Vista HCx vs Edge 605 or other

[mr cowboy]

From what I've gleaned by looking over some past threads on GPS devices that most here seem to favor the Vista HCx. I haven't ever owned a GPS before and was wondering is the Vista better than buying the "cycling" specific Edge 605 (or other Edge model).  I'm doing a bit of shopping around and trying to get as much info before buying anything.

[maadjurguer]

I think I might be able to help you out here.....I started out with a Garmin 705.....loved the ability to use free maps off of gpsfiledepot.com to have a USGS 1:24k topo map as my background.  This was important to me as I use the same GPS for overland travel in the winter.  HR and cadence.....not so much.  The weakness I found was in doing multi-day rides and the internal battery of the 705.  At the time, I knew I could get one of those USB rechargeable packs to give me more juice....but the grass was greener...so I sold the 705 and jumped at the opportunity to try a Dakota for free through Airline Miles.

I instantly did not like the Dakota....but it grew on me.  In the end, I sold it too.  What I liked about the Dakota and why I bought it..... replaceable batteries.  Why I did not like it:  1) Sucky battery life, even in power save mode, 2) Power save mode means that the screen goes blank.....I took for granted how valuable having a track, map and position up at all times means when you're racing an endurance event, 3) It's full of other, non-bike, MyThis and MyThat crap which is overkill, 4) Touchscreen is cool on paper....and then you have to try to see it in daylight....

I recently bought a Vista Hcx......I really, really....like it.  It, to me, contains the best of the 705 and the Dakota....and none of the negatives I've described.  Screen stays up all the time, it sips power from exchangeable batteries....and does not have all of the extraneous stuff that is useless to a bikepacker.

The only thing I don't like about the Vista Hcx is the 500 point limitation in uploaded track size...but I've since found an easy work around in that I just split whatever track I want to follow into 500pt segments and choose to display them all at the same time.....visually, it's seamless.....so it's no biggie.

[Done]

maadjurguer said it all. The Vista HCx is a solid choice.

[mr cowboy]

yeah his post answered a lot of my questions.  thanks for all the info.

[glenndandy]

 Haven't owned a GPS yet but it is certainly in my future for extended offroad touring. I think I'm  correct that the vista hcx is not rechargeable in itself...you have to replace the battteries each time? I have a 5000mAh rechargeble pack this is very compact and as light as they get...5-6 ounces. I like using such a pack because I can top off all my gadgets (mp3,camera,phone) multiple times before needing to top off the pack. So if vista hcx is not internally rechargable then what is the best of the GPS's for extended bicycle travel that have internal rechargeable batteries?

[mr cowboy]

I bought Trail 717's Garmin Legend HCx that he posted in the classifieds. Excited to get it and start using it around where I live.

[jp3d]

Haven't owned a GPS yet but it is certainly in my future for extended offroad touring. I think I'm  correct that the vista hcx is not rechargeable in itself...you have to replace the battteries each time? I have a 5000mAh rechargeble pack this is very compact and as light as they get...5-6 ounces. I like using such a pack because I can top off all my gadgets (mp3,camera,phone) multiple times before needing to top off the pack. So if vista hcx is not internally rechargable then what is the best of the GPS's for extended bicycle travel that have internal rechargeable batteries?

2 AA NiMH cells together weigh ~2.2oz and give ~5000mAh, non-rechargeable lithiums are half the weight and similar capacity, but you can power the Vista directly via its usb port if you really want. You lose at least 10-20% of the original capacity by using a battery to recharge another battery, so that would be a more efficient method anyway.

[Yogi the Barry]

REI has the Garmin Map62S on sale for $280, which seems like a decent GPS... but the ~9oz weight is a turn-off...
Anybody able to contrast it to HCx? Looks like 62S has half the battery life of a HCx...
[My only GPS experience is with an older Foretrex 201, which isn't suitable for what I want...
-Barry

[jp3d]

The Vista was designed for multi-day navigation with it's "unlimited" battery life (replaceable AA batteries). It seems to be the go-to unit for bikepacking. The Edge series was designed as a single-day training tool. You would need to rig up some kind of external battery pack for the Edge, which people have done, but it adds one more thing to mess with.

edit: oh wait you were looking at the GPSMAP series. Yep those ones have this fancy antenna sticking out of them that I've heard doesn't work very well in the trees, and the battery life is worse. I wasn't able to figure out any advantage to those units for bikepacking when I looked at them vs. the Vista.

[Yogi the Barry]

Re: Vista HCx vs Map62
latter is 3+oz heavier, larger, 5hr less batt life, $120 more [sale pricing] but has double the waypoints. I pulled the trigger on the HCx, while they were on sale... -B

[glenndandy]

Hey jp3d....quick question here....Found this little bit on the net....maybe accurate?

Can I recharge my Garmin eTrex Vista HCx from USB?
 
 No. Recharging anything that accepts AA batteries generally requires special circuitry to prevent overcharge (and thus leak or explosion) and and a physical switch to tell when rechargeable batteries are installed; these GPSes contain neither.

 I guess you were saying that I could directly power an HCX with an external pack while I'm using it. I'm wishing more for a GPS that contains an internal rechargable battery that can be topped off with a high capacity rechargable battery pack that is already is being utilized to top off other universally rechargable gadgets. If you HCX guys are going through rechargable aa's, then how many are you bringing for multiday trips and are you also bringing a separate aa charger? Sorry if this posting is redundant but can't bring myself to use disposable batteries AND at the same time I'm trying to consolidate equipment everywhere on the bike AND at the same time get the equipment best suited for extended fully loaded loading touring(like expandable memory). They say "two out of three ain't bad." but I'm hoping for all three. Any other GPS's that do all this and a bag of chips?
 

