Vista HCX or Colorado 400c?

[gadgettr1]

I'm looking for a gps to use for some saltwater kayak fishing in New England. I've been looking at the Vista Hcx and the Colorado 400c. Is the Colorado worth the extra money over the Vista Hcx with a bluechart dvd? With either of these units can you load several other maps to one 2 gig sd card? I'd like to be able to use the US topo maps and saltwater blue charts and perhaps the city navigator all on one gps unit. Is this possible? Will I need more than one sd card?

 

Thanks,

 

Chip

 

gadgettr1@yahoo.com

[+Chuy!]

I don't have a Colorado; I have a Vista HCx. With a 1gb card, it can hold half the USA in detailed MetroGuide maps (with an auto-routing index) and about a third of the USA with Topo 2008 maps. I also have 15K POI's and some misc tracks. A 2-gb should be plenty.

 

The Colorado will take up a bit more space if you install gpx files. Others will have to pipe in as to the actual amount of space it uses up.

[freeday]

i have both units.

i would take the hcx.

 

at this time the system of the colorado sometimes "crashes", which is not good for logging

 

i am not shure if it is really water resistant

try to change the batteries on both systems and you know what i mean.

 

the backlight of the hcx is much better and you can read the display under really every condition.

the display of the colorado is not very easy to read.

 

no, i did not use the colorado for kajaking this year , but i already used a hcx and a gpsmap60csx

[+tbuckler]

I wouldn't get either of these units since they will NOT float. Go for the Garmin GPSMAP 76CSx. It will float and can store maps on a microSD card.

[+StarBrand]

I wouldn't get either of these units since they will NOT float. Go for the Garmin GPSMAP 76CSx. It will float and can store maps on a microSD card.

That is exactly what I was thinking......

[gadgettr1]

Ok thanks everyone. I'm going to go with the Hcx. It will double duty on land for hunting and possibly over seas if my unit gets deployed to the desert. I know it doesn't float but I'll attach a float to it just in case it does slip out of the yak and most of it's time will be spent in a clear waterproof bag so hopefully I won't have to test out how waterproof it is.

 

Thanks again,

 

Chip

[+shaktaka]

I wouldn't get either of these units since they will NOT float. Go for the Garmin GPSMAP 76CSx. It will float and can store maps on a microSD card.

I don't know about other kayakers, but I keep my GPS unit (a Vista HCx) in a dry bag clipped to the deck bungies in front of my cockpit. I would never trust a unit's stated water-resistance or flotation to protect it from getting lost or ruined when I dump.