eTrex Vista - any good

[MarkF]

Thinking of talking the plunge into GPS nav. A friend has the eTrex Vista and it seems feature packed up against all but the best units. I realize it is small but my needs are for stop when lost nav not look down on the fly nav. What are your thoughts?

MarkF

[GlobalRider]

Originally posted by oilhed
A friend has the eTrex Vista and it seems feature packed up against all but the best units. I realize it is small but my needs are for stop when lost nav not look down on the fly nav. What are your thoughts?
MarkF
Compare it price-wise to the eMap. Some day you may want to load some maps to it and the eTrex Vista doesn't take data cards. Internal memory on Garmin units tops out at 19 Mb on the GPS V - may be enough for some, but if you are on the road for a while, 19 Mb isn't enough unless you tote a laptop along to load up maps as necessary.

[cruise_carter]

Bought one late last year and the unit is AMAZING!
Very accurate, waterproof (rain does not bother them), compact, very good battery life using
AA Alkalines.

The unit has 24 MB of internal memory (not expandable) but you can load quite a bit onto the unit. The unit has a built-in
basemap of all the major highways and roads in North America.
Very clear precise screen. I had an EMAP to compare and immediately discarded the EMAP. The screen
on the emap is horrendous compared to the Vista

emap is not even rainproof, you would have to carry it in a ziplock bag.
Vista is compact enough that you can affix the lanyard to your jacket (I tie it off to my upper pocket) and you can let
it hang down loose (keep the cord fairly short) and you can check speed, etc., etc. and even use a free hand
to check quickly positions while on the fly.

I did also purchase the Garmin neoprene belt clip carrying case for it, has a clear vinyl window for the screen
to protect from scratches.

You can go to the Garmin website and download a .pdf manual for it and it is a very good manual. It can give
you an idea if this is what you want.

[Ole Yeller]

I have one, used last month riding from LA back to Iowa. I only used the base map even and didn't download any additional maps. I worked pretty darn well. I had it zoomed out to where I could see the town 30-40 miles away pop up on the top of the screen.

I also showed the MPH, and Elevation while looking at the map. This was kind of neat seeing your current elevation going through the mountains. It will also show you your current, average and max speed on you trip. You'll soon figure out how far off your stock speedometer really is.

The only thing I do not like about the Vista is the storage space. Although with 24 MB it is quite a lot, is you on a 2000 + mile trip, you may want to down load more maps than what the unit will store.

I am going to the 80 anniversary party later in June, and I plan to go through Yellowstone. So, I am only going to download maps for Yellowstone area and the areas around Tahoe. The base map will most certainly serve you just fine, if you stick to US highways and interstates.

Plus, you can get really nice RAM mounts from Cabela's that will mount to your handlebars.

[MarkF]

Originally posted by Ole Yeller
Plus, you can get really nice RAM mounts from Cabela's that will mount to your handlebars.

Plenty more M/C specific mounts here - http://www.cyclegadgets.com/Products/RAM/ram.asp?prod=ETREX
I like the mount that fits in the center of the triple clamp. But the mirror hole mount is a neat idea, too.

MarkF