Etrex Vista HCX vs Oregon

[+Breiti]

Hi,

 

I have had an Etrex Vista for almost 7 years (Vista, Vista C, Vista CX and now Vista HCX) and I have been happy with it all the time except for one issue: the plastic around the unit was lose after approximately a year and I returned it to REI and they replaced the entire unit. However, I received a letter from REI last time, that they will not accept any returns in the future and I should contact garmin directly.

 

Now I am afraid that the whole shipping etc will take weeks and I started my research whether I should upgrade to a new unit including paperless geocaching. I used my Vista for both street navigation and geocaching/hiking.

 

Now my questions:

1. How is the Oregon compared to the Vista HCX, e.g. regarding the screen in the sun, size, weight, ease to use, battery duration, street navigation, etc.

2. Is the paperless function easy to use (I am a premium member with geocaching.com)?

3. Can I switch from City Select Maps to Topographical maps? How is that working?

4. Is the touch screen quality comparable to an Ipod Touch or worse/better?

5. I guess my biggest concern is whether the screen is readable or not. I was always happy with the Etrex Vista and do not want to lower my expectations.

 

Thanks for any help.

Edited April 9, 2010 by Breiti

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

I can answer some of your questions. The Oregon 450 and Dakota series have the best screens of any of the new models. In some situations, visibility will definitely be less your eTrex, but the other advantages are huge (touchscreen, paperless, track navigation, custom maps, BirdsEye imagery, etc.).

 

Yes, paperless is easy to use.

 

You can switch between highway and topo maps but City Select is an old format. Not sure it will work. And its a locked product anyway.

[+suhplar]

if the rubber part is coming off of your etrex, just shoot garmin an email. i bought a vista hcx off the forums here about a year ago and the surround started coming off. sent garmin an email, explained that it was loose, and they sent me a new rubber piece in the mail free of charge. they knew i wasn't the original owner and still sent it for free, this basically made me a very, very happy garmin user. i used black permatex gasket stuff when i reapplied it and it's still in place and not coming off at all, even after being dropped and submerged several times (lake michigan is pretty wet!). might be worth a shot and if you can replace it for free you'd be able to resell it for more if you decided to get an oregon/dakota.