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Price: £225
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Weight: 156 grammes (including batteries)
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Features: Waterproof, 256-colour sunlight-readable display, fast USB computer connection, 24 hour battery life, but no Ordnance Survey maps.
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What's It For?
Route finding on and off road, and location confirmation in combination with map and compass.
The Techy Bits
It's a GPS so it's techy. What really matters is the Vista HCx is built around a reliable and responsive GPS receiver and patch antenna and enclosed in an ultra-lightweight, waterproof casing. Complete with batteries it weighs in at 156g and it's WAAS enabled for the next generation of higher accuracy satellites.
How It Performs
The first thing you notice about the HCx is its size and weight. With no antenna stub protruding from the device it fits neatly in the palm of your hand, and seems almost weightless.
The casing itself is waterproof to IPX7, which means you could drop into a metre of water for half an hour and it should still work. Whilst it wasn't left for half an hour it took a dunking in Grindsbrook on Kinder Scout in its stride.
Sensitivity and reception were up there with the best GPS receivers, even managing to lock on to seven satellites in a regular blackspot in Little Narrowcove, and accuracy never became an issue.
The HCx can store 1000 waypoints and 50 routes, which should be more than enough. Routes can be transferred to the PC for use with Garmin's software or for conversion into other formats, and the MiniSD card slot hidden away inside the waterproof battery compartment povides addition storage.The downside is that changing SD cards on the hill can be a bit of a job with having to remove the casing.
Overall the HCx made a very good impression as a piece of kit, with features like a barometric altimeter that tracks changes in pressure to pinpoint your precise altitude and an electronic compass that works when stationary adding to the feeling that this was designed by someone who actually uses a GPS.
As with anything, though, there had to be a downside. Garmin's maps are very good, both on and off road, with good clarity on the 256 level colour TFT screen - but they'll never be a match for those from the Ordnance Survey and Harveys.
Also, with a device that tries to pack so much in, and a host of optional extras, the menu can take some getting used to but it's intuitive enough that you can use it for the basics straight from the box without needing to look at the manual.
It's light, waterproof and very responsive so ticks all the right boxes. Battery life is acceptable and with a street price of around £225 it's good value for its feature list. If you're already used to the Garmin range, and Garmin maps, this could well make its way onto your Christmas wish list. What will be interesting is comparing it with the Satmap 10, due for release any day now.
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Performance
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Value
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Martin Farrimond
