Spoiled Vista
Over two years ago I bought a Garmin Etrex Vista. It was the sexiest new model of handheld GPS, and promised to be good for hiking and adventure exploring. From day one, I have found it to be astonishingly unreliable (screen problems, shutting itself off, clickStick malfunctioning, condensation). Its software is quite mediocre, especially MapSource.
I am getting ready for a driving trip to Laos in a few weeks, and I need to have a GPS. I just turned on my Vista and the screen looks like a big UPC bar code. DOA. I'll send it back to Garmin for the second time I suppose, but at this point I'm writing it off as a $300 bad trip.
So what should I buy?
How I use a GPS
I've used the GPS mostly for 4wd adventure trips and bicycle trips. I guess I've used it for 4wd trips more, because the Vista loves to silently turn itself off during rough mountain bike rides, and furthermore works very, very poorly in the heavy jungle canopy of Southeast Asia. (I live in Singapore)
I use the GPS to document our trip (keeping the tracks, trying to set waypoints) as much as I use it for navigation. I never found that the Garmin had particularly good set of functionality for this. Yes, it sets waypoints, and yes it records tracks, but then, it also does things like arbitrarily compressing tracks. Furthermore, its "Worldmap" isn't very good in Southeast Asia. It's not even that good in Outback Australia.
I can imagine that some of the more GIS-centric systems make documenting a trip, route easier and more robust.
I can also imagine that other units could work better under canopies. After all, the Vista has no external antenna jack.
I've never used the Vista's altimeter (nor it's HALO and HAHO parachuting functionality...) so the feature set isn't actually that huge:
1) good reception
2) waypoint and track recording
3) compass
4) navigation to/from waypoints and tracks
5) better or alternative basemap options
6) small enough form factor that can be hand carried if necessary
What should I buy?
I'd be willing to consider even non-consumer grade GPS's, like Trimbles and Leicas, but I am not sure how well they'd serve my six criteria, and they're really expensive.
The Trimbles I looked at were the Trimble Recon, essentially a PDA for which you must buy a Pathfinder GPS antenna, and the GeoXT and GeoXM handhelds. Are there older model Trimbles that I might find second hand that would have enough functionality, and maybe not cost $4000USD?
The Leica also produces a high-end handheld GPS system, the GS20 Professional Data Mapper, which, like the Trimbles, is a $4800USD toy.
Any other ideas? Used units? Other brands? I'm feeling pretty dismal if I am going to have to buy yet another Garmin or Magellan (I can't imagine they're going to be any different or better than Garmin).