Garmin eTrex Vista HCx Color High Sensitivity Mapping Handheld GPS

Garmin eTrex Vista HCx Color High Sensitivity Mapping Handheld GPS

Neither deep foliage nor steep canyons will faze the rugged Garmin eTrex Vista HCx navigator. Equipped with a high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver, the unit locates your position quickly and precisely and maintains its GPS location even in heavy cover. The advantage is clear: whether you’re traipsing through thick woods or strolling near tall buildings and trees, you can count on the Vista HCx to help you find your way when you need it the most. The Vista HCx also includes a built-in electronic compass that provides bearing information even when you’re standing still, along with a barometric altimeter that tracks changes in pressure to pinpoint your precise altitude. You can even use the altimeter to plot barometric pressure over time, which can help you keep an eye on changing weather conditions.

Adding maps to the Vista HCx is easier than ever thanks to the device’s microSD card slot, which accepts cards preloaded with MapSource data for your land and sea excursions. Just insert a MapSource card with detailed street maps, and the Vista HCx will provide turn-by-turn directions to your destination. Plus, the card slot is located inside the waterproof battery compartment, so you needn’t worry about it getting wet.

Besides appreciating its small size, users will also be happy with the Vista HCx’s unique button layout, with five buttons located on either side of the unit. The benefits of this design are twofold: First, the Vista HCx is a breeze to operate with just one hand, and, second, with the buttons on both sides of the unit, the bulk of the front is dedicated to the 256-color, sunlight-readable TFT display. This makes it easy to distinguish map details regardless of the time of day.

The Vista HCx basemap, meanwhile, contains lakes, rivers, cities, interstates, national and state highways, railroads, and coastlines–in short, a host of helpful details for your outdoor adventures. Other details include an IPX7 waterproof housing, 1,000 waypoints with names and graphic symbols, a built-in patch antenna, a USB interface, a hunt/fish calendar, sun and moon information, and a geocaching mode. The Vista HCx, which runs for up to 25 hours on a pair of AA batteries (not included), measures 2.2 by 4.2 by 1.2 inches (W x H x D) and is backed by a one-year warranty.

What’s in the Box
eTrex Vista HCx, basemap, MapSource Trip & Waypoint Manager software, USB cable, wrist strap, quick start guide, user’s manual.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Garmin vista HCx
I bought this to take on trips outside driving my auto, ie, cruises, bus tours etc. I have had it 1 month. It is quick on the trigger to locate ones self. The detail map of the US was a bit pricey, but you get what you pay for and it is quality. One key feature, it comes with a world map (base map) which is ideal for outside US.

4 Stars A very capable little GPS receiver!
I just received mine, and took the advice I read on a GPS forum: First, load the disc into my computer, which loads the drivers. Second, connect the GPS to my computer and update to the latest firmware if needed (on Garmin’s site) BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE to insure I won’t have the technical problems some other reviewers are having. I did this, and my receiver functions flawlessly, except for one minor annoyance concerning the altimeter/barometer, described later in this review. The functions and capabilities are not intuitive to someone new to using a handheld GPSr; the learning curve is quite steep. The manual doesn’t help much in that regard, it seems written for someone who already knows how to use a receiver and just needs to learn the functions of this particular model. I purchased the book ‘Outdoor Navigation with GPS’ by Stephan Hinch, and that has been a big help. The basemap is basic, but serves well for learning purposes. I did manage to load some free detailed TOPO maps into my 4GB micro SDHC card (not included, available on Amazon) and they work very well in this receiver. Garmin also sells a variety of maps on CD/DVD and micro SD cards, but they are expensive. The screen is nicely readable in sun, overcast and open shade, but in dimmer lighting I need to use the backlight. My annoyance concerns the barometer/altimeter correlation. Setting the barometer to the correct pressure causes the altimeter to read 50-60 feet low. Conversely, setting the altimeter correctly causes the barometer to read .03hg high. I would like to be able to calibrate each function separately from the other, and once that is done enter ‘OK’ to enter the user settings for each function, without the calibration of one function affecting the other. This is discussed by others on the GPS forum that I mentioned earlier, so it is not just my unit that is affected. I do make the correct setting to the altimeter and will live with some inaccuracy with the barometer reading. If you don’t want to spend a lot of time learning to use a receiver, look at the more basic models; but if you are ready for a bit of a challenge learning to use a receiver with some bells and whistles, and will eventually load maps, this might be the one for you. NOTE: One reviewer states Lat and Lon are not displayed; but out of the box Lat and Lon are displayed on the Satellite Page and automatically updated as I move, and the Compass, Odometer and Highway Pages can be easily configured to display the updating Lat and Lon.

