Garmin E-trex Vista GPS Unit – Owner Review

Review date: August 2, 2005

Personal biographical information

o                                            Name:  Jesse McCulloch

o                                            Age:  23

o                                            Gender:  Male

o                                            Height:  6’ 4” (193 cm)

o                                            Weight: 165 lb (75 kg)

o                                            Email address:  mccu420@comcast.net

o                                            City and State:  Hillsboro, Oregon

o                                            Backpacking background:  I began backpacking as a Boy Scout around the age of 14.  Last year, I began training for a group at work called the Reach and Treat (RAT) team.  The RAT team is an ambulance crew with specialized rescue skills sent out into the wilderness to treat or stabilize injured persons in the backcountry.  While training for a coveted position on the RAT team, I remembered the joy of backpacking, and have since dug out all my equipment, purchased some stuff I felt I needed, and have once again discovered the joys of living off by back in the woods.  I currently consider myself a medium weight backpacker, but I am slowly moving towards lightweight packing.

Product information

o                                            Manufacturer:  Garmin

o                                            Year of manufacture:  2002

o                                            Manufacturer web site:  http://www.garmin.com/

o                                            Listed weight:  5.3 oz with batteries

o                                            Weight as received: 5.5 oz with batteries, 4.8 oz without batteries

o                                            MSRP:  $289.27 USD

Field information

o                                            Location of testing: NW Oregon and SW Washington

o                                            Description of location:  Mostly mountainous terrain with some alpine trekking above the tree line, but for the most part it has been used trekking below the tree line in moderate tree cover.  It was also used on a trip part way up Mount Hood.  It has been used at altitudes from sea level to a top height of approximately 9600 ft (2926 m).

o                                            Weather conditions:  The unit has been used on hot, humid days, dark rainy days, and everything in between.  It has been used while mountaineering, but has never seen a snowy day.  It has been subjected to freezing temperatures, but not while it has been snowing.

General information

 

The Garmin E-trex Vista GPS (hereafter known as Vista) is a compact unit designed to give a moderately accurate idea of where on earth you are.  The Vista does this by first receiving signals from U.S. Government satellites in geo-synchronous orbit.  Second, it takes the signals received and uses them to triangulate position.  Third, it outputs this information to the screen in the format that you choose. 

 

Garmin’s website lists the Vista’s accuracy as being less than 15 meters (49 feet).  This means that the position given will be within 15 meters (49 feet) of where the unit is.  The Vista also has Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) capability.  WAAS is a series of ground stations that send out corrective signals to the Vista that correct for atmospheric disturbance, and greatly increase the accuracy of the Vista.  With WAAS activated, the accuracy of the Vista is less than 3 meters (10 feet).  The downside to using the WAAS is battery life significantly decreases.  WAAS satellites are located near the equator, so it can be difficult getting a corrective signal at higher latitudes.

 

Description of unit

 

The Vista is 4.5 in (11.2 cm) long, 2 in (5.1 cm) wide, and 1 in (3 cm) deep.  On the front there is a toggle/joystick type button in the upper left, with a 2 in (5.1 cm) by 1 in (3 cm) screen centered on the lower portion.  Centered at the top and bottom of the screen are sighting marks for the “sight and go” feature discussed further down in this review. On the left side of the Vista are three buttons on the upper portion, and a ridged rubber grip area at the bottom.  On the right side of the Vista there are two buttons on the upper portion, and again a ridged rubber grip area on the bottom.  The lower portion of the  back of the Vista consists of a rubber battery compartment door, with a pin that holds it in place.  At the top, there is a rubber guard that covers the connection point for the serial data cable, allowing the Vista to interface with a computer for uploading maps, waypoints and other data.  The unit is metallic silver in color with black rubber around the sides.  Garmin states the Vista is rated at IEC 529 IPX7 waterproof standards.  IEC 529 is a European rating system with various levels of testing.  IPX7 means the unit is protected against water immersion.  This was tested by immersing the unit for 30 minutes at a depth of 1 meter.  The only rating higher than IPX7 is IPX8, which is rated for continuous underwater use.

 

I found the Vista very user friendly.  Upon startup, the unit shows owner information with name and address in case it gets lost and a very honest person finds it.  It then goes to a title screen that shows the E-trex logo and a small animation.  Then it automatically goes to the satellite main page.  There are six main pages, including satellite, map, compass, altimeter, trip computer, and main menu. By pressing the top button on the right side, the Vista will scroll through the different main pages.

 

Main page descriptions

 

The satellite main page shows a small circle, a larger circle around it marked with N, S, E, and W, and a bunch of really small circles that are numbered.  While this sounds complicated already, it is really just a graphic representation of where the satellites are in regards to the unit.  The outer circle represents the horizon, and the inner circle represents 45 degrees above the horizon.  The very middle of the inner circle represents directly overhead.  The smaller numbered circles represent different satellites, and their position is shown on the circles, or in between them.  At the bottom of the screen there is also a bar graph with the numbers of all the satellites above running along the bottom.  This shows the signal strength for each satellite.

