Name: D. S. Sivia
Location: Oxford, England
Date: 2007-12-18
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Great upgrade - very happy!
Comment: This is my third eTrex GPS receiver, and each has been a worthwhile upgrade. I started with a Legend about 4 years ago, which I thought was great at the time. A couple of years ago I bought a Legend Cx, and this provided me with the added benefits of a colour screen, expandable memory, a longer battery life and, somewhat surprisingly, a significantly better receiver - I could get a good signal under tree cover, unlike before, and even a fix inside my one-storey house, despite it not having the new SirF3 chip. I was in two minds about upgrading to the HCx model, as the only gain would be an even more sensitive receiver (but a slightly poorer battery life). So, I opted to change from the Legend to the Vista to increase functionallity. I think it was a good choice because the extra sensitivity, and quicker processing speed, seems significant and worthwhile.
The main complaints about the eTrex models appear to concern the lack of a good inbuilt map, and the extra cost of the associated Garmin-specific software needed to put this right. While these may be valid criticisms, they should not come as a surprise to anybody who has done their homework. If your main interest is in street navigation, an eTrex model is not your best option; try one of the Nuvi models, if you want to stick with Garmin. This is prinicpally an outdoor device to aid hikers: light, small, robust and tells you where you are (in terms of latitude and longitude, or local grid coordinates); it's best used in conjunction with a good topographical map, rather then being something that replaces it. The inbuilt base-map (of interstates, main roads and rivers) is only there to provide a basic reference, not for detailed navigation. The functionality of the device can be greatly enhanced by buying additional maps (whose price can be comparable with the receiver itself!), but there are several different types depending on your needs: roads/towns, topographic or marine. You can preview them (free) on the Garmin cite before you buy them, to make sure that your choice meets your needs.
Name: New Yorker
Location: New York
Date: 2007-09-27
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Great GPS for hiking
Comment: This is my 3rd GPS.
Pros:
1) The signal reception of this GPS is remarkable comparing to my old eTrex Venture. It's capable of receiving signal inside my apartmtment.
The "H" for HCx stand for "high" sensitivity receiver. I would definitely spend the extra money for "HCx" rather then the "Cx" models for improved reception.
2) Small and durable. Great for hiking.
Cons:
- This is not the right GPS for cars. The screen is too small. Tomtom and Mio makes good GPS for cars, and their packages include road maps.
- Garmin maps are expensive (City Navigator and Topo).
Name: Todd Doolittle
Location: Detroit, MI
Date: 2007-09-21
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Great unit, great price
Comment: The vista HCX rocks! It's more sensitive than the even the SiRF based units (76csx, 60csx), smaller, lighter, has a much brighter display and is even much cheaper. In fact I think that Garmin really made both the 76 and 60 obsolete with the release of the Vista hcx.
I get 12 foot accuracy sitting inside the middle of my house with no view of windows! The electronic compass is an absolute dream. It works perfectly. I bought a 2 gig MicroSD card and loaded 75% of the TOPO US 2008 map.
My only complaints are that the backlight setting gets lost after each power-off. Also the unit does not accumulate distance to the trip computer under 2.2 mph which is unacceptable for a hiking GPS unit. Garmin is aware of both of these issues and they should be addressed in a firmware update soon.
Name: cfkman
Location: Laramie, WY USA
Date: 2008-06-21
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Excellent; I highly recommend this handheld
Comment: This is my review of the Garmin eTrex Vista Hcx handheld mapping GPS unit. I purchased this GPS in early June of 2008 and have had it about 3 weeks as of this review. I own two other GPS's: a Microsoft Streets and Trips + GPS from 2005 and a Garmin Nuvi 200 I received as a gift Christmas 2007. MS S&T is a really nice program and it works well with its accompanying GPS receiver. But, it requires that you use it with a computer (the receiver plugs into a USB port). And the Nuvi 200 is a great unit as well, but it's more for finding a route and directions while driving--finding your way to a destination.
I wanted a portable unit mostly to use while walking, hiking, or biking that would track my journey, with a color display, memory expansion capability, and alititude tracking. I did lots of online research, reading reviews and user manuals at Cnet, Amazon, and several GPS-specific sites and eventually narrowed it down to three possibilities, all Garmin: the eTrex Vista Hcx, the GPSMAP 60 CSx, and one of the new Colorado units. In the end, I selected the Vista because: I felt the Colorado was too new and I'd seen negative reviews (and it has features like 3D I didn't think I'd need), and the Vista was proven, reliable, and less expensive than the 60 CSx. Also, it had all the features I wanted and was lighter and has longer advertised battery life than either of the other two units.
In a word, I consider this unit to be: exceptional. It meets or exceeds its advertised functionality and my expectations. Some specific items:
--Accuracy: I had read some reviews that complained about the accuracy of other similar units and I was worried. But I've found this unit to be very accurate, down to within a couple meters. And in my case it seems to make no difference whether the WAAS feature is enabled or disabled.
--Altitude accuracy: not quite as good as I'd like to see, but adequate. In a couple cases while hiking it has actually been off by as much as 1000 feet in altitude, but I attribute this to the vagaries of barometric altitude measurement, not to a defect in the unit itself. In cases where the altitude doesn't seem so accurate, I find that the altitude relative to an entire track still reports where I've gone up and down hills, so I'm satisfied. Also, I have not yet tried manually setting the altitude or barometric pressure at the beginning of a trek, but I'd guess that would improve its overall performance.
--Battery Life: my first set of regular old AA Eveready Alkalines lasted slightly longer than 25 hours, the advertised life. I'd bet that I could stretch this to longer if I paid attention to turning off the backlight when I don't really need it on.
--Size: I was surprised at how small the unit is. For some reason I had in my mind that all units around this size would be a bit bigger; it's about the size of a deck of playing cards, but slightly thicker.
--Display Visibility: no problems at all here. I use the unit frequently in bright sunlight attached to my bike while wearing sunglasses and I can see the display fine from a few feet away.
--Map: the map that comes with the unit by default is entirely inadequate for anything but highway driving, but I knew this when I bought it, and had purchased Topo 2008 as well (which is very nice for both city and on-trail tracking). There are very few trails actually in the mapping software itself, but this isn't the Vista's deficiency itself.
--Sturdiness: biking can sometimes be a bit bumpy. Yay for solid state components; this GPS has worked fine over bumpy roads.
I'd highly recommend this unit to anyone looking for a handheld GPS, especially one to be used for walking, hiking, jogging, or bike riding. If you're looking for something to give you directions while driving a car, this unit is not for you--stick to the Nuvi series.
Name: Dennis Wilkerson
Location: Durham, NC United States
Date: 2007-08-28
Customer Rating: -
Summary: New sensitivity is as good as advertised
Comment: I've owned both the Etrex Vista C and the Etrex Vista CX, so this one only adds sensitivity and a few other minor improvements. The sensitivity is exceptional. I tested both the CX and HCX in the center of my house downstairs and the HCX locked on in 20 seconds, (just arrived in the mail with last location lock at the Garmin company in the midwest), and the CX which had had a local lock. The CX never locked on.
I have seen it lock on instantaneously from powering off and back on later.
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