Handheld GPS Reviews - Customer reviews - GARMIN Etrex Vista HCx GPS Receiver

Manufacturer: Garmin

List Price: $299.99
Our Price: Too low to display
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Refurbished Price: $214.99
Used Price: $150.00

Average Customer Rating: -

Product details

Offers (80)

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Spotlight customer reviews:

Name: Albert Singleton
Location:
Date: 2007-11-08
Customer Rating: -

Summary: old etrex vista good new etrex vista SUPER
Comment: Had alot of fun with the old monochrome vista in the mountains with topo overlay. Only complaints were time it took to find satellites, visibility of screen in bright sun, topo only covered half the state and coverage would be lost in deep woods or narrow canyons. All these problems are no more with this new model.

Name: B. Shull
Location: Mississippi
Date: 2007-11-17
Customer Rating: -

Summary: Works for me
Comment: Purchased this to use during our county search and rescue missions and to play with doing some geocashing. Does a great job and really like the electronic compus. Would be nice if it didn't cost so much to add the extra maps but for now it is OK.

Name: D. Kraushaar
Location:
Date: 2008-01-08
Customer Rating: -

Summary: Research paid off - A great GPS
Comment: This unit is everything I thought it would be after doing a good bit of research.

It is compact, easy to operate, has a super clear screen (although not huge), and great backlight allowing it to be read easily.

I have been using it for geocaching for the last few weeks, and so far the signal reception has been incredible. I have always had plenty of satellite reception even while laying the unit in my lap or or the dash while driving. It usually gets me within 6-10 feet of the cache I am looking for.

The unit is fairly intuitive, and is highly customizable. Plus it comes with Garmin's respected support (I know it sounds like a commercial, but if you check around, Garmin is rated really high on the their customer service).

The screen is not oversized for driving use, but it will provide mapping directions once Mapsource maps are purchased seperately. You may also want to get a microSD card (2GB) to hold any maps you may want to load. I got mine from Amazon for around $25.

Comes with everything you need to get going. The click stick control works very well. The side buttons are a little firm, but I guess that is due to the material around them which allows the unit to be be waterproof/resistant. The software is very customizable and you can change many things about the unit's operation.

All in all, I am very happy with this purchase.

Name: C. Paget
Location: Utah
Date: 2008-01-19
Customer Rating: -

Summary: Great little GPS!
Comment: This GPS is near perfect for what I need. I previously owned the Garmin Etrex Legend, and this is a huge step up, both upgrading to the vista and going to the HCx model. I am very impressed, first of all, with the new high-sensitivity antenna. With my old GPS, I really needed a clear view of the sky to lock onto the satellites. When backpacking, the track log would be spotty at times where the GPS lost its signal in heavy tree cover. With the new high-sensitivity antenna, all these inconveniences are in the past! The vista HCx will lock on in less than a minute in my basement! It always has a signal, no matter where I'm at. I have yet to see it lose connection with satellites. This is what impressed me the most about this model.

Also, the vista has a barometric altimeter and electronic compass which are both nice features as well. Without the electronic compass, you must be moving in order for the GPS to display correct compass directions. With the electronic compass, you can stand still or move very slowly and still maintain correct compass heading. This is especially helpful when hiking and geocaching. The altimeter provides more accurate elevation readings if that is of importance to you. GPS elevations, are not very accurate and can be way off depending on your location. With the altimeter, you don't have to worry about this error or try to correct it. I am also a fan of the new usb connection to the computer in place of the old serial connection. I don't have a serial port on my computer, so I never hooked up my old GPS. USB is much more common and allows a faster data transfer rate. I like the idea of the microSD card, as this allows incredible amounts of memory. 2GB cards are quite cheap now and this allows me to load the entire western US topo maps and still have plenty of extra memory! I didn't think the color screen was too important to me, but it really does make a big difference, especially with the maps. It would be very difficult to distinguish map properties without the color screen and it just looks nice.

These are just a few of the features than really impressed me. As I said, I already owned a Garmin Etrex previously, and am very impressed with Garmin units. They are all very durable, waterproof, and to me, user-friendly. The vista HCx is the top of the etrex line, and it shows. Amazon's price when I purchased it was the best I could find, cheaper than the lower models at other stores. If you are considering this model, I very highly recommend it, especially for recreational use. It also has the ability with garmin's metro maps, to provide turn-by-turn directions useful in city navigation. I have not yet used this feature, but still, this unit has just about everything I would want in a GPS. I bought my dad this unit for Christmas (his first GPS) and he is very pleased and has had no complaints. For what you're getting for the price, I give this model five stars!

Name: Lee A. Mangum
Location: Idaho Cow Country
Date: 2008-01-20
Customer Rating: -

Summary: An excellent product
Comment: This is an excellent product. It met all of my expectations. It is a good value for the price.

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