am I missing something? I'm happy to spend a little more money if I get something useful. Cheers Dogs Dad The Legend and Venture are missing sensors, which are available on the Vista models. The lack of a magnetic compass on the Legend and Venture will make them difficult for geocaching. When you stop moving to look at a heading, your indication will be wrong without a magnetic compass. The altimeter is very nice for determining position. When in remote areas with lots of hills. I find altitude is a great indicator of position, more useful than compass when used with a paper map - you just see where your altitude crosses the trail and you know exactly where you are on the paper map. You can get altitude from the satelites, but the error can be over 100', versus under 20' (a slow drift from air pressure changes) with the barometric altimeter, calibrated at the begining of the hike. Quote Link to comment
Gardner Hillbillies Posted January 1, 2007 Author Share Posted January 1, 2007 Thanks for all of the feedback everyone! Walmart has a Vista on-line for $179 right now; I think I might take the plunge! Quote Link to comment
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