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Posted by Bill S on April 12, 2008 at 7:35:34 pm EDT
In reply to Looking for new GPS Leaning toward eTrex Vista or Legend posted by WISam on April 11, 2008 at 11:35:14 pm EDT

WISam, you should come out to the Sierra (Donner Pass area) and take my landnav classs at the Sierra Club's Clair Tappaan Lodge. The lodge manager is setting the date, but it will likely be late June. Learn everything you need to know about backcountry nav, including GPSPRs.

Anyway, rdavis is right that all you need for your specs is one of the basic units, like the "yellow" eTrex, which you can often find for under $100. I would cross the Vista off the list, as well as any other unit with a barometric altimeter, at least from Garmin. There are a number of bugs and other problems with the way Garmin implements the barometric altitude (like having it be the ONLY altitude in the normal window displays - yes you can see the GPS-derived altitude mamentarily, and you can calibrate the barometric altitude with the GPS-derived (or a known) altitude. But unless you thoroughly understand barometric altitude, you are better off with the GPS-derived value that all other units show. Besides the Vistas (B&W, color, H version, etc) cost a bunch more (much much more than the $50-150 that rdavis quotes).

Ability to download maps is useful, especially after you have used a unit for a while (and it supplements the map skills you should have solid before even considering a GPSR, not replaces them). If you do go with a mapping unit, color is very useful, compared to the grey-scale units, especially on the tiny screens that they all have.

But consider the Colorado, if you really want to stick with Garimin.

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