Garmin eTrex Vista C Waterproof Hiking GPS Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've own the original Garmin Vista and currently own the high end Garmin 60CS.
I was expecting the Vista C to be just a colored version of the original vista but I was wrong it's actually the little brother of the 60CS. OS, feature and hardware wise it's like the 60CS in a smaller Vista package.
the Vista C is a HUGE improvement over the original vista. it's faster, better screen, better battery life, seems to track satellite better and faster. TONS of features. It works almost the same way and have same features as the more epxensive and bigger 60CS.
the "click stick" is not as easy to use as the dpad on the garmin 60CS. sometimes when I want to press in on the stick it would go left or right. and the button are not that "nice and easy" to press. tho there are "shortcuts" with the buttons like on the 60CS. it's not really that bad, just not as easy and initituive as the 60CS because it has less buttons. I'm use to and familiar with the way the 60CS work so it took me only about 30 minutes to figure how they assign the buttons. but for someone new it will probably take an hour or two to learn the buttons and shortcuts.
if you're use to the easier button interfac of the 60CS you won't like the buttons of the vista C as much. Pro
- alot faster than the original vista & about same speed as the 60CS (perhap same cpu?)
- updated OS and interface as the 60cs.
- Color screen is easier to read even in daylight than the original Vista.
- USB port
- External antenna port.
- all the software features and hardware of the bigger 60CS in a smaller package.
Con
- screen is kinda small so incar navigation is not as easy to read like the 60cs (but to it's credit it's not meant for car navigation)
- only 24 megs of ram. and you can't expand it.
- garmin propietory interface only load garmin maps/programs

Click Here to see more reviews about: Garmin eTrex Vista C Waterproof Hiking GPS

Garmin's pocket-sized eTrex Vista C handheld GPS unit combines Garmin's popular eTrex Vista with a color screen, automatic routing, and longer battery life, making it one of the smallest, least expensive waterproof products to combine a color TFT display and advanced GPS auto-routing abilities. You won't miss a thing when you take this lightweight, easy-to-use handheld out hiking, biking, boating, or geocaching. The unit offers a bright, transflective color TFT display with daylight viewability, automatic route generation, off-route recalculation, turn-by-turn directions with alert tones, and icon-driven menus for finding points of interest (when combined with Garmin's optional MapSource CDs). And you'll get up to 20 hours of use on two AA batteries. The unit offers 24 MB of internal memory, and its mini-USB port lets you download map data rapidly from Garmin's library of MapSource CDs (not included) using your PC. You'll enjoy outstanding accuracy of less than three meters (10 feet) when the device is enabled to receive enhanced GPS signals from the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) in the United States and of 15 meters or less in normal GPS mode. As on all eTrex units, the primary controls are located on the unit's side, so you can operate them with one hand. With the innovative rocker switch on the unit's face, you can input data and scroll through menus or pan the map page. Other key features include an auto-route basemap (featuring general map data, including highways, major roads, rivers, lakes, and borders), a waterproof design (to IEC 60529 IPX7 standards--submersible in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes), 500 waypoints/routes/tracks (with graphic identification), 50 reversible routes, 20 saved tracks, 10,000 trackpoints, TracBack technology, alarms (waypoint proximity, anchor drag, and off-course, as well as a built-in alarm clock), a GPS patch antenna, selectable audio tones and color schemes, a stopwatch, a hunting/fishing calendar, sun/moon calculations, and a trip computer.
The Vista C also features an electronic compass for accurate bearing information while standing still; a barometric altimeter with local pressure and a 48-hour automatic pressure-trend recorder; and an elevation computer (which provides your current elevation, ascent/descent rate, minimum/maximum elevation, total ascent and descent, average and maximum ascent, and descent rate). The Vista C includes a built-in, permanent basemap-- Americas Recreational--which cannot be altered. The Americas Recreational Routable Basemap v2 includes the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central and South America, and covers the area from longitude 30 to 180 degrees west and latitude 60 degrees south to 75 degrees north. The basemap includes a high-level worldwide map featuring borders and major cities. Standard map coverage includes oceans, rivers, lakes greater than 30 square miles, lakes greater than 5 square miles in the United States and southern Canada, lakes greater than 10 square miles in central and northern Canada, principal cities, some smaller cities and towns, major interstates, principal highways, political boundaries (state and international borders), major airports, and a database of Interstate exits. This last category includes many establishments within about 0.25 mile of exits, including restaurants; diesel and gas stations; hotels, motels, and inns; overnight RV parking; dumps; campgrounds; truck stops; medical facilities; shopping and outlet malls; ATMs; and many other attractions. What's in the Box eTrex Vista C GPS receiver, basemap (Americas Recreational), MapSource Trip & Waypoint Manager CD, PC/USB interface cable, wrist strap, quick reference guide, and owner's manual.

Click here for more information about Garmin eTrex Vista C Waterproof Hiking GPS