Hey Expatriate,
I bought the 800 this year and am really happy with it. I ranged 504 on a non-reflective target. That is the furthest I have gotten a read.

I am really interested in the new Leupold rangefinders with the settings to adjust to inclination. Man would that be nice on a sheep or goat hunt!

Overall, I am happy with the 800, especially the small size as you mentioned.

Yes, I saw the Leupolds, too. I shopped around a lot before I committed, and it seems the common thread with these things is that the manufacturer will throw a number out there, but when you get into the fine print you'll find that number is only good for a reflective target. The non-reflective target, which is what you're actually interested in (until some scientist develops Scotchlite deer), is generally much lower.

I was looking at the Bushnell Legend as well, which was in the same price range. It was a little bigger, but promised to be floatable, which is appealing up here. However, it was obvious that the Nikon had better optics. When ranging various targets around the store I noticed that I was getting internal reflections from the lights in the Bushnell -- obviously cheaper coating on the lenses. Nikon didn't hedge as much on the reflective/non-reflective issue, either.

What I'd really like to see someday would be a good set of binos with a built in rangefinder that would give distance and bearing, and even project GPS coordinates for the target. I believe the Air Force has them now for air controllers in combat -- they can squirt a target, get GPS coordinates, and feed it to a bomber to load into a JDAM. In no-time you've got a GPS-guided bomb on its way to the bad guys. The technology's there, but it just needs to get light enough and cheap enough for us mortals.

I'm sure all you asked for is coming folks.

I just wanted to remind you guys to take the batteries out at the end of the season, or when you are going to put it away for awhile. If you don't you may be sorry, and they ain't cheap!

I'm talking from experience here. What a mess! Luckily I was able to clean mine up and use it, but what a scare. ,)

Are you talking about the lithium battery in the Nikon?