Upgrade

[+Cam, Beck, Mum & Dad]

I've got a Yellow eTrex I've had for about a year. For the last few weeks I've been thinking as I drive along to the next cache wouldn't it be cool (and vaguely useful) to have maps on my GPSr. I don't want a Magellan (low horizon signals and slingshot) and I definately want handheld that fits in my phone holder in the car. So - Legend or Vista? I like the compass and the barometric altimeter but I'm an anorak so I use my GPS on the plane (don't tell anyone! Anyway, I happen to know it's perfectly safe ). Can I turn off the barometric bit on the Vista so that it's not confused by cabin pressure?

 

Also, 8meg vs 24meg (I think). how big a map can I get in 8 meg? I live in Norway and will get the 1:25000 CD for the Vestlandet region and leave it on the GPSr.

 

Any views? Thanks.

 

Graham

[+briansnat]

I had the Legend and now have the Vista. I'm not aware of a way to turn off the barometric altimeter in the Vista, but I never had a reason to do so, so I haven't looked.

 

The 8 megs of the Legend will let you dowload a lot of area maps. It should cover most of your region for, approximately 80 km in every direction. If you travel outside your home area often, you might want the extra memory of the Vista. The electronic compass in the Vista is also a nice feature, as you don't have to be moving for it to work.

[+Cam, Beck, Mum & Dad]

Compass is a good feature. Right noe I hang a Silva round the neck of one my kids and hope they don't lose it. What do you think of the displays on the Legend and Vista? I've heard they can be bit fussy.

 

Graham

[+briansnat]

Never had a display problem with either. The reslolution is quite nice. Far better than the yellow eTrex.

[+Eric K]

Just started reading this thread and I also have the basic E-trex.

 

On the legend and Vista I noticed they both have less battery life than the E-trex.

 

E-trex-22 hrs

Legend 18-hours

Vista-12 hours

 

You can go to this page to compare the models side by side.

 

Garmin Comparisons

 

My question is I currently have the lighter/serial cable adaptor. Will it work on the legend and Vista also?

 

Also, on the maps do they have the whole US installed or do you have to buy additional maps?

 

I travel mainly in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania.

 

The maps would be nice. Is it worth looking into an upgrade?

Edited May 25, 2004 by Eric K

[+CO Admin]

I had to go the other way the other day. I have a Navman/IPAQ with full maps from 3 different programs on of which is Topographical maps. I had to do a cache the other day because I found myself in the area with out the Navman Sleeve. I keep a Magellan 315 as a backup in the car. I was lost for a few minutes without the maps and wondered how you guys manage to do it all the time. I found the cache but it was interesting.

My recommendation is no matter what you do make sure it has maps. they are really helpfully

[+briansnat]

The maps would be nice. Is it worth looking into an upgrade?

 

 

I find maps to be a very valuable feature. I don't think I'd have a use for a GPS outside geocaching if I didn't have maps. I have the Mapsource Topo, which really helps with geocaching. I can usually tell which side of a river to start out on and save some walking. It will also tell me if there is a river, ravine, mountain or cliff between me and the cache and can help me decide which trail is the correct one to take.

 

Since Topo has most streets and highways on it, it is a great tool for finding my way to a likely parking spot. And when I'm not geocaching, I've used it to find my way around strange cities and find services such as gas stations and points of interest while travelling.

[+IV_Warrior]

My question is I currently have the lighter/serial cable adaptor. Will it work on the legend and Vista also?

 

Also, on the maps do they have the whole US installed or do you have to buy additional maps?

 

I travel mainly in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania.

 

The maps would be nice. Is it worth looking into an upgrade?

The Etrex series all use the same cables.

 

The mapping ones include basemaps, which basically have the interstates, and larger roads on them. If you want TOPO's, or just road maps with all the little roads/sidestreets/cowpaths on them, you'll have to buy the appropriate "upgraded" maps.

 

Is it worth it to upgrade to a mapping GPS? Depends. Some guys love 'em, personally, I find the small screen size to be essentially useless with maps. Then again, I have a laptop with a 15 in widescreen monitor, and use that for mapping with a GPS attached, to track my position.....don't have a laptop? maybe you'll appreciate maps on your GPS more than I do.......

[+Eric K]

My question is I currently have the lighter/serial cable adaptor.  Will it work on the legend and Vista also?

 

Also, on the maps do they have the whole US installed or do you have to buy additional maps?

 

I travel mainly in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania.

 

The maps would be nice.  Is it worth looking into an upgrade?

The Etrex series all use the same cables.

 

The mapping ones include basemaps, which basically have the interstates, and larger roads on them. If you want TOPO's, or just road maps with all the little roads/sidestreets/cowpaths on them, you'll have to buy the appropriate "upgraded" maps.

