GPS Devices Life

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I’ve always felt that a GPS will be an unnecessary luxury when hiking. I mean, I was always able to find my way using maps, so what could a GPS bring new. In spite of this, two years ago when Garmin came out with a promotion offering this model for about $260, I decided to give it a try. I really didn’t do much research before buying it – but I remembered that a friend of mine used the black and white version, and he had only good things to say.

~~~The GPS Unit~~~

The eTrex Vista® C was created as a dedicated unit for outdoors enthusiasts. For these consumers Garmin enabled the Vista C model with a barometric altimeter, electronic compass, tracking capabilities, not to mention storing capability for more waypoints than you’ll need for crossing the US by foot. The color screen adds a nice touch, although not crucial to finding your way safely in the woods. Still, Garmin decided to make this unit capable of automatic route generation, off-route recalculation, turn-by-turn directions with alert tones. Please remember that in order to use these features you’ll need to buy road maps!

~~~Price & Availability~~~

I’ve done a simple Google search, and I was able to find this unit with prices ranging from $270 to $315. I am sure if you spend a little bit more time you can get it cheaper. I also did a search to Garmin’s website, and it seems that officially they discontinued this product and replaced it with a new version Vista CX. You may be able to buy this product from retailers that still have it in stock.

~~~Product Experience~~~

I will start by stating that in order to use this product at all its capacity you will need to buy the maps produced by Garmin. I do not believe this unit is compatible with maps produced by another company, so you are stuck with whatever Garmin offers you. And these maps are anything but cheap! I own the following sets of maps: the US Topo, the National Parks Topo (the West Parks), and City Select. I will not go in detail, but here are a few considerations about each of them:

• US Topo – too, way too big scale, and not enough detail. They don’t include even the major hiking trails. Occasionally they include campsites, but the decision to include these seems quite random. The sections that include rivers are grossly outdated (I understand that the river banks change from year to year, but I found islands listed on the maps, which according to the local folks, disappeared 15 years ago!)

• National parks Topo – I really have nothing to complain about these. This is the way a topo map should look like. The problem is that they cover too little territory.

• City Select – great tool for driving. I never got lost with these maps, or even did a wrong turn (except when I was absent minded or too caught in a discussion ) They lack NH – I mean there is no road information for this state! These maps are outrageously expensive, and once Garmin comes with a major update, you’ll have to buy the maps again (at half a price, but still… a lot of money)!! For attractions it includes only churches and schools, although the database of restaurants, gas stations, hotels, and shopping malls is quite good.

The problem is that by the time you got all the maps you need to fully take advantage of your GPS, you already spent more on the maps than on the unit itself! Plus for city navigation you’ll need to buy the car mount (an on-the-board mount that looks quite good and doesn’t impede the vision).

I really have very little to complain about the unit itself (unrelated to the map sets). It never happened to me to spend more than 2-3 minutes in order to get satellite signal, and the accuracy is outstanding. I would say that in 75% of cases I got a location with 15 feet accuracy or less. Once, during a geocaching tournament, I got to try an old version of GPS (not sure even which was the manufacturer) and I got to appreciate even more my unit. The GPS I tried would not be able to give you the direction to a waypoint except if you move. The Vista C will reasonably accurately give you the cardinal points and the direction a desired location without walking endlessly back and forth and making the other hikers wonder if they should call 911. Vista C has occasionally issues with determining the correct speed. Every time before I start a hike I reset the trip statistics to 0, and once in a while I see that my maximum speed was 17 miles/h. Obviously that’s wrong, but it was never a real issue.

About the city navigation, I have to disagree with the previous reviewers. Nowadays I use my unit more for driving than for hiking. It doesn’t have a screen as big as the regular car GPS’s but its big enough not to have any problem driving! The accuracy of the directions is very good, and the GPS is able to avoid the highways (if there is traffic jam), toll roads, and it recalculates the routes in real time. It is a bit difficult to operate it while driving, but once you practice a little bit, it shouldn’t be a problem anymore.

Finally, I have to mention how easy it is to learn to use this unit. I never like to read the manuals, and this was no exception. But I was able to understand all its features only by reading the first 20 pages from the manual. The display is really self intuitive. The only time when I didn’t know how to switch between the topo maps and the road maps (you can have them both uploaded in the memory), I wrote to the customer supports, and they got back to me within two hours with complete instructions.

The main drawback as I see it is the memory. With only 24M all you can upload is road maps for about a state, or if you travel through more than one state only for the route you have chosen at home. For topo maps you can upload a little bit more information. Also, as useful as the sunrise and sunset, moonrise and moonset, and best time for fishing are, I would like to have a thermometer included with this unit.

~~~Overall Recommendation~~~

I would definitely recommend this unit. Now that I own this GPS I wonder how was I able to hike and drive before without one. Although if you intend to use this unit solely for driving you will be much happier with a GPS designed for cars, if you want it for hiking/rafting/kayaking with the added convenience of being able to use it for driving too, this may be for you.

***For more information on this GPS unit as well as other navigation systems by this manufacturer, check out their website online at: www.garmin.com

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