Posts Tagged ‘Garmin GPSMAP 60’
What You can Expect From The GPSMAP 60CSx
The Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx is a great mid-range, hand-held site navigation device. It’s a little heavier than the cheapest or most expensive Garmins, but it still floats, if need be. It comes with a 128 microSD card and is geocaching/game friendly. Compared to your bare bones GPS, you’ll get a barometric altimeter, an electronic compass, turn-by-turn directions, tide tables, a high-sensitivity receiver, which will give you reception even in those remote areas, and custom points of interest.
The Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx retails around $535.70, but can be found for as low as $191.50 at www.bestpriceaudiovideo.com or $339 at www.zappos.com. Compared to the $249 Garmin GPSMAP 60, this upgraded version comes with three important new features. First, the new SiRFSTARIII chip set has received wide acclaim for its ability to beam signals under canopies, around buildings, down into canyons and in typically hard-to-reach places. Secondly, this new Garmin model has traded in the dated internal memory system for a microSD card slot that can be upgraded instead, giving you unlimited storage capacity and the ability to use any new map software that comes out. Thirdly, the 60CSx comes with an electronic compass and barometric altimeter that the GPSMap 60CS doesn’t even have.
There are many pros to the GPSMAP 60 CSx, when compared with its predecessors. From the moment you turn it on, you’ll notice that a perfect reading is available in less than a minute; within three minutes, all bars will be reporting from 10 satellites with an accuracy of 10 feet, which is impressive as far as GPS devices go. Even in hard-to-reach areas like basements, the accuracy is reported with 3-6 satellites and within 46 feet. The older model Garmin GPSMAP 60cs would normally get zero to one satellite readings at the same location. In cities and urban canyons, old GPSMap 60s had jumpy readings and sometimes even lost the signals entirely. However, the new and improved GPSMAP 60CSx boasts 7-8 stable satellites in the same spot with an accuracy of 20 feet. Perhaps this is why so many geocachers like using this GPS site navigation to find their hidden treasures.
There aren’t many glitches or problems associated with the GPSMAP 60CSx, but as with any technical gadget, you may occasionally run into something. A few times, your GPS navigation system won’t reach a fix within a few seconds, so you’ll need to turn it off and back on again to reset. Additionally, even though you save the same amount of points in your track log, the newer model will use more memory for some reason. There was an early altimeter bug that has since been fixed with firmware version 2.7. Sometimes the “find by name” in the points of interest doesn’t work either. Even so, Garmin has been working on improvements and the 60CSx is still one of the most highly rated GPS devices you can buy.
The GPSMAP 60 Navigation System
The slogan for the GPSMAP 60 is “Making it easy to navigate the great outdoors.” This affordable GPS navigation system is ideal for the occasional hike, sailboat ride or hunting trip. The long battery life, its quick reception and durability make this choice a winner for new users who want to try out the system without dropping $600. Drivers will probably prefer the Nuvi series, which features more detailed maps, voice activated turn-by-turn directions and over 6 million points of interest. Avid hikers may prefer the Oregon 300 or 400 series. However, for just a versatile, all-around decent device, the Garmin GPSMAP 60 is a sensible choice.
The 60 is perfect for beginner navigators or those who need a reliable GPS navigation device while wandering around the woods or waters. The built-in base map and 24 MB of internal memory will store basic marine, topography and city street information. It is waterproof for marine adventures and provides turn-by-turn automatic routing capabilities for road warriors. Hunters and fishers like the alarm clock, sunrise/sunset time, moon phase table and optimal hunting/fishing time features. With 28 hours of battery life, this device is a reliable and affordable companion for outdoor adventures.
There are many pros to the GPSMAP 60. Since this GPS navigation system uses Wide Area Augmentation System technology, the margin of error is 3 meters or less, which is fairly precise. Adding new programs and maps, storing trips and automatically recording waypoints or trails is easy with the computer-like interface too. The unit is waterproof, making it suitable for water travel and rainy hikes. Lastly, the affordable price (less than $200) is a draw for many outdoor adventurers! On the downside, the display screen is only 2.6″ and there is only gray-scale graphics with the old style receiver, which works best in open areas. For hikers traversing deep canyons, urban areas or dense forests, the high-sensitivity receivers are preferable for more reliability.
The www.amazon.com editors gave the GPSMAP 60 full marks, arguing that the GPS navigation system “offers a high-contrast, four-level grayscale LCD (160 x 240 pixels) with backlighting for the display and the keypad. A large-numbers option provides easy viewing. You get 1,000 user waypoints with name and graphic symbols and 20 reversible routes. A handy trip computer provides an odometer, stopped time, moving average, overall average, total time, max speed and more. The unit also comes with a 10,000-point automatic track log, and 20 saved tracks (500 points each), which will let you retrace your path in both directions.”