 

Is it worth it to upgrade to a mapping GPS? Depends. Some guys love 'em, personally, I find the small screen size to be essentially useless with maps. Then again, I have a laptop with a 15 in widescreen monitor, and use that for mapping with a GPS attached, to track my position.....don't have a laptop? maybe you'll appreciate maps on your GPS more than I do.......

I mainly use my Etrex for geocaching.

 

About the only time I use it otherwise is drivng home when I'm out of state. I don't use it for the directions but it's always interesting to see how many miles 'as the crow flies' as to how many miles I actually drive.

 

For that part the Interstate Maps would come in handy.

 

I'll have to keep my eye on E-bay for a deal on a Legend or Vista.

[+Cam, Beck, Mum & Dad]

Sorry guys, started this then disappeared with work for a couple of days. I think Maps would be useful for finding the general location and parking areas. In Norway most of the roads swing way off course and back again - sometimes you are actually going away from the cache. If I don't have a paper map of the area I can't always tell if I'm on the right track. I could buy more paper maps, but that kinda defeats the object for me

 

Also - I like to build a general understanding of local geography, espacially when I'm away from home or flying to somewhere new. I thinkt this probably means I'll go with the vista mainly for the extra memory.

 

Graham

[Nothlit]

Just to follow up on a question in the original post:

 

You can easily disable the Vista's barometric altimeter and choose the "Use GPS Elevation" option instead. I believe it's in one of the menus on the satellite page. I have a Vista and just discovered that option a couple of days ago.

[+TotemLake]

I don't want a Magellan (low horizon signals and slingshot)

Not to go OT here, but you drew my curiosity about the low horizon signals remark. I did a quick search on the web and looked over at gpsinformation.net for info on this about the Magellans and couldn't easily spot anything on it. Would you mind filling me in on this?

 

Thanks!

[+Cam, Beck, Mum & Dad]

Sure thing....

 

I'm pretty new to this and I bought the eTrex yellow just out of curiosity about 6 months before I learned about caching. Now I want to upgrade I did a bit more research to find out what I want and where to get it.

 

I understand that the Magellans use a quad helix antenna, which I also understand allows signals to be picked up at lower elevations to the horizon than the patch antenna used in the eTrex. This means you can get a fix when there is very heavy overhead cover, but it also makes it more likley that you pick up reflections from surrounding objects (eg buildings etc). If the GPS uses the reflections to get the fix it can give a false reading (I read about variations of over 100m). I've also read that the Magellans project your track if you are moving slowly which means you can walk straight past the cache, then need to turnaround and go back. Mind you, I do plenty of that anyway .

 

I have to stress I've never used a Magellan, so all the above is based on hearsay/internet searching. It's probably all rubbish. I bought the eTrex because I saw it in a shop and it looked interesting. I guess I'lll stick with Garmin now because I used and liked the eTrex, plus they have just released full 1:50000 coverage of Norway where I live.

 

Graham

[+TotemLake]

Well that certainly makes sense and I've seen these things happen but never heard it called that way. When I went to the Magellan's web page, it does look like they try to use signals from the satellites as low as maybe 6 degrees off the horizon - maybe a little higher.

 

I've seen way off coords, but even in some of the valleys I've been in, the reflections amount to a mere fraction of a second and then it is right back. It also explains the track I keep when going through some tunnels. For instance, I've noted straight-walled tunnels have better reflectivity than curved-wall tunnels as I will lose a signal in the curved-walls faster than I do in the straight.

 

Anyway, for all intents and purposes, I haven't noticed too many problems in reflectivity where my track is completely useless. OF the multitudes of areas I've been in with steep horizons and/or heavy cover and/or high reflectivity, I can probably point to a handful (save one) that lasted less than a second. And for all that, wasn't really noticed during the hike, but after downloading the track to the PC. The one exception was when the trail put me within inches of a rock face for about 100 feet and I happened to be looking at the GPS when it happened.

 

Btw, in case you haven't seen my declarations in other threads, I have a MeriPlat.

 

Anyway, thanks for the explanation!

Edited May 30, 2004 by TotemLake

[+TotemLake]

I've also read that the Magellans project your track if you are moving slowly which means you can walk straight past the cache, then need to turnaround and go back. Mind you, I do plenty of that anyway  .

 

Btw, I don't know about the projection causing the slingshot, but I have noted there is a certain lag that happens - probably in conjunction with averaging and heavy cover as this is where I notice it. I've never noticed it when I'm out in the open with great coverage.

[+Mudfrog]

Just another monkey wrench to throw into your decision making. Have you given any thought to trying the GPSMAP 76s? Got my first for Christmas but lost it when i left it on the back of the truck. [] Liked it so much that i bought another one off Ebay. [] The altimeter is allways functioning but you can go into the menu to turn off any readings. Simulates turning it off according to my instructions. Not sure why thats even an option. The unit is easy to use, waterproof down to 3 feet, floats, and has just about any feature you could ask for. The thing i like most is that it has a bigger screen than the Etrex models.