Garmin etrex Vista HCx users: Would you buy that unit again?

[HeBeGeBe's]

Hello Gang - I'm looking to up grade my 9 year old Garmin etrex Legend to a Garmin etrex Vista HCx. If you had the chance, would you buy it again, or are there too many bugs that still need to be worked out in this unit?

 

If you would'nt buy it again, what other unit would you recommend?

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

--HeBeGeBes

[+Hoddevik]

Sure I would .... In fact I have. I bought one for myself and shortly after another for my wife. We are both very satisfied with the units. The waas turning off wasn't really a big deal .... and that is fixed with the firmware update. As to the power on/off bug we never experienced it on either unit, and we just leave the electronic compass on ... I don't recall ever seeing the 'reminder' to calibrate. We haven't changed batteries in either unit, but if it reminds to calibrate on battery change etc that won't bother me.

[Seronac]

Not long a go, I got a Vista CX. Then, just the other day, I noticed an ad for the Vista HCx, for the same price. The company I got the Cx from has a 100% satisfaction guarantee. So I returned the Cx and got the HCx. The difference is amazing! Just a quick test of the unit reveals that the HCx unit gets a 3D fix almost instantaneously, whereas the Cx took about a minute and a half. Further tests are "pending", but a short excursion today revealed no issues. Highly recommended.

[+Team FIREBOY]

Got one. Yes, I would buy another. Love it.

[+zazth]

Strange that this topic should be here, right out in the open as I was looking for a basis of comparison. I have a Garmin Etrex Vista CX. I got it almos six months ago. My husband a month after I got mine, bought a Magellan.

The first problem I noted was how quickly mine loses signal in tree coverage. I'm moving, my screen is not. His Magellan stays right on course?! My Garmin will sometimes by anywhere between 20 to 120 feet from the cache. The Magellan will bring him right to the cache?!?!?

The joystick has gotten progressively worse. You press it, it doesn't move. (Know another cacher with this problem with his Garmin). The screen sometimes hangs up and then blanks out then comes back? Sometimes this takes a minute.

Now for the worst part. The last week or so I kept getting some kind of sticky goop on my hands everytime I went caching. Nothing really noticable visibly. Sort of like getting cobwebs on your hands. While caching yesterday I noticed the rubberized strip around my GPS was seperated from the top of the unit. Closer inspection revealed the source of the sticky goop. The glue holding the rubberized strip on it is melting? and the rubberized piece keeps shifting back and forth. LESS THAN SIX MONTHS OLD!

I am an avid cacher, admitedly. My GPS has never been submerged in water or gotten more than a few raindrops on the screen. It has not been dropped or mistreated in any way. Seems a little premature to have to replace my GPS.

I've emailed Garmin about this and am now waiting for a response. At this point I think they should replace the unit entirely. What do you think?

[+sbell111]

Strange that this topic should be here, right out in the open as I was looking for a basis of comparison. I have a Garmin Etrex Vista CX. I got it almos six months ago. My husband a month after I got mine, bought a Magellan.

The first problem I noted was how quickly mine loses signal in tree coverage. I'm moving, my screen is not. His Magellan stays right on course?! My Garmin will sometimes by anywhere between 20 to 120 feet from the cache. The Magellan will bring him right to the cache?!?!?

The joystick has gotten progressively worse. You press it, it doesn't move. (Know another cacher with this problem with his Garmin). The screen sometimes hangs up and then blanks out then comes back? Sometimes this takes a minute.

Now for the worst part. The last week or so I kept getting some kind of sticky goop on my hands everytime I went caching. Nothing really noticable visibly. Sort of like getting cobwebs on your hands. While caching yesterday I noticed the rubberized strip around my GPS was seperated from the top of the unit. Closer inspection revealed the source of the sticky goop. The glue holding the rubberized strip on it is melting? and the rubberized piece keeps shifting back and forth. LESS THAN SIX MONTHS OLD!

I am an avid cacher, admitedly. My GPS has never been submerged in water or gotten more than a few raindrops on the screen. It has not been dropped or mistreated in any way. Seems a little premature to have to replace my GPS.

I've emailed Garmin about this and am now waiting for a response. At this point I think they should replace the unit entirely. What do you think?

I think that you'll be amazed at how quickly they get a new unit in your hand (after you ship your's to them).

[+zazth]

No response as of yet but I think that can be chalked up to the time difference. They aren't open yet to respond. I'm certainly hope they do replace it. Sometimes mine is really spot on accurate. But it has gradually declined until we are at this junction. Maybe mine is just a lemon.

