Garmin eTrex Vista or Legend? Vista has compass and barometric altimeter, Legend doesn't. I have a Edge 305 so I think the Legend would be fine. Your thoughts....

Understanding I've never toured before, but I have a Legend and a 305. The 305 has a compass and an altimeter, so I'd say Legend (especially since I already own one). Not really sure what other differences there are between the Vista and Legend though (memory?).

You don't need a magnetic compass or barometric altimeter while touring unless you have a special need for it. If you are talking about the B&W legend vs the B&W Vista other than what you mentioned is, the Vista has 24mb of memory, the Legend 8mb. However that only matters if you are going to buy the mapping software.

And if you got the money to buy the mapping software, I strongly recommend getting the Legend HCx (or Venture Cx) which will you allow you to load maps into a microSD card which will give you up to 2 GIG of maps, far more than enough for any tour. Plus twice as much battery life, color screen, and other goodies.

Good luck!

I have a Garmin GPSMap 76S, and I rather like the built-in barometric altimeter. It's really nice for getting reasonably accurate elevation profiles on my rides, which you can't really do with GPS alone. Since I primarily use my GPS above 10 mph, I always disable the electronic compass to save battery power.

I bought the Vista HCx ,had to try twice to get the right size clamp to go on my handle bar. I never did find a mount for my stem that was snap on and off easy.
I really like the mapping and it matches my bike odomoeter well. Of note: I bought the micro mini SD card NA map. Even I could install it which means simply plug in.
Downside: It does not allow loading on your PC. If you want to plot and plan routes on your PC and load them on my GPS I've got to buy the CD version.

I alos spent $$$ buying Garmin rechargable batteries and charger. They are Ni-MH 2300mAh.

As mentioned in another discussion, Gramin just intro'd a bike specific mapping unit for 1.7x the price that has all std bike functions but I have that stuff with my beloved Cycleops Powertap so I just "need" the HCx.

Which ever GPS you use, it's more important that you learn to use it correctly. Here are some important things I learned

1. Learn to skip a point in a route --- At times, you'll pass a way point in a route but the GPS will not allow you to continue. Lean how to make the GPS skip the point you missed and go to the next point in the route. VERY IMPORTANT.

2 Stores, rest stops, train stations -- They may not be in the exact spot located on the software! I had this happen where a train station was located 2 miles from where the software stated. It doesn't happen often but when it does, you can become quite upset.

3. Don't allow the softare to make your routes --- The softare makes horrible routes forcing you to take the major highways. Lean to make and enjoy your own routes.

4. Always bring an extra set of fresh batteries or use rechargeables.

5. The most direct route on a map usually has fast traffic. Learn to create routes that ride mostly on city streets or subdivisions.

6. Place a way point not in the middle of a street but after the turn.

7. The auto-return feature on a GPS is worthless. It will make you go down one way streets against traffic. If you need to create a return route, create a new route.

8. The total millage feature (or all stats for that matter) maybe inaccurate because depending on the weather, the GPS may lose your location for long periods of time.

9. Making a route on the road is time consuming and best done on a PC. The GPS usually has a slow processor plus the small screne makes it hard to read.

10. It's best to buy the software from the vendor. I purchased on EBAY and the software was an older version that was bootleg.

Which?

Why?

Needing to know exactly where you are is an addiction. Sort of like reading the news every day.

I have both and I do like the Vista better because it can hold more map data, which is not just local road info but it can help you find nearby shopping (food) or hotels which has made more then one tour a lot more pleasant. And I find watching the altitude graph while doing long climbs entertaining enough to help keep my mind off how hard the climb is (ok, so I am easily entertained.)

Having said that I have done long tours with Legend with just an occasional local map thrown in and it is doable as you don’t need the local maps downloaded for the route stuff to work. Both units have the same capacity for the number of routes and the number of points per route. (Note that the unit can quietly chop off the end of your route is it has too many points leaving a bit stranded.)

Anyway one of the decision points for me to upgrade was that for 3-4 day tours I managed ok with the Legend but on longer tours I really wanted more data at my disposal.

I'm looking for a GPS unit with a larger screen and local road data (food/lodging). Suggestions?

If your plan is to use the unit for mapping then all models mentioned have a screen size that is too small to be usable IMHO. I have the GPS Map 76 and it's screen is slightly larger and barely usable.

I have a Garmin Legend and it does exactly what its supposed to do. Its sensitive to vibrations on my dirt bike but works flawlessly my bicycle. Also if you want more map storage just stick in a bigger micro SD card. It comes with a 64mb I believe.

I recently ordered the Navigon Pocket Loox N100. Same price as the Garmin Etrex Legend ($150 from tigetdirect.com), but it's a much more modern device, with a large full-color screen, and an up-to-date interface. It also has a "bicycle" option for navigating on a bicycle, which avoids major highways and tries to take the most direct route.

