Garmin GPSMAP 60CSX gps

[CHRIS]

I am looking at this gps unit http://www.rei.com/product/735607#ReviewHeader and I was wondering if anybody has any experinces with it? Is it easy to use after you get used to it? I know I would have to buy a topo disc but does that show the trails? I have never used one and I have the opportunity to purchase one and there is alot of great feedbacks on this unit on the REI web site. If anybody has any other gps unit they have had good luck with please feel free to jump in.
Happy Hiking
Chris

[BlueDog]

It's a rock solid unit. My folks have one that they use for geocaching. Dad's a little bit of a gadget nut, but nearly as much as I am, but he's enjoying figuring it out. (Plus Geocaching.com and Garmin have a nice hook up to send caches directly from the site to your Garmin.)

I originally bought one of the new Magellan Tritons when they first came out. The firmware was full of so many bugs it wasn't funny. The trip between my home and office is 35 miles. The Magellan was so far off it would tell me its 115 miles.

I ended up trading it in for the new Garmin Colorado 400t. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this GPSr! It comes with the Topo maps already installed, streets are in it as well. It has the newest chipset in it for better reception. I've taken it out several time in the last few weeks to Shenandoah National Park and did some backcountry hiking under heavy tree cover and has full satelite lock the entire time.

If you can afford the extra $200, I highly recommend getting the Colorado 400t (figure you won't have to buy the topo, so its less). Otherwise, the 60csx is still a good unit and should serve you well.

[spyboy]

I was probably the first person in New England with a Colorado 400t when it was exclusive to REI.

I returned it 2 days later.

The TFT screen is horrible in sunlight, and one feature I was really looking forward to (that my old eTrex Legend had) that the Colorado is lacking is NMEA live data feeds. I spoke with senior tech support at Garmin 3 different times. Nobody knew if it had it. They didn't even know the Colorado could partner up to a heart rate monitor (I test that with the heart rate strap from my Forerunner 305, and it worked).

the NMEA data was the clincher for me, because my camera can have a usb gps hooked to it, and geocode the lat/long into the EXIF.

I ended up swapping for the GPSMap 60 CSx and it does everything I wanted, at 1/2 the price.

If Garmin ever fixes the NMEA feed, I'd gladly go back to the Colorado (after they fix the screen issue). I thought the Colorado was a great gps, although it was pricey. It just didn't meet all the criteria I was looking for.

It might be perfect for you though, if I didn't need NMEA feeds, I would have kept it.

BTW: Colorado 400 series & GPSMap 60CSx both use the Sirf III chipset I believe, so they're much more accurate, my 60CSx was reading accuracy of 9 feet today while kayaking in Meredith)

(slightly off topic..) I changed up my Garmin C330 car gps for a Nuvi 750, because the Nuvi has a wide screen and can export the track data (so after driving around all day, I can see where I was). Yes, I'm a data geek...

I'm definitely a fan of Garmin having had..

1) eTrex Legend (still have it)
2) C330 (car gps)
3) Forerunner 305 (for hiking/running, logs gps data and heart rate)
4) Colorado 400t (for 2 days)
5) GPSMap 60 CSx (for geocoding, hiking, kayaking, etc)
6) Nuvi 750 (car gps with data export capabilities)

Kirk

[Brad]

You are more than a data geek. You are a pure geek all the way.

I have also called you the Toy Man.

[CHRIS]

Thanks for the replies guys. Now I need to try to figure out which one to buy. I want to buy a good one first rather than buy one then wish I had bought a better one later. I am still leaning towards the 60 csx do to I have not read to many good feedbacks on the colorado 400t. Just a couple of questions thou hopefully this won't make me look like a dah but what is the nmea feed? Also on the topo maps does it actually show the trails? Sorry if the questions are a little stupid but never owned one.
Happy Hiking
Chris

[billysinc]

I recently picked up this unit

http://www.rei.com/product/769532

It's the Garmin eTrex Vista HCx bundled with a memory card, case, and software. Same chipset as the one you're looking at. When I was shopping around I wanted a unit that held the satellite signal in heavy cover but wasn't too outrageously priced. Which kind of narrowed the choices down to the Vista, the 60CSX, and the Delorme. When I went into my local REI down here in Cranston they had the bundle I linked to on sale for $249 which enabled me to also purchase an additional mapset of the Eastern national parks and still come out under the $399 price tag of the Delorme and 60CSX. I used it recently to bushwack during a hike to Owls Head and it never lost the signal and the woods North of Black Pond are pretty thick.

I was just in the REI Cranston last week and they still had the bundle for $249. Maybe check your local REI to see if they have the same deal.

[spyboy]

The GPSMap 60 CSx goes for about $280 online.

What I like about this one vs the Vista/Trex series, is there are more buttons on the face, so you can get to the menus faster. It has the most important button on the face too..."mark" which instantly drops a point where you are, vs digging through a few menus. Great for when you're hiking and want to tag a split in the trail (so later you can reverse direction and just hike to the next point and work your way home).

It takes memory cards, so you can load it up. I put in a Sandisk 2gb card (I'm not sure if you can go higher than that).

You then work from the MapSource software on the pc, to select your maps/zones to load up onto it.

One thing that's semi annoying, is everytime you want to load more maps to the unit, it gets rid of the old maps (my eTrex did this too, so many it's how the MapSource software is written).

It's annoying because even on USB 2.0 it can take a while to load up all the data.

I have multiple map sets on mine, and can toggle which ones are visible.

I have the following Garmin maps (I got the DVD's to load up, instead of the memory cards, because the memory card slot is so small, it uses those Micro SD cards, you really don't want to be swapping those, you'll lose them)

- Topo 2008
- US Topo 24K National Parks East
- U.S. Inland Lakes

3rd Party Maps:
SnowRanger Northeast
http://www.mountaindynamics.com/en/setinfo.php?id=64
(11 ski resort trail maps)

Since most of my trips are in NH, I just loaded all of the data for NH from all map sets.

With the MapSource app, you can select the areas of the map you are interested in copying to the unit, and it shows a queue and how much space it will take, you repeat this for each map set you want to load.

Kirk

[CHRIS]

I just found the 60csx @ the walmart web site for $310.00 for the bundle (cover) and the 08 topo map disc is $79.00. I am going to keep searching the web to see if I can find any cheaper.The etrex vista also has a nice price. I looked at the colorado 400t but if it had some what good feedback I would think of spending the money but so far not to good. I don't want to take a chance.
Chris

[spyboy]

I've used http://www.megagps.com/ many times before, they're usually fast on shipping stuff.

Of course, if you're trying to get it for the weekend, you have to weigh overnight shipping vs the higher price in the store (at least in NH there's no sales tax!)

Kirk

[CHRIS]

Well just ordered the Garmin 60csx from walmart and I should have it next week it all came out to $424.03 thats the gps,case,topo map and tax + frt. I called Rei in Hingham but they still wanted $399.00 just for gps so I guess I did alright . I thank you for your link Spyboy but they wanted $319.00 plus. Now all have to do is figure out how to use it when it gets here next week. Thanks everybody for all your help.