Garmin eTrex Vista HCX Review
Garmin eTrex Vista HCX
Garmin eTrex Vista Handheld GPS
Neither tall trees nor deep canyons phase the rugged eTrex Vista HCx. Its high-sensitivity receiver holds a GPS signal in the toughest environments. Similar to the Vista Cx, this handheld navigator also has a bright color screen, barometric altimeter, electronic compass, microSD card slot and automatic routing for wherever adventure takes you.With its high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver, eTrex Vista HCx locates your position quickly and precisely and maintains its GPS location even in heavy cover and deep canyons. Whether youre in deep woods or just near tall buildings and trees, you can count on Vista HCx to help you find your way when you need it the most.The Vista HCx has a built-in electronic compass that provides bearing information even while you’re standing still, and its barometric altimeter 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.
Magellan Roadmate 1470 Review
Magellan Roadmate 1470
Magellan Roadmate 1470
Product Description
The Magellan RoadMate 1470 GPS device boasts a unique 4.7-inch color touchscreen and ultra-thin design, delivering powerful navigation in a compact package. This easy-to-use device gives you confidence while on the road with premium features, including AAA TourBook, highway lane assist, spoken street names, multi-destination routing, and pre-loaded maps of North America.
Key Features:
- Ability to personalize OneTouch search icons with your favorite places
- Announces street names and directions at each turn
- Ultra-wide 4.7-inch touchscreen display
- AAA TourBook and Roadside Assistance menu
- Permits multi-destination routing
- Maps of United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico
- 4.7″ Touchscreen
- 6 Million Points of Interest
- Text to Speach
- Live Traffic Info (Optional Upgrade, requires traffic receiver)
- Multi Destination Routing
- Auto Nightview
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Our Magellan Roadmate 1470 Review
The Magellan Roadmate 1470 is definitely a feature packed GPS system, without the extra entertainment features of more expensive models. The first think you notice on power up us the screen. It is unusually large and bright, it looks great. When powering up the first time, make sure you are outside, the sky is clear and your karma is good! It took nearly an hour for our test model to find a satellite and get connected. Luckily, this is a first time thing, as the unit was fairly quick to re-establish connections on further use.
The touch screen is easy to navigate. There are tons of points of interest (6 million) so you will never miss a Starbucks or KFC with this GPS. Trip routing was pretty good. It missed one shortcut on our test trips, but so do most GPS units. The traffic receiver worked sporadically. Sometimes it was great, sometimes it refused to perform correctly, very unreliable. Lane guidance was good, but not perfect. Better then we have seen before in a Magellan, so its moving in the right direction.
Magellan Roadmate 1470 Review: What needs work
Auto zoom- this was horrible. This feature was quickly turned off. It seems that when you are flying down the highway, the Roadmate 1470 zooms in to about 1/4 mile, when you really need a much larger distance. In cities, the auto zoom would zoom so tight, only 2 blocks were showing at a time.
The initial boot was slow, over an hour to find a satellite.
Magellan Roadmate 1470 Review: Overall Recomendation
We really like this GPS. The screen is great, easy to see and use (although it is rather large for a really small car). Maps are great. Lane and traffic guidance were ok, but still some room to improve. If you want a full featured GPS without paying for lots of entertainment toys, I have no problem recommending the Magellan Roadmate 1470.
Rating: 4/5
TomTom One Review
The TomTom One In action
With the large number of TomTom One XL models showing up in the $100 price range (factory refurbished), this is a great time to take a look at this automotive GPS.
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Product Description
Expand your horizons with the new TomTom ONE XL. The distinctive design
combines an extra-wide 4.3 touchscreen and the power of GPS in a slim,
lightweight device. Easily taken from car to car. Switch it on and go
right out of the box. Just a few taps on the screen and the ONE XL does
the rest. The crystal-clear display, 3D view and spoken turn-by-turn
instructions help you find your way, worry free. Preloaded maps of the
US and Canada and millions of points of interest enhance your traveling
experience. With the ONE XL you can access smart extras like real-time
traffic, 5-day weather forecasts and celebrity voice downloads. No
activation, no monthly fees, its that easy.