[jp3d]

Hey jp3d....quick question here....Found this little bit on the net....maybe accurate?

Can I recharge my Garmin eTrex Vista HCx from USB?
 
 No. Recharging anything that accepts AA batteries generally requires special circuitry to prevent overcharge (and thus leak or explosion) and and a physical switch to tell when rechargeable batteries are installed; these GPSes contain neither.

 I guess you were saying that I could directly power an HCX with an external pack while I'm using it. I'm wishing more for a GPS that contains an internal rechargable battery that can be topped off with a high capacity rechargable battery pack that is already is being utilized to top off other universally rechargable gadgets. If you HCX guys are going through rechargable aa's, then how many are you bringing for multiday trips and are you also bringing a separate aa charger? Sorry if this posting is redundant but can't bring myself to use disposable batteries AND at the same time I'm trying to consolidate equipment everywhere on the bike AND at the same time get the equipment best suited for extended fully loaded loading touring(like expandable memory). They say "two out of three ain't bad." but I'm hoping for all three. Any other GPS's that do all this and a bag of chips?

Yes you could certainly bring your own supply of rechargeable NiMH AAs. Two AAs should give a full days worth of power. A set of two AAs has about the same capacity as the rechargeble pack you have, and they are lighter. (lithium ion cells that are probably in that pack have a higher energy density, but I'm guessing the packaging they are in is negating the weight advantage compared to bare NiMH cells). You would need multiple packs to keep recharging the GPS batteries. Also, charging a battery is not 100% efficient: you are lose capacity by recharging a battery from another battery instead of discharging the battery directly, so there is really no advantage I can see to that approach, unless you build/buy a larger, higher density lithium ion pack (like the large packs that bike lighting systems use).

[trebor]

.....Any other GPS's that do all this and a bag of chips?
 

DeLorme PN series GPS have recharge circuitry for a battery pack as well as the ability to run on straight AA batteries. I run a dynamo hub to charge a battery pack and to charge the GPS while riding. The battery pack keeps my USB chargable headlight and cell phone toped off. I just plug them in at night when I sleep and repeat the charge process the next day.

There may be inefficiencies in charging a battery to charge a battery... but I'm riding along anyway and I figure I'll make use of that effort and store it for later use.

[glenndandy]

Interested in seeing your setup trebor...
    My off road touring often leaves me several days to a week between having overnight access to wall sockets for recharging,hence the larger capacity battery pack, a Cinch brand. I don't want to carry pairs of batteries and if AA's are fully 5000mAh then jp3d is right about a similar sized pack for recharging is pointless.It will successfully charge my small capacity gadgets(camera, mp3,phone, and current IGotU), several times each but for gps charging the 5000mAh pack it's basically a big-dumb-one-day-use-pair-of-AA's. Any other good methods of recharging AA's aside from a dynamo when away from outlets? In a nutshell I'm looking to be able to top off several gadgets daily, without buying batteries, for 5-7 days. The dynamo hub is seeming more attractive to me. Thanks guys/gals?

[trebor]

I have a thread going about my setup here:
http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,1775.0.html

Since starting the thread, I've gotten a bigger storage battery from Brunton. I've also swapped from the little 90 lumen AAA backup light to a Cygolite 250 lumen USB  light. I've got plenty of light to ride with now!!

I'm about 2K miles on the hub since I got it and have ridden in the rain and done stream crossings with it. No problems. I've also found other users of the hub that are satisfied as well. There is also no perceptible drag when the hub has a load. So the only disadvantage to me personally is that it is fairly heavy. But since the weight is at the hub and not the rim, the rotaional mass is a non issue.

The AC to DC converter is the only "weak" link in the system. Since the hub puts out AC you must have a device to convert that to DC. I contacted teh manufacturer of the product (Biologic) to ask about overvoltage at higher speeds. If you read the thread i've linked above it goes over my findings.

Rob

[RossC]

So when the HCX reaches 1000 waypoints in a file, does it generate a new file and continue recording or does it do what my really, really old eXplorist does and start erasing the first waypoints in the file?

[comprisegot9]

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[Dumpster Juice]

I too, am in the market for a GPS unit for my bike. I am looking at the Vista HCX or the Delorme PN-60. I have very little knowledge on GPS. What would I be better with in the long run? I hate to spend good money and wish I had gotten something else.

[Done]

I too, am in the market for a GPS unit for my bike. I am looking at the Vista HCX or the Delorme PN-60. I have very little knowledge on GPS. What would I be better with in the long run? I hate to spend good money and wish I had gotten something else.

The Delmorme PN-60 is a whiz-bang GPS with every feature under the sun. But it absolutely devours batteries, and it's large and rather heavy. If you love playing with gizmos, and don't mind carrying the extra weight of lots of spare batteries, then the PN-60 will make you happy.

The Vista HCx is relatively simple and utilitarian. It has awesome battery life, and it weights very little. If you just need basic GPS info, then this GPS will work well for you. The HCx is the gold standard for ultra racing.

I advise you to go play with both models at REI or something. Like most gear, personal preference is more important than what guys like me post on a forum.

[Dumpster Juice]

Thanks Toby, I am a utilitarian kind of guy. No gizmo junk, just the basics. In fact I still don't know how to set my VCR and now we have a DVD. What's a guy suppose to do.