 

In my experience it takes an average of five minutes for the Vista to acquire the satellites and be ready to navigate.  Under heavy cover, it can take longer, while on a clear day above the tree line it took less than two minutes.  Once the unit has acquired enough signals, it displays “Ready to navigate” and tells how accurate its readings are.  It shows the accuracy in a box along the top.  For example, it might say, “Ready to navigate, accuracy 33 feet (10 meters).  If the device is having trouble acquiring a signal, it may be a good idea to turn so as not to block the satellite signals with obstructions such as a body, trees, or large rocks.

 

Pressing the top button on the right side once will switch to the map page.  On this page you will see a triangle surrounded by a circle in the center of the display.  The triangle is my location, and the point of the triangle is the direction I am facing.  The circle represents the current accuracy of the Vista.  The Vista comes preloaded with a base map for the area in which you purchased it.  Mine came with a North America base map.  This map includes major roadways and points of interest.  It is also possible to upload maps to the Vista using Garmin’s MapSource Software.  One of the things I was disappointed by is that no other brand software maps can be uploaded to the Vista, although waypoints can be added from other software that supports this function.  The top two buttons on the right side allow you to zoom in and out on the map, allowing greater or less detail to be shown.

 

By pressing the top button on the right side again, the compass page will be accessed.  This page has a typical compass display in electronic form.  It also has two customizable display fields at the bottom that can show many different information combinations.  One of the neat features of the Vista is the “Sight and Go” option.  By holding the Vista at eye level while in compass mode, looking from the bottom, two white marks similar to those found on a regular compass should be visible.  These can be lined up and aimed at a landmark, and by pressing the “Sight and Go” button, the Vista will lock on  the bearing.  The distance you want to go on that bearing can then be input, and the Vista will project a waypoint there, allowing navigation without worrying about straying off course due to terrain features and other hazards.  If forced to stray off course, the pointer arrow guides me back in the right direction.

 

Again, by pressing the top button on the right side of the Vista, it will be switched to the altimeter page.  The altimeter can be set from a known location and elevation, or it can be set by the GPS if there are satellites on the horizon.  This page also shows elevation over time in a graph format.  The elevation over time format can be adjusted two ways.  First, the elevation scale shown on the screen can be adjusted.  These increments are 200 ft (70 m), 400 ft (140 m), 600 ft (210 m), 800 ft (280 m), 1000 ft (350 m), 2500 ft (875 m), and 5000 ft (1750 m).  This means, if it is set at 200 ft (70 m), the bottom to the top of the screen represents 200 ft (70 m).  If it is set at 5000 ft (1750 m), the bottom to the top of the screen represents 5000 ft (1750 m).  Second, the time scale shown on the screen can be adjusted.  These increments are two minutes, five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes, one hour, and two hours.  This means, if it is set for five minutes, the space from the left of the screen to the right of the screen represents the last five minutes.  If it is set for two hours, the space from the left of the screen to the right of the screen represents the last two hours.

 

The next main page accessed by pressing the top button on the right side of the Vista is the trip computer.  This screen is a completely customizable information center.  It has four large information fields, and four small information fields.  In alphabetical order, the following list is what information you can ask to be shown in any of these fields.  Bearing, course, current destination, current distance, current estimated time of arrival, elevation, final destination, final distance, final estimated time of arrival, GPS accuracy, glide ratio, glide ratio to destination, heading, location in latitude/longitude, location in user specified format, maximum speed, moving average speed, odometer, distance off course, overall average speed, pointer, speed, sunrise, sunset, time of day, trip odometer, trip time moving, trip time stopped, trip time total, and vertical speed.  By customizing this screen, the Vista is adaptable for whatever I might be using it.

 

The final page accessed by pressing the top button on the right side of the Vista is the main menu.  The main menu has six icons that lead into secondary menu pages.  These icons are labeled Mark, Find, Routes, Tracks, Setup, and Accessories.  The Mark icon allows the setting waypoints, labeling of them, and the option to save them.  The Find icon allows the Vista to search through saved waypoints, as well as major roads and landmarks.  The Routes icon allows the Vista to link multiple waypoints into a path for a trip, and then save this information.  The tracks icon displays the exact route taken while the unit has been turned on, and allows the backtracking of this exact route if needed.  The Setup icon allows the adjustment of the settings, such as location format (latitude/longitude, UTM, custom format), time, date, and other information.  The Accessories icon contains a calendar, calculator, area calculator, sun and moon chart, and a hunting and fishing tool that tells the best times that day to hunt and fish in a particular area.

 

Conclusions

 

I believe that the Garmin E-trex Vista is a very functional tool to be added to anybody’s list of equipment.  It can be customized to different tasks depending on your needs, and is easily switched when needed for a different task.  I would like to caution anybody considering buying any GPS to remember that a GPS is an electronic tool that should be used in conjunction with a good map and compass.  Any electrical device can fail, and by bringing a map and compass you keep a margin of safety available that could save your life.