[+aclays]

I've had great accuracy from my Vista hcx, would definitely buy it again

[mtbikernate]

No response as of yet but I think that can be chalked up to the time difference. They aren't open yet to respond. I'm certainly hope they do replace it. Sometimes mine is really spot on accurate. But it has gradually declined until we are at this junction. Maybe mine is just a lemon.

 

FYI, leaving the GPSr on the dash of your car can cause the glue to melt (and might explain some of the other functional problems you're having). As for the sat fix...that's a known issue of the older etrex line. You'd better hope hubby doesn't ever have a problem with that Magellan, though.

[+zazth]

I am an electronics technician. I don't leave my gadgets to broil/bake on the dash of my car or tempt thieves to break my window. He's had his Magellan for the same amount of time I've had my Garmin, give or take a week or so. He has had zero problems with his. I don't consider it to be as user friendly but he does not have a problem with that either.

WE geocache. A lot. We tend to go on weekend excursions. We hike all over parks nabbing every cache in said park, taking pictures, jogging climbing, whatever it takes or we are so inclined to do. We normally start out before the sun comes up and only stop when exhaustion finally takes over. Our last Richmond trip started at 0500 in the morning (that's when we started caching, not getting up). We headed home a little after sunset (2000) when it was no longer light enough to see in the woods without a good flashlight and the parks were closed by then anyways. The week or so before that it was Fredricksburg and we headed home sometime after midnight. Great times both. Wish we could spend more than a day or two a week caching. I pick up a few in the week when I can but that just isn't that often.

I expect a lot out of my gear. This is my second GPS in less than a year. Third if you want to be technical about it. We started with an Eagle Explorer. We found our first hundred or so caches with it. Then it was a used Lowrance ifinder. I LOVED that GPS. It was incredibly accurate and easy for me to use. The problem: the thing ate batteries like you wouldn't believe. I could not keep batteries in it! So I gave up and bought one for my birthday, Garmin Etrex Vista CX. I really think I got the lemon of the batch.

I spent an hour almost on hold waiting to speak to a Garmin rep today. Have gotten no response from my e-mail, yet. The rep when I finally spoke to him said the same thing about sun damage. My husband's Magellan and my Garmin have been exposed to almost identical circumstances. At least in weather conditions they have been. Mike drops his at least once a weekend, has dipped his in water and subjected it to various other tortures. It's not falling apart. BUT my pampered little darling Garmin is in tatters! I won't even begin to chronicle how many times I have been scooped because of the great accuracy of the Garmin versus Magellan.

[+6coondawgs]

I got a vista HCX and love it. I replaced a Magellan Explorist 200, that I never really had any problems with, and the vista is great. I have not downloaded any of the software updates and have not had any problems except for the WAAS deal and apparently I'm not that concerned because I haven't downloaded the fix for it yet.

[dogwalkers2]

Hello Gang - I'm looking to up grade my 9 year old Garmin etrex Legend to a Garmin etrex Vista HCx. If you had the chance, would you buy it again, or are there too many bugs that still need to be worked out in this unit?

 

If you would'nt buy it again, what other unit would you recommend?

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

--HeBeGeBes

Upgraded from a Legend to a Vista HCx about a month ago and would do it again in a heartbeat.

[+H2OBob]

Strange that this topic should be here, right out in the open as I was looking for a basis of comparison. I have a Garmin Etrex Vista CX. I got it almos six months ago. My husband a month after I got mine, bought a Magellan.

The first problem I noted was how quickly mine loses signal in tree coverage. I'm moving, my screen is not. His Magellan stays right on course?! My Garmin will sometimes by anywhere between 20 to 120 feet from the cache. The Magellan will bring him right to the cache?!?!?

The joystick has gotten progressively worse. You press it, it doesn't move. (Know another cacher with this problem with his Garmin). The screen sometimes hangs up and then blanks out then comes back? Sometimes this takes a minute.

Now for the worst part. The last week or so I kept getting some kind of sticky goop on my hands everytime I went caching. Nothing really noticable visibly. Sort of like getting cobwebs on your hands. While caching yesterday I noticed the rubberized strip around my GPS was seperated from the top of the unit. Closer inspection revealed the source of the sticky goop. The glue holding the rubberized strip on it is melting? and the rubberized piece keeps shifting back and forth. LESS THAN SIX MONTHS OLD!

