Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx Handheld GPS Navigator
by Garmin
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx Handheld GPS Navigator
Customer Review: A very fine piece of equipment!
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased my Garmin GPSmap 60CSx in June 2006 from Amazon, because they had the best price available ($100 less than any place else I could find). I also purchased and installed Garmin MapSource USA Topo software on my 60CSx. I recently returned from a 10 day canoe trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which is in northern Minnesota adjacent to the US-Canada border. I paddled and portaged over 100 miles, and used my Garmin GPSmap 60CSx throughout the trip. It performed flawlessly! Some particulars:
- I used the tracking feature to keep an exact record of where I went. I set the sampling frequency to "least often" so as to not fill up the unit's internal memory with track data. This unit begins overwriting the existing track data once memory is full, so I wanted to avoid this. Despite sample frequency being set to "least often" the unit still kept an incredibly detailed record of my track. What's more, at the end of the trip I had only used 45% on the unit's internal memory!
- I purchased a 1GB microSD card for my unit, so that I could load as many topo maps as possible. Interestingly, I found that Garmin's MapSource Topo software limits the number of maps you can load onto the unit's removable memory. As a result, I was up against the map limit number long before I was up against the 1 GB limit. I understand that Garmin may be working on a fix to correct this limitation. I'm sure this was no problem for Garmin until the recent arrival of 1 GB cards.
- My GPSmap 60CSx was water resistant as advertised. Mine got wet regularly as we paddled, and on a few days when it rained. I kept right on using it, with no ill effects at all.
- Advertised battery life is 20 hours on 2 AA batteries. I purchase a set of 8 Energizer 2500mA NiMH rechargable batteries for less than $10 at Wal Mart. I ensured that all 8 were fully charged before I left, so I had 2 fresh batteries in the unit and 6 spares. I returned home with one set of spare batteries completely unused! I found that a set of batteries lasted 3-4 days on the water, using the unit 8-10 hours each day. I guess Garmin's 20 hour battery life estimate assumes standard AA batteries. (Note: If you use rechargable NiMH batteries - and you should - be sure to go into the settings menu of your unit and set it for NiMH, because the factory default is Alkaline.)
- I recommend you purchase a Garmin carrying case to protect the screen from scratches while using it in a wilderness area.
- I found the SIRF chip in this unit to be very sensitive. It readily tracked several satellites - even under dense forest cover. When we were portaging I put my 60CSx inside a zipped up daypack, and it still maintained a solid track. Very impressive!
In summary, I found this unit to live up to all of Garmin's advertised capabilities, and in some cases (i.e., battery life) even exceed their advertised performance. I am very pleased with this purchase, and I highly recommend the 60CSx for hiking, camping, biking, canoeing, or boating.
Customer Review: Best GPS in the entire world!!! And space too!