TomTom One Technical Specs:
- 4.3 inch TFT LCD GPS Navigation Systems
- Preloaded Maps of US/CANADA/Spoken Directions ans Streets Names
- Touchscreen 480 x 272 /Help me Emergency Menu
- Memory 64 MB RAM/1 GB Internal Flash
- High Sensitivity SIRF Star III GPS Receiver
Type: Automotive
Screen Size: 4.3″
Touch Screen: Yes
Voice: Yes
Expansion Slots: SD Card
Battery Type: Internal Litium-Ion Battery
Battery Life: 2 hours
Antenna: High sensitivity GPS chipset
Special Features: Bluetooth
Special Features: Spoken Street Names
Maps Included: United States
Maps Included: Canada
Our TomTom One Review
In short, this is a quality GPS unit, with a couple drawbacks. For a GPS in this price range, the TomTom one has a great screen. The interface is a little awkward, and has a learning curve. The cool sexy voices are nice, but you need to select a computer voice to get the voice activated directions to work correctly.
The TomTom One is not suitable for portable uses, but is strictly automotive only. The maps are clear and easy to follow, but keep in mind the issue we will address shortly.
Maps: Some users have had problems getting updated maps with a refurbished TomTom one. On purchase, their should be a map upgrade card in the box. If you do not receive this card, getting an upgrade may be difficult, and the unit should be returned. Updated maps are critical, as these units could be several years old.
Suction Cup: Lots of complaints on the suction cup. Make sure the unit will not get damaged if it falls, the warranty will not cover a broken screen, even if its broken from a defective suction cup.
Overall, if you keep in mind the price range, this is a great bargain. There are the typical refurbished issues, so make sure you buy from a retailer with a return policy. If you need a budget GPS and want a great screen and voice commands, a refurbished TomTom One is hard to beat.
Garmin Colorado 400t Review
Garmin Colorado 400t
Garmin Colorado 400t Product Description:
This rugged, advanced handheld is packed with detailed topographic maps for all your hiking adventures not to mention 3-D map view, a high-sensitivity receiver, barometric altimeter, electronic compass, SD card slot, picture viewer and color display. Exchange tracks, waypoints, routes and geocaches wirelessly between similar units. Slim, lightweight and waterproof, Colorado is the perfect companion for all your outdoor pursuits.
Take on the trails with Colorado 400t. This rugged, advanced handheld is packed with detailed topographic maps for all your hiking adventures not to mention 3-D map view, a high-sensitivity receiver, barometric altimeter, electronic compass, SD™ card slot, picture viewer and color display. Exchange tracks, waypoints, routes and geocaches wirelessly between similar units. When the going gets tough, Colorado leads the way.
Explore Backcountry in 3-D
Colorado’s preloaded U.S. topographic maps, 3-D map view and a built-in worldwide basemap with shaded relief give you all the tools for serious climbing or hiking. Map detail includes national, state and local parks and forests, along with terrain contours, elevation information, trails, rivers, lakes and points of interest. Just in case you’re wondering how steep that hill really is, Colorado’s 3-D map view helps you visualize your surroundings — giving you a better perspective of the elevation.
Share Wirelessly
With Colorado 400t you can share your waypoints, tracks, routes and geocaches wirelessly with other Colorado users. Now you can send your favorite hike to your buddy to enjoy or the location of a cache to find. Sharing data is easy. Just select “send” to transfer your information to other Colorado units.
Rock on. Find Fun
Intuitive and fun, Colorado features a Rock ‘n Roller input wheel for easy one-handed operation and supports Geocaching.com GPX files for downloading geocaches and detail straight to your unit. Customize Colorado’s interface based on your favorite activity. Even show off photos of your excursions with its picture viewer. Slim, lightweight and waterproof, Colorado is the perfect companion for all your outdoor pursuits.
Keep Your Fix
With its high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver, Colorado 400t locates your position quickly and precisely and maintains its GPS location even in heavy cover and deep canyons. The advantage is clear — whether you’re in deep woods or just near tall buildings and trees, you can count on Colorado to help you find your way when you need it the most.
Get Your Bearings
Colorado 400t has a built-in electronic compass that provides bearing information even while you’re standing still, and its barometric altimeter 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.
