GPS Devices Life

Garmin 60cx note worthy consumer gps. - Garmin GPSMAP 60Cx Handheld GPS Receiver With the introduction of the "x" (with the siRFIII chipset)map series gps and expandable memory. I own both the Ga...

Garmin GPSMAP® 60CS Handheld GPS Receiver Product b000189w8m Key FeaturesDesignationMarineForm FactorHandheldMap capabiliti...

This is a great little GPS (Global Positioning System) unit and we still continue to be impressed with how much it does. We have owned the unit for about 4 months and still cannot be happier with the purchase. Our main motivation for getting a GPS unit was for car navigation but it was also important us to be able to use it hiking, walking and in more then one car. Factory GPS systems are nice but being limited to the car they are built into and the cost they were not for us. The unit performs better then we expected.

Features:

-56 megs of built in memory, not expandable but a reasonable amount.

-256 color display that is easily readable day or dark of night (with back light on). (1.5″ W x 2.2″ H; 2.6″ diagonally)

-Compass and altimeter. The 60C is the same model without the compass and altimeter.

-USB connection with cable included. Allows downloads and uploads of maps, route and waypoints.

-Claimed 20 hours battery life on 2 AA batteries.

-Waterproof, can be submerged in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes. (I have not tried this but good to know.)

-Include lanyard and belt clip.

Details on Features:

This section could go on forever but I will cover the features we use and know well.

-AutoNavigation/Mapping-The unit itself comes with basemaps of the major roadways in North America. We added to the GPS the MapSource City Select software (sold seperately) which gives you the ability to add amazing amounts of detail to the built in base maps. With the included USB cable and the City Select CDs you can add more detailed information such as local roads, restaurants, gas station, attractions and lots of other information. Once you have loaded in the regions you are interested in you can search for pretty much any place and this unit will tell you how to get there from where you currently are. You can find the destination in many ways including by address, by name or selecting from categories. Once in the menus you have entered where you want to go, simply tell the unit to Go There and tell it by road (if in your car) or straight line (if on foot). We have used the unit mostly in the car so we almost always choose by road. The unit provides you with amazing amount of information and multiple pages about your trip. The two screens we pay the most attention to while we are driving is a top down map and the step by step driving instructions. The GPS will then direct you through each step to your destination. Whenever an intersection or change in direction is needed the GPS will beep and show a zoomed in view of the intersection that you need to take action at. If you miss your turn the GPS will offer you the option to recalculate which will take you another route or you can just turn around and get back on the original route. The GPS may not choose the most optimal routes that a person well experienced about an area may choose but it always at least provides a reasonable option. We have always been able to find our destination using the GPS. There is so much to this feature I could write about it for hours. If there are additional questions or interest, leave a comment and I can add more.

-Waypoints-The GPS allows you to create something called Waypoints. These are fairly exact points on a map that you want to save for a particular reason. These waypoints can be campgrounds, your house, points of interest or whatever. The great thing about waypoints is you can store where you started and then when you get to your destination ask the GPS to take you back to that waypoint. This feature comes in handy for many different uses besides what I have listed here.

-Detailed Trip Information-The GPS can display lots of information about your current voyage. You can find out information such as current speed, average speed, max speed, a trip odometer, current elevation, compass direction and others selectable values. The GPS allows you to turn on the fields you choose to display so you can look at the ones you are interested in and don’t clutter the screen with stuff you don’t care about.

-”Breadcrumb” Trail-This is a very handy feature if you are off hiking and want to make sure to retrace your steps back to where you started. The unit will periodically store a series of points which you can see on map as you go. You can then have the unit retrace the steps for you or just tell it to store the route if you would live to use it later.

Likes:

-Very readable in a variety of light, bright, sharp, and colorful screen.

-Amazing amount of features in a unit so small and portable.

-Garmin is adding downloads for the ROMs frequently that update and add features to the GPS.

-Wonderful auto navigation mode.

-Good collection of accessories allowing you to use this unit in a variety of ways.

-Does a great job of holding the satellite signal.

-Good on battery life.

Dislikes:

-The manual is very limited it tells you only the basics, it tells you where to find them in the unit but not much explanation of how they work of what they are good for.

-This unit costs a fair amount of money. Not a quick easy decision to purchase but relative to the competitors a lot of GPS for not much money.

-Some will find the screen small for use in auto navigation. I agree a bigger screen would be nice but it works well enough and I can easily read what I need to read. Keeping in mind that this unit is also portable I find the smaller screen reasonable. If you plan to ONLY auto navigate there are more expensive units will bigger screens only suitable for car use.

-Cost of some accessories are pricey.

-Not Mac Compatible.

Couple of Notes:

If you truly plan to use this GPS for auto navigation I highly recommend getting “Auto Navigation Kit - North America”. This kit includes a variety of mounts for the car, a car power adapter, and most importantly the City Select North America CD that gives you all the detail that you will want.

The difference between the 60cs and 60c is the compass and the altimeter. No where could I find a good explanation of the difference when I was shopping. Here is the difference you will see. With either model they do not need a compass to determine direction if you are moving(speed above 2mph is good enough) it can tell you the direction you are heading. Unless you plan on moving very slow or staying still and needing a heading you can live without the compass and save money. Since the 60c does not have a compass built in, it also is a little better on batteries.

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