I am an avid cacher, admitedly. My GPS has never been submerged in water or gotten more than a few raindrops on the screen. It has not been dropped or mistreated in any way. Seems a little premature to have to replace my GPS.

I've emailed Garmin about this and am now waiting for a response. At this point I think they should replace the unit entirely. What do you think?

 

Get your user's manual out, and give Garmin Customer Service a phone call. They will treat you a lot better on the phone. I tried the email, and they said to send it in with a check for $125 as it was out of warranty. When I called them, the guy said they would fix it under warranty. They actually sent me a new unit free of charge!

[Keystone]

I'm moving this thread from the Geocaching Topics forum to the GPS Units and Software forum.

[+zazth]

Strange that this topic should be here, right out in the open as I was looking for a basis of comparison. I have a Garmin Etrex Vista CX. I got it almos six months ago. My husband a month after I got mine, bought a Magellan.

The first problem I noted was how quickly mine loses signal in tree coverage. I'm moving, my screen is not. His Magellan stays right on course?! My Garmin will sometimes by anywhere between 20 to 120 feet from the cache. The Magellan will bring him right to the cache?!?!?

The joystick has gotten progressively worse. You press it, it doesn't move. (Know another cacher with this problem with his Garmin). The screen sometimes hangs up and then blanks out then comes back? Sometimes this takes a minute.

Now for the worst part. The last week or so I kept getting some kind of sticky goop on my hands everytime I went caching. Nothing really noticable visibly. Sort of like getting cobwebs on your hands. While caching yesterday I noticed the rubberized strip around my GPS was seperated from the top of the unit. Closer inspection revealed the source of the sticky goop. The glue holding the rubberized strip on it is melting? and the rubberized piece keeps shifting back and forth. LESS THAN SIX MONTHS OLD!

I am an avid cacher, admitedly. My GPS has never been submerged in water or gotten more than a few raindrops on the screen. It has not been dropped or mistreated in any way. Seems a little premature to have to replace my GPS.

I've emailed Garmin about this and am now waiting for a response. At this point I think they should replace the unit entirely. What do you think?

 

Get your user's manual out, and give Garmin Customer Service a phone call. They will treat you a lot better on the phone. I tried the email, and they said to send it in with a check for $125 as it was out of warranty. When I called them, the guy said they would fix it under warranty. They actually sent me a new unit free of charge!

 

If you look at my last post you'll see I already have done this too. An hour on the phone only to have the rep first offer to replace the rubberized strip. When I asked what exactly that would entail he flippantly responded "Uhhh, we would put a new rubberized strip on it." I then asked if this would be with the same glue. He said yes. My response, thenit would not be a leap of faith to concur that in six months I will be seeking another replacement to the rubberized parts as the glue seems to last only six months only this time I will be paying out of pocket since my warranty will no longer be valid? Accurate? The rep refused to respond to this assumption being a valid concern considering the present situation and would only agree that IF this occurred in six months I would have to pay for the second repair.

This is not a satisfactory response as he was not offering to do anything about the stalling out, sticky joystick, etc... He in fact, went on to chalk that up to poor ataellite coverage??? This when your competitor's product has an accurate lock? I am sending my GPS back where he said I would either receive the same unit back, repaired , or a new GPS within 7-10 days. Somehow I get the sneaky suspicion that I will get my old GPS back with a new rubberized strip and it will continue to be unreliable and in six months I will be in the same position only then Garmin will refuse to do anything because I WILL NO LONGER HAVE A WARRANTY!

[+Klatch]

The glue failure has been an issue with the eTrex line since day 1. I returned my old blue Legend twice for that repair (free of charge - out of warranty). Now it is a spare with a loose rubber strip. I will wait to see if the problem exists with the new "H" line, otherwise the performance makes a purchase very tempting.

[+Team J&J]

Just put in my order at TheNerds.net for $228 (including shipping and google checkout 5$ discount). I've read enough good things about this unit to convince me it's worth it, and Garmin has appeared to be fairly responsive to the bugs by issuing patches. Would I buy it again? Stay tuned.

[+jackohug]

I'm just looking at a Vista HCx too. How much benefit do you guys find in having the compass and altimeter (over the Legend HCx, I mean)?

 

Basically I'm wondering if myself and OP would be better off saving a bit of money by going for the Legend instead.

[Backup]

The glue failure has been an issue with the eTrex line since day 1. I returned my old blue Legend twice for that repair (free of charge - out of warranty). Now it is a spare with a loose rubber strip. I will wait to see if the problem exists with the new "H" line, otherwise the performance makes a purchase very tempting.