Plug in and Go
Conveniently plug in optional preloaded SD cards for all your outdoor activities on land or water (see maps tab for compatible maps). Just insert a MapSource card with detailed street maps, and Colorado provides turn-by-turn directions to your destination. Add detailed trail information by purchasing additional TOPO maps for national parks and more. The card slot is located inside the waterproof battery compartment, so you don’t have to worry about getting it wet.
Colorado 400t: For adventure in any direction.
Product Features:
- High Sensitivity, WAAS-Enabled GPS Receiver
- Features A 2.55-InchH X 1.53-InchW, Transflective Color Tft Display With 240 X 400 Pixel Resolution
- Features Built-In Worldwide Basemap With Shaded Relief
- Wireless Sharing Of User Tracks, Waypoints, Routes & Geocaches Between Units
- 5 User Profiles – Automotive, Marine, Recreation, Fitness Or Geocache
Technical Details
- Brand Name: Garmin
- Model: 010-00622-45
- Receiver Description: 12 channel
- Connectivity Technology: USB
- Display Size: 3 inches
- Native Resolution: 240×400
- Battery Average Life: 15 Hours
- MP3 player: Y
Well, that’s lots of marketing stuff, but how well does it really work?
Size: 1.4 x 2.4 x 5.5 inches, weight 7.3 oz. This is pretty light for a unit that has a 1.4×2.5 display. Certainly portable for any use except perhaps jogging/running. 4/5
Battery Life: The unit is rated at 15 hours. The unit uses 2xAA batteries, so this will vary with the quality of batteries, but easily extendable with replacement batteries for any situation. 5/5
Maps: The Garmin Colorado 400t comes preloaded with a US Topographical Map. You can download and add maps through its sim card. The maps can (and really should be) backed up to a PC, but not viewed. 4/5
Features/Usage/Price: This is a pretty feature packed little GPS. For hiking and outdoors, it has almost everything a hiking enthusiast could want, including geocaching. Custom points of interest, and unit to unit transfers are nice additions to the Garmin Colorado 400t. The price…. Well, its not cheap, currently selling for around $400. (msrp $599) 4/5
Other comments:
Lots of owners have complained about the accuracy for driving. At approx 40-80’ accuracy, its good for hiking, but not perfect if your on the road. Hopefully Garmin will address the accuracy in future versions. Setup is complicated. Expect to spend a couple hours setting the Garmin Colorado 400t up properly. The screen is pretty good for a hiking GPS, and has a nice clean display; pretty awesome once you’ve spent that 3 hours setting the shortcuts up for your usage.
If your looking for a truly nice hiking/climbing/outdoors GPS, this could be your answer. It has tons of features, works pretty well, and is really slick once set up properly. Overall Rating…. 4/5. Catch it on sale for under $375 and make that 5/5.
Suunto X9i Wrist-Top GPS Computer Watc
Suunto X9i Watch GPS
Suunto X9i Wrist-Top GPS Computer Watch with Altimeter, Barometer, Compass, and GPS
Suunto X9i Watch GPS
Description:
Equipped with GPS capabilities, a compass, chronograph, altimeter, and barometer, the Suunto X9i Wrist-top GPS has everything you need for a successful journey and serious work-out. Regardless of whether you’re hiking, climbing, skiing or heading off for a fishing trip, the Suunto X9i will not only take you through even the toughest situations, but it will also help to analyze your performance along the way. The route functions of Suunto X9i, together with its advanced GPS system, allow you to create accurate routes, and they ensure that you always know where you are and how to continue from there.
Our Opinion
Size: 3″x2″ This is a watch, about as compact as it gets in GPS systems. Weight is acceptable for almost all situations. 5/5
Battery Life: Great if not using the GPS. 4-5 hours of constant GPS usage. 3/5
Maps: Not really applicable for a watch GPS, the watch comes with software for the PC which can track your travel. Downloadable maps are available. 3/5
Features and Price:
Noteable features -
- Equipped with GPS capabilities, a compass, chronograph, altimeter, and barometer
- “Track back” and “find home” functions help you find your way back home
- Windows-based software helps you analyze your performance
- Features advanced timing functions that record lap and split times of your runs and other activities
- Water resistant to 10 bars, and designed with a user-friendly menu-based user interface