Though we haven't toured with it yet, we've noticed a few drawbacks, mostly related to the interface being cheap and clunky. But, for telling us where we are and giving us an approximate idea of where we're going, it's pretty good!

Thanks for the post. I'm looking for another GPS that provides the 3D view from the road. This just may fill the need. Is there a way to connect this to a handlebar?

I'm not sure. The device didn't come with anything that would help with bike mounting, but I'd imagine that there's a way for someone who is engineering-savvy to construct something that will mount the GPS to the handlebars?

Me and my girlfriend are going to do tandem touring, so our plan was to put the GPS in one of my rear pockets, but that doesn't help you much

Here's why?

If your intention was to ride in the same location, then a GPS would be a waste of money. However, the GPS allows you to visit places that are unknown without any fear of getting lost. That is the beauty of the device and why I spend so much money on them. Exploring new towns is like reading the news from a different newspaper.

Isn't a map easier? Sure, if you're in the snow or a desert I can see they'd be invaluable, but a road atlas or Google Maps printouts are both pretty good otherwise.

I just got the Vista HCx and haven't rode my bike with it yet.

With a 2GB card, I have the whole US loaded, with all details from City Navigator.

I used it in my car today to go pick up a bike, and it dropped me right at the front door with no issues.

For automatic routing, it can be set for Car or Bicycle routing (plus others)... but I will probably be mapping my routes in advance with waypoints... I do day rides, no touring at this point, so this would work for me. For touring it would be nice to learn if the bicycle routing is actually reasonable.

The feature to find the closest services could be helpful on a bike in case you needed to get something in a hurry.

Is a map easier?

Answer - No

1. Cyclist end up using fast highways --- You'll often find the cyclist using maps on fast highways because the scale of the map does not show the intricate streets needed to make a safe route. A street level map would be huge and not practical to lug around.

2. Weather conditions can make maps ineffective --- Did you ever get stuck in a rain storm with a map? It's a horror show and the situation becomes worse at night.

3. Finding yourself on a map takes time --- Did you ever get lost and spent a half an hour trying to find yourself on a map?

4. Streets in the burbs are not marked --- You can see the name of the street or road on a map but trying to find the sign on a street is another story. This is the main reason why I purchased a GPS in the first place because there are loads of streets that are not named or you can't find the sign.

Steve,

I have a Loox N100.
There's a handlebar mount on the Fujitsu-Siemens site, but I made my own from the car mount. I can post a pic' if you like?

I upgraded the firmware so I could access the underlying Win CE OS.

Next I installed "Memory Map" for the UK. I believe it's available for US maps too, as it's a US firm. MM is great for cyclists as it's based on 1:25k high res' maps (in UK, no idea for US maps), & allows routes to be plotted, recorded etc.

When we get into the car, just fire up the inbuilt Navigon s/w, & that's great for driving, like Tom Tom.

With occasional backlight use on bike, the battery lasts about 8 hours with the GPS on.

As it's a Win based device, one can have note taking, etc. app's, & there's a high quality mp3 player built in too :-)

HTH.

PS. "However, the GPS allows you to visit places that are unknown without any fear of getting lost. "

Spot on! That's exactly what we did en route to my wife's brother in France. No way would we have gone through such tiny, interesting places if we'd only had the maps. Plus we could both enjoy the scenery.

I have to agree that a GPS is superior to a paper map but it does not replace it. You really need both.
The GPS screen is just too small to get a good overall view. The routing on the GPS device really helps but sometimes works to well. But sometimes it does to good of a job and will route you miles out of your way just to avoid a road that is considered "busy" when in real life the road can be safely traveled by bicycle.

If I could figure out a way to power and mount this, it would make life a lot easier.

What is really needed is a GPS with a virtual screen that floats out in front of you but that is more than likely a long time away.

Agreed, & in my Loox case, it's a tad smaller than a standard PDA screen, but very sharp. I think only a simple "big picture" paper map is necessary though, then zoom in via the GPS. The Garmin GPS's have even tinier screens, which puts me off, but they use AA's & have great battery life.

Yes, that's why I installed a walking & cycling biased program as I described earlier. That way the rider decides the route based on other factors. It's nice to have a choice :-)

Something like the new eepc:

https://eeepc.asus.com/en/

isn't too big, so mountable, but battery life isn't great.

I once took my wife's iBook, with a separate bluetooth receiver, but only for a few miles, as she'd kill me if it fell off & broke :-)

Something like a head-up display for a bicycle? :-)

If your looking for a GPS mount go to ram-mounts.com. They have bar mounts for everything.