Customer Reviews
Handheld but not good with MAPS
You know how a GPS works so I am going to skip all the cool things that GPS handheld units do, and this little unit does as well, in a compact size which is GREAT!
BUT! There is alway something....Do not buy this if you need map detail stored in it....The whole etrex series will not hold Garmin CityNavigator v7 maps, even though they are compatible with the series.
It is one thing for Garmin to want to extract primo Gross Margin from Unlock-Maps sales, but teir 1 Gross Margin demands teir 1 accountability and they have dropped the ball with regard to Map management as compared to the competition.
This was a nice little suprise on Christmas day, and $120 down the drain for Map Software, if you need to use this for business. Unless of course you rent a Humvee for business and you can drive straight from the rental car lot over the land and straight to the client office without using roads, then you don't need the City Navigator data to actually reside in the unit.
My wife's Magellan in her car came with every map known to man already onboard, and is extremely easy to work with...it is just not designed for the rugged portability of the Garmin etrex series.
The compact size is great for outdoor ease of use or business travel ease of use, which are similar in their demands....but I would not buy this if you need road maps in your unit.
Hiking companion, not just a gadget
I'm delighted to have finally tried the Garmin Color Vista C after nearly abandonning the whole GPS endeavor.
I previously purchased a Magellan Meridian Color GPS for hiking after moving to Montana. The outdoor called and my "internal GPS" sense of where I'm going and have been is too weak to rely on for the trails around here. The Garmin Vista C worked much more intuitively than the Magellan. The learning curve was fast even though I'd not used any GPS for over a year.
After working out a couple of glitches, my Vista C has been a delight. I've taken it biking, kayaking and on many trials in Montana. City tours are not my favorite venture, but the Garmin served very well for me both on foot and for tracking where the taxi was transporting me. Now its accompanying my quest to learn cross country skiing. Besides basic directional assistance, I've begun using it even where I'm already confident that I know the trails in order to perform exercise monitoring, to log information on distance, duration, speed, altitude, calculating grade of ascent,landmarking favorite spots where I might want to hide a gift for a friend, and occasionally seeing how much time I have left to doddle before sundown.
The Magellan never became a companion like the Garmin has. It was tantalizing but seemed to fail on practicalities. It devoured batteries -- in fact even if I carefully made sure the device was turned off after less than an hour of use on a new set batteries and put it away, when I returned in a couple of days the new batteries were toast (including Energizer Lithium).
I do like the detail on topo maps for Magellan perhaps a bit better than Garmin's options -- but in practice the Magellan computer interface as well as the handheld interface were quite frustrating and combursome so the Magellan became a neglected "toy" on the shelf. The final kicker happened when I attempted to backtrack a trail and was led so far off course by the Magellan's limited satellite accuracy that I did become seriously lost for about 30 minutes. The Garmin made these frustrations a distant memory and real-time interaction with its maps seems to be helping me develop my internal navigational skills as well.
A FEW ERRATIC GARMIN GLITCHES
It "glitched" once trying to download to my PC which was apparently a corrupted file on the handheld. This has not occured again. The first tech I spoke with at Garmin was rather unhelpful and just told me to delete all of my handheld files (too painful to contemplate since they represented a week of hiking on the Lake Superior Trail). I asked to speak with a supervisor who was professional and gave several good solutions and contingency plans. Ultimately I did not have to use these more remote solutions, just deleted one old trail on the handheld that was a leftover from hiking near my own community.
The other glitch occurred when I was standing on a short hill between taller rock stands and short peaks. The device credited me with a lightening fast 11-mile bounce between these sites. It still downloaded to my PC okay this time and the anomaly easily edited out.
IMPROVEMENTS I'D LIKE TO SEE:
1. A thermometer added.
2. Of course there is always a wish for the WAIS information to be available more of the time in order to get the higher level of accuracy.
3. The software maps at least for this part of the world are outdated and could do more for topo detail. Major trails should be included, like Lake Superior Hiking Trail, the Colorado Trail, Appalachian, etc.
4. The Show Profile feature on the PC software should let you identify trail segments better. It shows the whole trail only and all the AUTOMATIC waypoints -- but not the ones you have landmarked.
Nonetheless I'm hooked. This investment has more than earned its cost in peace of mind, freedom to meander away from the trail and be confident I can get back, finding alternative trails or loops and understanding on the map how they meet up in real time as I am out there scrambling... improving my cardiovascular training ... and much more.
Best handheld GPS for the money for outdoor activities
I was looking for something small to take hiking, snowmobiling, and plotting land boundaries and markers on maps. I have used it every other day for about a month and love it. I bought this handheld GPS after reviewing many Garmin models like the Etrex line and also the higher end handheld line. I also reviewed Magellan's lines as well.
I have had a Garmin StreetPilot III for driving from MA to SC to PA and loved it. I already had Garmin's MapSource detailed road and topographical software to use with the SP III. So going with a compatible handheld GPS that could use the software was a factor as well.
Obviously one needs to keep in mind the general limitations of any GPS system, those being the + or - accuracy of approximately 30 ft. both because of government regulation and the rotation of the earth and orbitting satellites. Also, that heavy foliage (dense cover where I could barely see sky) or extreme hills or valleys (being below a 50-100ft ledge for example)will temporarily disrupt your reception, but this is true for all GPS systems. But this GPS works well for me in the woods and hills of north central MA/southern NH.
I don't think a black and white display would've cut it, especially in shade and evening use. I would definately recommend color on any display. Color gives you so many variations for marking waypoints and is just plain easier to differentiate between things. I probably didn't need the altimeter and could've got away with a cheaper color model but I live in a rather hilly area and am just nosy as to how high or low I am compared to home, etc.
The altimeter is helpful in plotting trails, boundaries, and marks as it gives a better 3 dimensional perspective of the location you're at or going back to.
Everyone will have their own use or area, but I hope this was helpful for any similar desires or applications.
