Garmin eTrex Vista Colour

The eTrex Vista Colour is Garmin's exciting new pocket-sized handheld that brings colour automatic routing longer battery life plus more to their popular-selling eTrex Vista. You won t miss a thing when you take this colourful lightweight easy-to-use handheld out hiking biking boating or even geocaching. The eTrex Vista C is one of Garmin's smallest least expensive products to combine a color TFT display and advanced GPS routing capabilities in a waterproof design. In addition to its distinguishing features - a barometric altimeter and electronic compass -outdoor enthusiasts will love the latest improvements made to the eTrex Vista C:- 256-color sunlight-readable display makes it easy to distinguish map details and see where you're going. Longer battery life for more hours of outdoor enjoyment. Mini-USB port for fast convenient download of map data from Garmin's entire library of optional MapSource CDs using a PC. It is also WAAS-enabled and like all eTrex units, the primary controls are oriented on the side of the unit so the user can conveniently operate it with one hand An innovative rocker switch is located on the face of the unit that enables the user to input data easily scroll through menus or pan the map page.

Site	Price	Postage	Total
	£195.74	£5.00	£200.74
	£279.65	£2.95	£282.6
	£289.99	FREE	£289.99
	£299.99	FREE	£299.99
	£305.50	FREE	£305.5

   User Reviews

General comments: This is a great GPS unit which I've used for walking, skiing, mountian biking and in the car. Its easy to set up and calibrate. The colour screen is easy to read and the back lite is easily adjustable, which helps conserve battery power. The menu is set out logically and the rubberised buttons are easy to use. Unless you've not used the unit for a while, changed batteries or moved position significantly since you last switched it on, satellite acquisition is fast. The WAAS facility means accuracy often up to 16-20 feet. From the moving map screen, you scroll through compass, altimeter and main menu pages with ease. The unit is loaded with a reasonable UK map as well as a basic world map which can be used for on road navigation whilst driving or cycling. Saving and customising waypoints is easy. Using rechargeable batteries, i can usually get 8-10 hours of play from a full charge - using the electronic compass functions does take up more battery power. The back of the unit is rubberised as well and despite me getting it wet and dropping it on many occasions it still seems to work well. As an outdoor enthusiast this has been one of my best purchases of recent times, I recommend you use a mobile phone-type of screen protector to help keep the display in good condition

Pros: Small, lightweight, accurate and easy to use. Better battery life than i expected

Cons: Toggle switch can be fiddly with gloves on. Track back function is also a bit fiddly - a push button "track back to start" feature would be a big improvement

General comments: Generally agree with previous review; moving from an old Magellan 300 was certainly an eye opener. One real critisim is of Garmin's (lack of) customer service or support. I had a problem with my unit where it locked up and refused to work beyond the 'welcome' start-up screen. This was later diagnosed as a known issue where if two particular settings were made a conflict caused the unit to stop working. To find out about this I had to resort to a web forum where I was lucky enough to happen across a report of a similar incident (and the cure). I made 8 calls to Garmin's 'Helpline' over a period of days without ever getting beyond the recorded message, despite hanging on for up to 10minutes. I emailed the tech support address but received no reply. I was totally unable to contact Garmin on any of their 'public' contact numbers. This is quite obviously not good enough when you've shelled out £400 on a GPS and software

Pros: Fast lockon, accurate, nice unit.

Cons: Abysmal technical support. Possible to disable machine accidentally (potentially dangerous in the field.)

General comments: Garmin Mapsource Topo GB As yet there's no listing for the software, so here's as good as anywhere... At £150 this software certainly isn't cheap, so is it worth it? Without the software, you might as well just get the cheapest, simplest GPS you can get which will give you a grid reference, because that's about all the unit does. Add the software and the machine comes alive! The Topo GB maps are not quite OS in looks or detail (or indeed Memory-Map or Anquet) but they do have contours, roads, paths etc and cover all of England, Scotland and Wales. On the PC it's possible to add waypoints and routes which are then loaded onto the GPS, which is far easier than inputting directly on the handset. There is also a searchable database of streets and postcodes, plus points of interest. On the road, the unit becomes a proper GPS navigator, with turn by turn guidance to a selected address or street. The database lists points of interest such as shops, cafes, petrol stations etc. The level of detail is pretty stunning- even the phone numbers of POIs are there! I suspect I've barely scratched the surface of this units capabilities, but so far I'm impressed.

Pros: Adds useful detail on the GPS screen (contours, paths etc) off road. Acts like a Tom-Tom or similar Sat-Nav system on road. Easy to set up and use.

Cons: Not OS standard of detail. Off road Rights of Way not indicated. Doesn't talk to you like a car based Sat-Nav.

   Add Your Opinion...

To help us prevent spam, please enter the security code below:

© Buachaille.com 2005 - 2009 All Rights Reserved    |     Contact us    |     This page took 0.26533 seconds to load.