Summary: 5 Stars
OK, OK, I'm not going to talk about all the incredible features with this GPS. The last 300 or so reviews did that plenty. I am only going to talk about the last week and what I went through trying to find the "Pefect" GPS for me. I have been using a Magelleon Meridium Platnium for 6 years. It has been a wonderful GPS, but it is time to upgrade and get up to date features. Perhaps I can save someone some time and frustration. Over the past six days, I have bought and returned 4 seperate GPS units, a Magelleon 2000 Triton, a Garmin Colorado, a Bushnell Onix 400 and a Delorme PN20. The Magelleon locked-up for good after two minutes, done, kapoot. The Delorme had cool maps and aerial imagry, but the "area calculation" feature that they advertise, (and that I need for work) is not usable on the unit, in the field. It does me no good to require a laptop computer and tons of software to do something a handheld GPS should be able to do alone. Also, the buttons felt a bit cheap on the Delorme. The Garmin Colorado 400T looked and felt cool, and the wheel was a novel idea, but several things cause a return as well. First, the screen was dark, so much so that even on full brightness, I kept trying to turn it up even more. Second, the data entry was a PAIN. The wheel is used for all character entry, it is very time consuming. Next..after doing the area calculation, it initially gave an "acre" reading, but as soon as you log it and put it in memory, it diverts ONLY to square feet after you recal it. Although I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, I still can't convert 176,000 square feet to acres in my head! Why they did this is beyond me. A third and "Nail in the coffin" for the 400T was the fact that I could NEVER get the Garmin site to recognize the GPS while registering. This step is required to download Geocaches. I hit a wall and couldn't get over it. The Bushnell 400 box was cool and intriging, and the discounted price was unbelievable, (I know why now). The price tag said 499, on sale for 199! WOW, well, heck, I'll give it a try. Worthless piece of junk. No maps, and impossible to download. The website was 100% unservicable. I couldn't even get the curser to move on it. NOTHING worked right on this hunk a junk. After coming back to REI again, (thank goodness for the return policy) an astute (and cute) female worker advised me about the Garmin Mapgps 60csx. I had never looked at this model before. Not really sure why, but it had never really caugh my eye. It was marked $399, but to my suprise, today only (Memorial Day sale) it was $299. NICE! (Thanks REI!) So I picked up the unit and the US TOPO DVD ($100). Without going into massive detail, all I will say is that the computer interface and Topo map loading went very well. Very easy to load maps. I bought a 512 MB micro SD card and I can put over a quarter of the US Topos on this card. I love this GPS, it doeas everything I need it to do and even more!!!!!! BEST GPS AROUND!!!Customer Review: Great unit, but do your homework!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is without a doubt the best handheld GPS unit on the market today. The SIRF III chipset is far more sensitive that other receivers. I started with a Garmin eTrex Vista unit that was very good, but it lost its signal lock under almost any forest canopy, and in any deep canyon. That's why I upgraded to the 60 Csx. It gets far better reception in the woods, which is important for hiking and geocaching.
Be aware, though, that the unit does not come with maps! There is a built-in base map, but its usefullness is limited. You will need to buy Garmin maps to use the unit. There are two types of maps; street maps and topo maps. For hiking and geocaching, you will want to use topo maps. I recommend the 1:100K set, which covers the entire US. For National Park hiking, get the 1:24K National Parks set. The 1:24K maps show hiking trails, but the 1:100K sets do not. These are primarily topographical maps, not trail maps.
Keep in mind that only Garmin's map products can be downloaded to the 60 Csx. You can't download other digital maps (such as those from topozone.com or National Geographic)to the unit. That's true of all Garmin units and, as far as I know, all other recreational GPS manufacturers take the same approach--their units take only their maps. That means you are locking yourself into a brand when you purchase a unit.
That's not a problem if you do your homework. So, before you buy, go to the Garmin site and check out their maps to determine whether they have the detail you expect. Then price the sets you want, and add them to the cost of the GPS unit. *That's* the total cost of your GPS. If you don't want to get locked in to proprietary map sets, then don't buy the GPS unit!
As to the street maps, I don't recommend them. The 60 Csx is a great open country navigator, but it's not a very good automobile navigator. For one thing, it doesn't provide voice directions. For another thing, I think the screen is too small. Garmin street maps ave very pricey, and I understand that most (if not all) are 'locked' to a specific GPS unit (that's not true of the topo maps). So, if you upgrade your hardware, you may need to purchase the same set of maps again! If you want automobile navigation, I'd recommend getting a dedicated unit with its own built-in maps.
In short, the Garmin 60 Csx is the best unit available for hiking, off-road biking, and geocaching. You can expect about six meter accuracy under most conditions, which is very good for a recreational GPS unit. Anyone who claims better accuracy than that is pulling your leg--that much error is inherent in the GPS system.
So, if your need is for hiking or geocaching (like me) or off-road biking (like other reviewers), you will be very pleased with the Garmin 60 Csx, so long as you understand what you are buying when you make your purchase. As far as I can tell, the negative reviewers simply failed to do that. Happy hiking and caching!
