Vista vs Legend

[nemethmik]

I had a Legend for three weeks and I was very happy with it (except the very poor reception in tree/bush covered areas, but this is another story). Then I got a Vista and I'm not very content with it:

- why to spend a lot of extra money for 19M of memory to keep the poor quality Mapsource maps;

- the altimeter is practically of little use for geocaching;

- the usefuness of the electronic compass of the Vista is questionable.

I'm especially unhappy with the navigation panel of the Vista, which combines the compass and the navigation/"Go To" pointer. The Legend's navigation panel worked even if you held the unit in not perfectly horizontal/level position. This is not the case with Vista, if it's not held in level, its navigation panel works totally unreliably.

I often gave the Legend to my kids to navigate following the "Go To" arrow, and we had no problems. Today I had to take back agai ang again from them the Vista because in the kids' hands it led us in the wrong direction.

Am I missing something here?

 

PS: I'm asking these because I'm in the evaluation process to pick my GPSr for my geocache huntings.

[+apersson850]

I have a Vista, but I've never had a Legend.

 

The Vista has 24 Mbyte memory, or 16 Mbyte more than the Legend.

I use the MetroGuide Europe in my unit, and I'm of the opinion that that map works very well for me. If I had only 8 Mbyte of memory, I would have to replace the maps much more often than I have to, as it is now.

To me, the extra memory is well worth the cost.

 

I like the altimeter when it comes to generating altitude profiles of tracks, created while biking, skiing, inlines rolling and similar.

 

I think the magnetic compass is of particular interest for geocaching. When doing that, you are quite often standing still, looking around, and then an ordinary GPS will lose track of which direction it's pointing to. Of course, you have to learn to use it, which could be difficult if the kids are too young. Turn the compass off when they use the Vista.

 

If you use the GPS for geocaching only, I can understand your feelings. But I use mine to locate hotels where I have to stay due to my work, and to locate street addresses I have to visit, either privately or due to my work. In addition to geocaching, that is.

 

Anders

[jfitzpat]

Well, the whole point of a built in compass is that the navigation screen on a non-compass unit can, most assuredly, point in completely the wrong direction - regardless of the attitude the unit is held. But, it does require proper calibration and use. The Magellan Platinum has a compass which is much more forgiving in operational positioning, but which seems to be 10-15 degrees less accurate than either a Suunto watch or a Vista.

 

I'd agree that none of the GPS loadable maps I've seen on either Magellan or Garmin are a real replacement for paper maps, but I find them handy still. Having the whole portion of the state I normally roam loaded is convenient.

 

I actually use the barometric altimeter quite a bit, but not for geocaching. Like Anders said, different strokes for different folks...

 

Good Luck,

-jjf

[+15Tango]

I, too, was having problems with the electronic compass in my Vista until I got in the habit of calibrating it every time I change the batteries--since I have been calibrating it by doing the two turns (hopefully where nobody can see me and wonder what the @#$%&* I'm up to) I've found a few caches that I didn't find earlier. Hope this helps you feel better about your Vista. 15T

 

www.1800goguard.com

[+st_richardson]

quote:

---

Originally posted by mwmm15T:

I, too, was having problems with the electronic compass in my Vista until I got in the habit of calibrating it every time I change the batteries...

---

 

Good point! The manual as well as the quick start card tell you that you have to calibrate every time you change batteries but many seem to forget.

 

Also remember to do it away from metal (eg cars) and magnetic fields.

[+apersson850]

I think it's important that you do calibrate each time you change batteries, and perhaps even if you remove them and put them in again, since they may be rotated differently, and are perhaps not completely symmetric in their design.

 

If you are concerned about what people think about you when you turn around twice like that, I have a suggestion that will distract people from looking at your actions like that...

 

Anders

[+apersson850]

I think it's important that you do calibrate each time you change batteries, and perhaps even if you remove them and put them in again, since they may be rotated differently, and are perhaps not completely symmetric in their design.

 

If you are concerned about what people think about you when you turn around twice like that, I have a suggestion that will distract people from looking at your actions like that...

 

Anders

[+Alan2]

I was caching yesterday in NYC's Central Park when a woman came over to me.

 

"WHich way is south?" she asks.

 

So I look at the compass in my Vista, pointing my arm to the right, "South is that way."

 

"Wow, that's great" she says. "A compass in a cell phone!"

 

Alan

[+apersson850]

So it wasn't:

 

"Wow, that's great, a cellphone in a compass!" ?

 

Anders

[+apersson850]

So it wasn't:

 

"Wow, that's great, a cellphone in a compass!" ?

 

Anders

[Bagbug]

Hi Anders,

 

I just want to know what is that picture below our name ??!!

Is it you ?

 

Bag

[+Hawk-eye]

quote:

---

...

I just want to know what is that picture below our name ??!!

Is it you ?

 

Bag

---

 

MAN ... NOW YOU'VE DONE IT!!!! Just kidding ... click on Anders profile and view his found caches ... he has several pictures of himself slinking through the woods of Europe ... Strange out fit by American standards ... but a great guy! By the way ... that's not him in the photo.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------

Co-founder of the "NC/VA GEO-HOG ASSOCIATION"

... when you absolutely have to find it first!

