Garmin Etrex Vista

[sevierville]

Is this a good unit ot use if you are getting started........if not. Any suggestions? Thanks

[+TresOkies]

It's a perfectly fine unit. It has everything you need for geocaching, basic map navigation, and it's reasonably durable. At some point, you might outgrow it, but not for a good long time. I have one, as well as four other Garmins and the Vista is still a valued piece of equipment. It's not overly difficult to use and it'll take a licking.

 

Enjoy.

 

-E

[+GeoCyclist]

The Vista is a great unit. It has an electronic compass and the most memory of the eTrex line. It is compact and easy to use. Even if I upgrade in the future I plan to keep my Vista because of it's compact size; it is good to use for hiking.

 

My Vista has performed very well and I have not had any problems with it.

[Tahosa and Sons]

I swear by the Vista, and I have done lots more that geocaching with that little electronic marvel.

[+hamgran]

I wouldn't trade my Vista. I'm really comfortable with it, and I really like everything about it, especially the electronic compass.

The only feature I wish it had is the ability to put waypoints into different files. I have about 100 waypoints in it right now - some are of geocaches I own, some are of geocaches I want to find... it would be nice to separate them somehow, rather than all together in alphabetical order. I'd even separate the ones I want to find into different cities.

But then I don't know of any GPSr that has this feature.

- hamgran

[+briansnat]

it would be nice to separate them somehow, rather than all together in alphabetical order. I'd even separate the ones I want to find into different cities.

But then I don't know of any GPSr that has this feature.

 

Actually the Gecko has this feature. Not the cities, but by name.

 

The Vista is a fine unit. I have one and am very happy with it. The base map however is very basic and nearly useless. It only has major roads and bodies of water. You'll eventually want to get one of the Mapsource products. I like Mapsource Topo.

[Shoobie & the Sand Crabs]

I love my garmin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[+ZingerHead]

514 caches by Vista - I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's light, water resistant enough for an occasional dunking, durable, and can go all day on a couple of pairs of batteries. The size of the unit is perfect for backpacking, and the water resistance makes it suitable for kayaking (although I put it in a drybag). I've had it out in heavy rain, subfreezing cold, snowstorms, hot summer days, you name it. It does lose lock under heavy tree cover and in canyons and such, but THEY ALL DO THAT! The patch antenna in the etrex line is less sensitive than the quad helix antennas in other units, but I can't think of a single instance where the etrex was the reason I couldn't find a cache. About the only missing feature that would make me trade up is autorouting, but I work around this limitation by plotting out driving directions ahead of time. And autorouting will run you at least a couple hundred bucks more than the Vista. OK, and a bigger screen would be easier on my 40-something eyeballs. But I heartily recommend this GPS - it's the one I started with and it's still going strong.

[+Team Aspenoro]

We'll add our recommendation for the Vista -- so far there is no indication that it is the weakest link in the chain -- that, I believe, is an 'honor' to be bestowed upon the human operators. Garmin also has a top notch customer service department.

[+BilboB]

I was in the same boat as you and spent the extra money for the Vista. I have hiked and biked with it, kayaked and dunked it (it floats!), my kids have dropped it 3 TIMES, all with no noticible effect on the unit. I agree that GARMIN has excellent customer support as well and I also agree that the only drawback is the loaded basemap which is pretty useless in unfamiliar territory. AWESOME GPSr. Tip: Buy a car cradle and a cigarette lighter for easier cache searches.

[+Destitute]

Hey, Sevierville!!! You're from my area!

 

We bought a Vista when we started last year. Every thing I read in the replies I agree with. I've thought about getting a Magellan to see how it compares but, we haven't been dissappointed in our Vista.

 

I would like to reiterate the fact that the screen is small for folks with degenerating close-up vision, the map is less than marginal, and it will eat 2 or more pairs of NiMH batteries in a full day's caching with WAAS enabled. (Losing your satellite "lock" and having to re-aquire seems to be harder on batteries than using WAAS.)

 

I've taken it hiking and even saved a waypoint at campsite #31 in the Smokies. Occasionally, I'll load it to remind myself how far away I am from having some REAL fun.

 

BTW, that cig. lighter adapter and car cradle idea seems like really sound advice as does buying the Mapsource CD.

 

Also, you need to get a real compass and not depend on the electronic compass.

Edited June 7, 2004 by Destitute

[+village-idiot]

Please excuse me if I don't know what I'm talking about, but seeing that all waypoints start with GC I just change the first letter to keep all the waypoints that I want to keep together in the same area of the index. Please be gentle with me, I'm a newbie at both geocaching and on-line discussions.

[+hamgran]

Excellent idea, Village.

Actually, I always change the waypoint name to the actual cache name in my Vista (since I'm not a paperless cacher yet - still trying to sort through the array of PDAs that are out there). So I depend on my print-outs and would rather have the actual name of the cache in my Garmin rather than the waypoint name, for ease of correlating.

But there's always the option of putting a number or letter in front of each name, to correspond with a given area, I suppose.

