Hewhois
08-06-2005, 10:40 AM
Greetings!
Awhile back I upgraded my eTrex Legend greyscale to an eTrex Vista Color. Have used it many times for all day local rides and one multi-day ride up to Northern GA. Figure it is about time for a post on what I think about it.
http://www.garmin.com/products/etrexVistac/
http://www.garmin.com/products/etrexVistac/graphics/pt-etrexVistacRF-LG.jpg
Overall, I really like the eTrex Vista Color. The display is very easy to read, extremely crisp text and images, 256 color sunlight-readable TFT display. Backlighting function is easy to use with easily set percentage adjustments. Even small text can be read easily, much better than my old Legend grayscale.
Battery life is very very good, 2 AA batteries last a long time with this GPS. On my recent trip to North GA, I had the Vista C on for 20hrs, over 16 hours of it while on the move, and the battery life display still shows half life! This means I no longer feel the need to have it plugged into the ST's power, one less wire to worry about. It could be plugged in with an adapter to a 12v outlet, but with that type of long battery life, why bother?
Navigating the menus on the display is very similar to my old Legend, so I found it very easy to use. There is a bit of a learning curve in learning which buttons do what functions in which menus, but doesn't take long to pick up on it all. I do NOT recommend playing around with the menus and changing settings and picking routes while actually riding along, but it can be done fairly easily if some common sense is used ;)
It is very compact in size, easily put into even a front jean pocket (unless you wear them super tight). I like being able to take the Vista C on and off my bike easily, and then just pocketing it and not having to worry about it staying on the bike or trying to figure out where to store it. Since it runs on batteries, you can play around with it inside when eating, looking at the route ahead, checking the stats for the trip so far, seeing how many miles you have to go, etc etc etc.
The USB interface the Vista C uses to communicate with the computer is much faster than the old interface on the Legend. The USB port also allows the computer to power the GPS while hooked up to save battery life.
The Vista C comes with a basemap of the US and some waypoints off of interstate exits already loaded up. To get full use of the GPS, I would highly suggest getting Garmin's MapSource software. This would allow you to create routes and waypoints on the computer and then download it into the GPS. The Vista C does have auto-routing capabilities by itself, but IMO these are best used only while on the road.
It may be user error, and I just haven't figured out the proper way to do it, but if you have multiple waypoints selected and saved in a route on the Vista C and then tell the GPS to create an auto-route using these points, the Vista C will create a route starting from your location to each point seperately, instead of consecutively, very annoying. If you just tell the Vista C to find a route from point A to point B, it works great, but if you tell it to find a route from point A to B to C to D, it does A to B then A to C then A to D. :rolleyes: Not a problem if you use the mapping program on your computer instead.
The Find feature combined with Auto-Routing works very well. Using either a pre-set waypoint that you created, or the waypoints downloaded with the detailed maps for stores, gas, campgrounds, etc, the Vista C will calculate a route from your location to that point and give you turn by turn directions. You can search for closest gas stop or campground, then follow the GPS there for example.
It has 24megs of memory, which is just enough to store detailed maps for a 3 day trip from Florida upto Northern GA and the surrounding areas in Northern GA and back again. This included all of Atlanta, which took up a lot of space all by itself, I didn't really need to store Atlanta, I just did 'cause I could ;) I need to play around some with the tracking setting for the track log, I ran out of room for tracking on my way back home, probably had the tracking points set to save too often, changing that setting should solve that particular issue.
Here is a pic of the routes and tracks for that trip. The pink squares are the detailed map areas loaded into the Vista C:
http://severe.wso.net/images/20050801bwga/overview.gif
It has audible alarms, but no way that I know of to hook that into a headset, so pretty useless on a bike.
It also has proximity alarms that flash up on the display when you get close to pre-set points. Still playing with this feature, seems like it could be usefull if you set up stop points along the route but don't want to make it an end point and start a whole new route again.
I mounted it on my bike in the same location as my old Legend, on the right brake reservoir, just above my CB radio. Here is a pic of my Legend in that location (the new one I am using now is gray instead of blue):
http://severe.wso.net/images/ST1300/farkles/20050521/overview.jpg
The Vista C has an electronic compass and barometer. This is nice when stopped and want to see where North is, without the electronic compass you have to be outside and take a few steps to get the GPS to give you direction. The electronic compass works inside and can be stationary. Also, the electronic barometer with elevation tools and features is neat when riding in the mountains. Here is a plot of elevation for one of the rides I did on my GA trip:
http://severe.wso.net/images/20050801bwga/profile.gif
Would I buy it again? Absolutely! Will I upgrade to something with more memory? Maybe in a few years, but for now this does what I need to get done.