[+Hawk-eye]

quote:

---

...

I just want to know what is that picture below our name ??!!

Is it you ?

 

Bag

---

 

MAN ... NOW YOU'VE DONE IT!!!! Just kidding ... click on Anders profile and view his found caches ... he has several pictures of himself slinking through the woods of Europe ... Strange out fit by American standards ... but a great guy! By the way ... that's not him in the photo.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------

Co-founder of the "NC/VA GEO-HOG ASSOCIATION"

... when you absolutely have to find it first!

[+Alan2]

Originally posted by Hawk-eye:...

MAN ... NOW YOU'VE DONE IT!!!! Just kidding ... click on Anders profile and view his found caches ... he has several pictures of himself slinking through the woods of Europe ... Strange out fit by American standards ... but a great guy! By the way ... that's not him in the photo.

...QUOTE]

 

I thought that was his girl friend?!

 

Alan

[+Alan2]

Originally posted by Hawk-eye:...

MAN ... NOW YOU'VE DONE IT!!!! Just kidding ... click on Anders profile and view his found caches ... he has several pictures of himself slinking through the woods of Europe ... Strange out fit by American standards ... but a great guy! By the way ... that's not him in the photo.

...QUOTE]

 

I thought that was his girl friend?!

 

Alan

[+apersson850]

In this sometimes sinister world, I'm glad that I can keep your thoughts on something less important and horrifying than the news they feed us with on TV every day.

 

Hawk-Eye, have you noticed that the suit has gone pink lately, due to all nice comments about my knowledge here, a while ago? It's blushing!

 

To get serious (well, not too much!), the suit is a sports suit, that I used when finding some caches. I was in France, and didn't have any other clothes that I cared to get wet and dirty in the woods. Just to see if someone noticed, I posted some pictures with my finds.

 

Boy, did someone notice! It caused so much joy, that I immediately promised myself to never go caching in any other outfit.

 

So, the geo-suit was invented. I decided to include it as my "avatar", but the picture of Caroline in the suit was better to use there, since it was already lifted from the background. It's the same suit, just on somebody else. Since the hype was all about the suit, not me, I thought that was OK. And Caroline didn't mind.

 

No, she's not my girlfriend, although I wouldn't mind. Maybe my wife would mind...

 

Anders

[+apersson850]

In this sometimes sinister world, I'm glad that I can keep your thoughts on something less important and horrifying than the news they feed us with on TV every day.

 

Hawk-Eye, have you noticed that the suit has gone pink lately, due to all nice comments about my knowledge here, a while ago? It's blushing!

 

To get serious (well, not too much!), the suit is a sports suit, that I used when finding some caches. I was in France, and didn't have any other clothes that I cared to get wet and dirty in the woods. Just to see if someone noticed, I posted some pictures with my finds.

 

Boy, did someone notice! It caused so much joy, that I immediately promised myself to never go caching in any other outfit.

 

So, the geo-suit was invented. I decided to include it as my "avatar", but the picture of Caroline in the suit was better to use there, since it was already lifted from the background. It's the same suit, just on somebody else. Since the hype was all about the suit, not me, I thought that was OK. And Caroline didn't mind.

 

No, she's not my girlfriend, although I wouldn't mind. Maybe my wife would mind...

 

Anders

[+SecretSpy]

Anders is right AGAIN! You just have to keep experimenting with your GPSr (whichever kind you have) to understand it's quirks. My Vista is the only GPSr I've owned and it took me a long time and many,many hours on here reading ANDERS Vista tips. At first I thought it didn't work right but I just kept at it and now I don't leave home without it. Compass calibration is a MUST. Hell I don't mind the spinning. When I get within 200-300ft of a cache I cal anyway just for kicks. As for the mem, 24MB rules. I use Metroguide USA (without autoroute to save MB) and like ANDERS use it for hotel finding etc. The altimeter isn't really needed for geocaching but it's dadgum cool when you view your elevation plots after driving through mountains. I'm not the type to badmouth a different GPSr because it's not a VISTA or a Garmin. If you like Mag's great more power to ya, but don't say the VISTA is junk cuz I'll defend mine with my life. (OK maybe not quite but almost). Good Hunting

 

LowlyWorm Says Gig 'em Aggies

 

[This message was edited by SecretSpy & LowlyWorm on May 29, 2002 at 10:56 PM.]

[+Alan2]

I check my Vista's altimeter to see how high I am when my ears "pop" going up or down a mountain! Always wondered about that before I got a GPS. Can't do that with a Legend!

 

OK. So that doesn't sound sane. Well, try convincing relatives that geocaching is sane!

 

Alan

[+Alan2]

I check my Vista's altimeter to see how high I am when my ears "pop" going up or down a mountain! Always wondered about that before I got a GPS. Can't do that with a Legend!

 

OK. So that doesn't sound sane. Well, try convincing relatives that geocaching is sane!

 

Alan