Thanks!

- hamgran

[+village-idiot]

I usally change the file name to the waypoint name when I download the file from Geocaching.com to load into my Vista. I'm not a member or gone paperless yet, so I have to still cut, paste and print the info, so I found it easier to go by the waypoint name for now. When I get enough of the folding type of money, instead of the noisy kind, I'm going to go paperless and then maybe I'll change my wicked ways.

[IamFennec]

I'm courous why or how you would ever outgrow your vista?

 

Anybody

[IamFennec]

I'm courous why or how you would ever outgrow your vista?

 

Anybody

[IamFennec]

I'm courous about how you would outgrow your vista?

 

anybody

[+village-idiot]

The only way I can think that anyone will out grow the Vista is if they find one that has more bells and whistles, and as everyone knows the only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.

[+Chuy!]

I usally change the file name to the waypoint name when I download the file from Geocaching.com to load into my Vista.  I'm not a member or gone paperless yet, so I have to still cut, paste and print the info, so I found it easier to go by the waypoint name for now.  When I get enough of the folding type of money, instead of the noisy kind, I'm going to go paperless and then maybe I'll change my wicked ways.

Hey Villiage-Idiot, you are no villiage idiot! I have over 600 cache waypoints in my Vista and wish I had deleted the "GC" letters so I can find the waypoint names quicker; the click stick is great but its a waste of time to have to click "GC" everytime.

I take it you use software such as Easy GPS?

With this great free software, I download waypoints into the software format each waypoint to my liking. You can also add a comment (e.g. hints) to each entry. I then download the waypoints directly to my Vista and print out a copy of the amended file. On my cheap home printer, I can print out a page of 45 waypoints on a single page, each listing its title, common name and hint. At work, using our HP laser printer, I can print out a page with 120 waypoints on a single page!

I take these sheets in the field when I go caching so I can keep track of what I have found and the swag I exchange. I then make sure I delete the waypoint from the file so I don't load it again into my Vista.

I'm pretty sure you don't need to be a paying member to download the software.

Happy hunting and I hope I have given someone a useful tool to use; I can't imagine being without this free software.

[+village-idiot]

I do use EasyGPS, and so far haven't used it enough to learn about addng notes to the saved file thanks for the information. Now maybe I'll have to read the instructions and learn more about the program. When I'm out in the field and find or don't find the cache, I go on the Vista and change the GC to F or NF. That way all the nf's will show up on the map of the Vista as a not found so it will bug me until I find it.

[+Wrong Way Ron]

The Vista is an excellent unit you can't go wrong with that choice at all. I think I like it better than the 60cs. I can

say both units have there strong points. Go with the Vista and you will be happy

[+Milbank]

I have never had a vista, but I did have a Legend for about 8 weeks before I sold it after I bought a Meridian Gold.

 

 

Actually, I always change the waypoint name to the actual cache name in my Vista

 

Good idea, but my Meridian Gold saves the waypoint name and the cache name.

 

The patch antenna in the etrex line is less sensitive than the quad helix antennas in other units

 

I can notice a difference in the two types of antennas.

I like the quad helix much better. I did some side by side test when I still had both of them.

 

I would like to reiterate the fact that the screen is small for folks with degenerating close-up vision, the map is less than marginal, and it will eat 2 or more pairs of NiMH batteries in a full day's caching with WAAS enabled. (Losing your satellite "lock" and having to re-aquire seems to be harder on batteries than using WAAS.)

 

The screen is small even for people with 20/20.

It's not bad if your holding the extra in your hand, but if you have it in the car mounted on the window it's harder to see being not only a smaller screen but a higher res. then the Meridian.

 

The map on my legend did not show much at all for small lakes and rivers in my area.

The Meridian gold shows many small lakes around my area, rivers and railroad tracks.

 

The same rechargable batteries I used in my lengend seem to last a bit longer in the meridian gold, not sure if it's because I don't have re-aquire satellites like I did with the legend.

 

The vista will find caches just as good as anything else, but after having a Garmin Etrex for a bit and then trying a Meridian I like the Meridian better.

 

Even after reading all the info I could find online about the Meridian there were things on it I did not know it did until I got my hands on one.

 

I could go on and on, but I won't.

Edited June 14, 2004 by Milbank

[+Brian - Team A.I.]

I outgrew my Vista when I discovered limitations with the amount of information I could keep on it. By that, I mean the amount of mapping capabilities I wanted on the fly.

 

I too am a big fan of Topo!, and had it almost exclusively downloaded to the unit. The problem was, my discovery of software like MetroGuide and Roads&Rec. Each have their good points.

 

The Vista was my trusty companion for over half of my Geocaching life, and I was very pleased with it. In order to afford the new one, I had to sell it, otherwise I would still have it with me, and would have passed it down to my wife, as she is finally starting to ask about one.

 

Of course, a local cacher picked up a 60C and I fell in love with the design, amount of memory, and multitude of features. So I started figuring out how I could afford it, and went to work on making it happen.