Hope some of you find this usefull! :)
Awhile back I upgraded my eTrex Legend greyscale to an eTrex Vista Color. Have used it many times for all day local rides and one multi-day ride up to Northern GA. Figure it is about time for a post on what I think about it.
http://www.garmin.com/products/etrexVistac/
http://www.garmin.com/products/etrexVistac/graphics/pt-etrexVistacRF-LG.jpg
Overall, I really like the eTrex Vista Color. The display is very easy to read, extremely crisp text and images, 256 color sunlight-readable TFT display. Backlighting function is easy to use with easily set percentage adjustments. Even small text can be read easily, much better than my old Legend grayscale.
Battery life is very very good, 2 AA batteries last a long time with this GPS. On my recent trip to North GA, I had the Vista C on for 20hrs, over 16 hours of it while on the move, and the battery life display still shows half life! This means I no longer feel the need to have it plugged into the ST's power, one less wire to worry about. It could be plugged in with an adapter to a 12v outlet, but with that type of long battery life, why bother?
Navigating the menus on the display is very similar to my old Legend, so I found it very easy to use. There is a bit of a learning curve in learning which buttons do what functions in which menus, but doesn't take long to pick up on it all. I do NOT recommend playing around with the menus and changing settings and picking routes while actually riding along, but it can be done fairly easily if some common sense is used ;)
It is very compact in size, easily put into even a front jean pocket (unless you wear them super tight). I like being able to take the Vista C on and off my bike easily, and then just pocketing it and not having to worry about it staying on the bike or trying to figure out where to store it. Since it runs on batteries, you can play around with it inside when eating, looking at the route ahead, checking the stats for the trip so far, seeing how many miles you have to go, etc etc etc.
The USB interface the Vista C uses to communicate with the computer is much faster than the old interface on the Legend. The USB port also allows the computer to power the GPS while hooked up to save battery life.
The Vista C comes with a basemap of the US and some waypoints off of interstate exits already loaded up. To get full use of the GPS, I would highly suggest getting Garmin's MapSource software. This would allow you to create routes and waypoints on the computer and then download it into the GPS. The Vista C does have auto-routing capabilities by itself, but IMO these are best used only while on the road.
It may be user error, and I just haven't figured out the proper way to do it, but if you have multiple waypoints selected and saved in a route on the Vista C and then tell the GPS to create an auto-route using these points, the Vista C will create a route starting from your location to each point seperately, instead of consecutively, very annoying. If you just tell the Vista C to find a route from point A to point B, it works great, but if you tell it to find a route from point A to B to C to D, it does A to B then A to C then A to D. :rolleyes: Not a problem if you use the mapping program on your computer instead.
The Find feature combined with Auto-Routing works very well. Using either a pre-set waypoint that you created, or the waypoints downloaded with the detailed maps for stores, gas, campgrounds, etc, the Vista C will calculate a route from your location to that point and give you turn by turn directions. You can search for closest gas stop or campground, then follow the GPS there for example.
It has 24megs of memory, which is just enough to store detailed maps for a 3 day trip from Florida upto Northern GA and the surrounding areas in Northern GA and back again. This included all of Atlanta, which took up a lot of space all by itself, I didn't really need to store Atlanta, I just did 'cause I could ;) I need to play around some with the tracking setting for the track log, I ran out of room for tracking on my way back home, probably had the tracking points set to save too often, changing that setting should solve that particular issue.
Here is a pic of the routes and tracks for that trip. The pink squares are the detailed map areas loaded into the Vista C:
http://severe.wso.net/images/20050801bwga/overview.gif
It has audible alarms, but no way that I know of to hook that into a headset, so pretty useless on a bike.
It also has proximity alarms that flash up on the display when you get close to pre-set points. Still playing with this feature, seems like it could be usefull if you set up stop points along the route but don't want to make it an end point and start a whole new route again.
I mounted it on my bike in the same location as my old Legend, on the right brake reservoir, just above my CB radio. Here is a pic of my Legend in that location (the new one I am using now is gray instead of blue):
http://severe.wso.net/images/ST1300/farkles/20050521/overview.jpg
The Vista C has an electronic compass and barometer. This is nice when stopped and want to see where North is, without the electronic compass you have to be outside and take a few steps to get the GPS to give you direction. The electronic compass works inside and can be stationary. Also, the electronic barometer with elevation tools and features is neat when riding in the mountains. Here is a plot of elevation for one of the rides I did on my GA trip:
http://severe.wso.net/images/20050801bwga/profile.gif
Would I buy it again? Absolutely! Will I upgrade to something with more memory? Maybe in a few years, but for now this does what I need to get done.
Hope some of you find this usefull! :)