I have used man GPS receivers and 2 way radios. I have to say I am most impressed with the function of the 530 HCX. IT does an amazing job at locating others. I used it primarily at a music/art event called Burning Man in the Nevada desert. There is no cell coverage there so 2 way radios are the only way to communicate. I was able to place on in my wife's purse and one in our mobile art car. In the past 2 way radios only worked if both people were trying to find each other. With the 530hcx, when separated, I could page out "Poll" my wife and see just where she or our art car were. The party on the other end of the device does not need to have any knowledge as to how it works. I would then walk to where she was on the map, look around and in most cases find her within 25 feet.

The reason I did not give it 5 stars is that the polling feature is buried deep within several levels of menus. It would be nice to make it available on the top level. Many of the features require a day or two of use to become fluid with. Be sure to practice before you need anything in a real life emergency.

I have had this unit for a few months. I should have returned it. First the positive: It is durable, I have dropped it once, and it has flown off my bike twice and still works. The trip manager is very nice. You can choose many different types of information to view and the "big numbers" feature is great for cycling.

Now the negs. I have found the "track back" feature worthless. If you are counting on this to lead you back to camp after getting lost, forget it.

If you use the belt clip, you will likely lose the satellite connection, and you won't get it back unless you reboot (I had to figure this out on my own). Therefore, while hiking, you must carry the unit in your hand or attach it to the top of your backpack (very inconvenient). I agree with the review that states the manual should explain more on how the features could be used. Very poor documentation. The very expensive topo map does not have good trail information at all. It tells you the elevation of the surrounding mountains and shows major waterways but for the money it cost, it should have all established hiking/biking trails. The optional bike adapter is cheaply made and broke under the weight of this unit. I should have just purchased a cycling GPS instead.

I have had this GPS now for about 2 months. Primarily purchased it for use with backpacking although I have now been geocaching with it as well. The screen is easy to see and controls are fairly straightforward. The added radio works well (although to use GMRS, you need a FCC license) and picks up NOAA weather easily. You can create your own topo maps for this GPS, not the easiest to do, but gives you the most freedom. I have loaded a few topos I've made myself into the GPS. Connection to a computer is simple. Battery works well, lasts ~14hours before giving out. I have used the optional alkaline (NiMH) pack and gotten about 10 hours with it. Note that this does not include transmitting on the radio. The really neat option is being able to transmit your position and reading in other RINO positions which I have done.

One drawback is indeed the documentation. You will learn to use it the most just by using it and using the guide as a starting point.

Overall, good GPS with lots of options.

Just received this unit -- arrived quickly from Amazon, as usual. Display is bright, controls simple to use, sensitivity of gps receiver is excellent (I can get reception in my basement, although I have lost signal inside my local, small-town, one-room grocery store). I have an older Garmin which is working fine, but I purchased this one for the added benefit of the radio capability, in case of emergency in wilderness while treking with my 9 and 12 year old daughters.

With a fully charged, brand new rechargable battery as supplied with the unit, I got 40 hours of continuous use. I turned off the radio during all but 1 hour of this time but had the WAAS enabled. During this time, I took it with me while I ran errands, took 2 short day hikes, and went to work, but did not carry it on my person around the home. With 4 brand new, high quality brand name AA batteries (using the separately purchased alkaline battery pack), I got 19 hours of continuous use under similar conditions. After reading Hinch's book on GPS use, I did turn off the WAAS after about 8 hours into this trial. I did not have the radio on at all during the alkaline battery trial, although I did "fiddle" with the pages and settings more often than the rechargable trial (was reading the Hinch book simultaneous with the alkaline trial, so I tried a couple of the tasks in the book during this time).

The base map supplied with the unit provides minimal street information and (as with any map from any source) some inaccuracies. Lists our grade school parking lot as "Black Partridge Park" -- which is actually a very large prairie/forest preserve located just outside of our little town.