 

I have the older Vista C and because of the failure of the adhesive on the band of rubber that encircles the unit I would not buy another etrex unit. On my original unit the adhesive started failing at just about a year of use. I sent it back to Garmin who replaced it (for free). With the replacement unit the adhesive started failing in about 8 months. Currently when I'm out hiking, which is often, if the temperature is near 80° the band works loose making it exceedingly hard to use the side controls one handed (you need one hand to hold the band in place and the other to press the buttons).

[knowschad]

I have my Legend HCx on order (to replace my 6 month old Legend Cx). I only noticed tonight that it does not come with a memory card. How much will that impact my use of it? Is that only neccessary for loading maps? Or will I have to get a card before I can load waypoints?

[+jackohug]

I have my Legend HCx on order (to replace my 6 month old Legend Cx). I only noticed tonight that it does not come with a memory card. How much will that impact my use of it? Is that only neccessary for loading maps? Or will I have to get a card before I can load waypoints?

 

I'm pretty sure you'll need a card for that, the HCx doesn't have any built-in storage. Do you still have the card from your Cx?

 

If not, cards are pretty cheap these days anyway.

[knowschad]

I'm pretty sure you'll need a card for that, the HCx doesn't have any built-in storage. Do you still have the card from your Cx?

If not, cards are pretty cheap these days anyway.

Good point. Yes, I do still have the Cx. I will probably sell it, but I can use that card on the HCx to get going immediately, and pick up another later if/when I sell the Cx. Thanks! (actually, I had forgotten that the Cx used a memory card)

[gallet]

I'm just looking at a Vista HCx too. How much benefit do you guys find in having the compass and altimeter (over the Legend HCx, I mean)?

 

Basically I'm wondering if myself and OP would be better off saving a bit of money by going for the Legend instead.

 

Firstly to drag this thread back on topic, yes, I'd buy one again without a moments hesitation.

 

Regarding the compass it is worth noting that the battery drain from the new models regarding the compass is minimal compared with earlier versions. My old eTrex Vista would last a day on batteries, maybe about 10 hours and that's using the compass intermittently.

 

I've been using my new VistaHCx for nearly three days so far, using the compass all the time and the backlight a lot and it is still saying battery full.

 

Despite what some people might say, having a compass is very, very useful and it's definitely worth the paltry extra $30. I can guarantee you'll never notice the 30 bucks but you will notice not having a compass. There's no reason not to get the compass. Plus the Altimeter is a lot of fun too

[+island_hunter]

I just purchased the Vista HCx and a 1GB MicroSD card for it! The card was $12.00US including shipping off ebay! With that memory I will be able to get most or all of the country on it!!! The Vista HCx is worth the extra couple of bucks! island_hunter.

[IndianaDan]

There are only two things I wish I'd known before I bought my Vista HCx:

 

1. The Barometric altimeter is worse than the GPS altimeter for most of what I'm doing. I assumed you could turn it off and use GPS altitude, but you can't. I should have saved $20 or whatever and bought the Legend.

 

2. When you save a track, you lose *all* the date/time information, and if there are more than 500 points, it will drop points from your track to make it fit. You can enable microSD card logging to keep all the data. While this is a silly way to do it, it does what I need-- it just doesn't explain this in the manual. If you're going to geotag pictures or keep high-detail tracklogs, enable microSD card logging as soon as you get it.

 

Other than that, it's been great.

[GreatCanadian]

I have my Legend HCx on order (to replace my 6 month old Legend Cx). I only noticed tonight that it does not come with a memory card. How much will that impact my use of it? Is that only neccessary for loading maps? Or will I have to get a card before I can load waypoints?

You can save wapoints WITHOUT a data card. You'll need a datacard for maps. You can also save tracks without a data card, yet you can also log tracks to the data card as well.

[+CJOttawa]

Hello Gang - I'm looking to up grade my 9 year old Garmin etrex Legend to a Garmin etrex Vista HCx. If you had the chance, would you buy it again, or are there too many bugs that still need to be worked out in this unit?

 

If you would'nt buy it again, what other unit would you recommend?

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

--HeBeGeBes

 

Go for it.

 

I've only had the Vista HCx for a few days and it's replacing my 60CSx. They've accomplished what I'd hoped: they crammed the functionality of the 60CSx into an eTrex form-factor.

 

FYI, I wanted something smaller than the 60CSx which I found myself leaving at home a lot because it was a bit on the large side.