3 Stars No Lat and Lon
The main reason I bought this unit was to track my latitude and longitude as I walk or drive. But it does not have a screen that shows this simple task.

2 Stars Issues with Garmin Vista HCx
Sadly my old Vista Cx died again due to a malfunctioning power button. Like the first unit, which exited service after only about two weeks of use, the warranty replacement died about two years later the same death. Cannot turn it on reliably anymore, it takes about 20 tries to get it running. Failed attempts result in a software crash, making it necessary to remove the batteries and start anew….

Anyway, this review is about the new high sensitivity model HCx. I elected to buy a vista again since there still does not seem to be any serious game in town when it comes to outdoors GPS units. As promised, the HCx indeed has a much higher sensitivity and works even in some basements. No more last signal in the woods etc. This part of the device works great and I was very happy to have upgraded. However, it is upsetting that Garmin did not bother to fix some of the severe shortcomings of the old Cx model like the Atari-stone age like limit on the number of tracks (20!!!) and waypoints one can have in there, despite the option to put SD cards of up to 4 Gb in there. Ridiculous!

Furthermore, the unit shows the same strange SD-card “turning-the-device-off” problem like I encountered on the old Cx: The device works fine with SD cards as long as one NEVER connects the thing to a computer as “USB storage” device (i.e. as hard drive). Putting in a fresh card into the Garmin and then loading maps from Mapsource without using the “USB storage” feature seems NOT to cause this problem. However, as soon as one connects the device as USB storage unit to a computer (for example to copy the daily track-log to your hard drive to use it in Google Earth) the SD card gets somehow altered (i.e. the computer seems to write something on the card, even if one only copies items from SD to computer). This has the consequence that the Garmin henceforth cannot be turned off anymore properly as long as this card is inserted in the SD slot: After shut down a continuous beep is emitted, which can only be killed by removing the batteries. If the ‘tainted’ SD card is removed before STARTING the Garmin the effect goes away.

I was not able to find a way so far to restore such ‘tainted’ SD cards, i.e. various attempts to reformat such cards failed so far. This has probably to do with the fact that to format a card it needs to be connected to the computer as USB storage device, i.e. it gets immediately ‘tainted’ again once the formatting process is over, before it can be removed. The consequence is to either dump the card in the trash after each download of data and load the maps to a new one using direct copy from Mapsource, or to accept the fact that turning off the device in future means to remove the back panel and take out one of the batteries.

That Garmin apparently does not bother to fix such issues after several years has in my opinion to do with their quasi-monopoly in this market segment. Their disregard for their customers is apparent in all of their interactions with customers starting with the abysmal customer service extended over the phone to the greedy non-transferability of maps between devices, and extremely expensive map upgrades.

Bottom line: Great GPS sensitivity in a 1980’s Atari style package (did I mention the included laughable Mapsource software, which works about as well as 1980s style DOS software?). You could really do better Garmin! Can’t wait to get my first GPS enabled iPod touch!

5 Stars Small but
I am a pilot and I always wanted to have a personal GPS but I was told that due to the aircraft speed, the GPS will not work properly, well now I fly an A-330 and it is a great companion works very good, fast and very accurate. On days OFF is nice to have it to got out and search for some nice place.

The only issue is that some times with no reason it make a sound when is OFF and I have to move the batteries out to cancel that sound.

I am very happy with my GPS

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