Be aware: you cannot load any map onto this unit except those specifically provided/sold by Garmin. To my knowledge, this is true for all gps units; the units with mapping features will only accept those from the manufacturer of the receiver. You can, however, download waypoints generated from other mapping software programs.

Have not tested the radio capability in the wild, but I see others have reported 5 mile range under typical wilderness conditions. The discrepancy between this irl range and the 14 miles listed on specs (which is always the maximum obtainable under totally optimal conditions) is entirely par for 2 way radio range estimates. If you plan to use the GMRS radio frequencies, you will need an FCC license. No training or test required; just an $85 fee. Easy to obtain online.

BTW: highly recommend Stephen Hinch book, Outdoor Navigation With GPS. I've been a basic-feature gps user for several years, but wanted a better understanding of the more advanced features and the jargon.

I upgraded to the 530HCx from the Garmin Etrek Legend for Christmas. I recently started geocaching and wanted the built-in geocaching features of the 530HCx. I have been caching and hiking with it and have found it to meet my needs. We used the radio while hiking to stay in touch with the rest of the group and to listen to the NOAA weather forcast. We were rained on and the water resistant case did it's job. I really like the USB connector versus the old Garmin interface for downloading maps and waypoints from my computer. The menu stick is easy to use for both left and right handed people. Overall I am very pleased I purchased the 530HCx.

Two friends and I discussed purchasing the Rino 530Hcx, friends that spend time hunting, fishing, 4 wheeling and snowmobiling together. The feature of being able to pin down one another's location in relation to our own was the primary reason this unit intrigued us. We commonly lose each other while snowmobiling and the ability to radio each other, locate each other on our respective GPS's seemed to really meet our needs. So Amazon handled the transaction of 4 units(one wife included)and on the first trip out, the Rino worked just as expected, it proved to make a difference. I was concerned about battery life because we are in Alaska and the cold is hard on batteries, but pleasantly surprised at how well the battery held up. Having an older Etrex Vista I was also pleased with how intutive the Rino 530Hcx to operate as well as quick to locate satellites. Already owning a GPS, I was a little hesitant to do the upgrade but the Rino is definitely a vast improvement, so well worth it.

I purchased the 530HCx about two weeks ago to use while deer hunting in East Tennessee. Everyone in our group has GPS and two-way radio to find our way around and communicate when we are in unfamilar territory. I have been searching for a device that will take care of both needs, without having to handle two seperate pieces of equipment, and the 530HCx has worked flawlessly so far.

The satellite positioning seems to be right on and positioning after start-up was quick. I used the unit to mark several deer trails, rub lines, and possible stand placements and I was able to return to those areas very easily. I used the averaging feature to fine tune the locations and was able to get within 5-7 feet of everything I marked.

Everyone in the group said that radio transmission was crystal clear, they could hear my transmissions better than anyone elses. Don't get me wrong the Garmin in definetly a GPS first and radio second but I was very pleased with its two-way capabilities. It performed as well, if not better, than the midlands and motorolas in the group.

I also invested in TOPO US 2008 to install on the unit. I wasn't that impressed with the TOPO map but area detail is alot better than the basemap. We make several trips to Fort Campbell every year and all roads, creeks, and even fire

Garmin has delivered a well rendered product that simplifies communication, GPS and coordination of movement with the 530 HCx. I was looking for a combo unit for sometime for Hunting, kayaking and hiking that would enable me to stay in contact with other memebrs of my party, exploit GPS land nav and keep tabs on my travelling companion's position. Boy did this field test well. Easy to use and intuitive, out of the box I field tested it Kayaking and hiking; worked fine though would have liked more battery life, the radio reception was excellent but found range approx 2 miles max on line-of-sight but otherwise held up well. GPS was outstanding - had no problems with uploading topos, using the various mapping features and found the compass and altimeter were very precise. An excellent and handy product -wish I had this 20+ years ago in the USMC.