Customer Review: Best reception available
Summary: 5 Stars
The SiRF chipset in this unit is amazing. When I first saw the 60csx in person, it was in the middle of a giant warehouse-type store, and it *had reception*. No other unit can get as strong a signal indoors, under trees, inside my backpack, etc., as this one can. (Of course it still won't work in the middle of a windowless room, for example -- it isn't magic!) That alone was what sold me about it. Everything else works as all the other reviewers have described -- the software is very intuitive, and the compass and altimeter work great.
My one complaint is that the SiRF receiver is *so* sensitive that when indoors, it can pick up a poor signal that yields relatively inaccurate position data. That means your track log will "jump" around all over the place. I hope that Garmin will provide better filtering to detect when the unit is not in motion in the future, but for now this is an acceptable compromise since it's better to have slightly inaccurate location info (within 50 meters instead of 5 like you get outdoors) than none at all.
There's one important note I'd like to make about the future expandability of this product. In regard to B. Goodman "Coaster"'s review which stated that you can't save tracks, waypoints, routes, etc., to the microSD card, Garmin has apparently made steps to remedy that problem, at least with regard to tracks. Firmware version 2.71 (which is currently Beta, so I wouldn't recommend installing it just yet -- and please note that Garmin might very well change what I describe here in the future) supports saving tracks to the microSD storage! Presumably this will give you an effectively unlimited track log. I've tested this new feature, and the way it currently works is that it saves a duplicate copy of the "active log" to the microSD card. This lets you periodically erase the "real" active track log, while keeping the backup which you can view later on your computer. This is perfect for long trips when you don't want to carry your laptop. The tracks are saved in standard GPX format, and even include time and elevation data (unlike the normal "saved" tracks that you can save and view on the receiver itself).
The new 2.71 (Beta) firmware also enables a USB Mass Storage interface, so you can view the files on the microSD card directly, which will let you easily upload third-party maps (not very high-quality, but available from sites like mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com). You can also use this to retrieve the saved track logs. And you can do this even from a *Macintosh*! This proves that Garmin is committed to providing OS-X support by the end of this year, and also that they're committed to providing continued support for their current (and older) products, rather than saving all the new features only for new products.
Customer Review: It's the "gold standard" for a reason
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the best GPS unit I've ever owned, and I've owned a few over the years starting back in 1994 with the Magellan Trailblazer. Last year I decided to step up to a mapping unit with the Magellan Triton 500. It was a piece of garbage. The compass spun around like I was in the Bermuda Triangle. That and the fact that it kept crashing and giving me the Windows screen of death. Total garbage for an instrument that is supposed to help keep you alive in the great outdoors.
I went back to using a Garmin GPS III. It didn't crash but it was a bit rudimentary compared to the color mapping units.
Last week I decided to invest in the Garmin 60CSx. I received it in the mail this morning and it works great! I've already downloaded free topo and street maps for my state ([...]) and installed it in the unit on the included 256 MB card via the Mac software that was free from their web site. I've also loaded about 20 geocaches via one click of a button while the unit was plugged into my MacBook connected to the internet. I've also laid out our favorite hiking route in the beautiful Opal Creek Wilderness.
This unit is amazing! (and no spinning compass, it's locked in true). It's a bit foreboding at first because it's got a lot going on in it, but once you get the hang of it, it's intuitive. Within two hours of opening the box, I installed full topo maps and street maps and it loaded with no worries.
This is well worth the money. I'll never buy another Magellan product. There is no question about it. If you disagree, you've never used the two side by side. This is the best unit hands down.
The reception is amazing also. I'm getting 11 satellites all with WAAS and I'm sitting downstairs in our home in a valley surrounded by huge trees and forest here in Oregon. I can't imagine any better reception and I've used a lot of units. It starts up and locks on to our position in under 5 seconds. Amazing!
The unit has been on since I put the batteries in this morning at 11AM. Now it's 9:30PM and there still 3/4 remaining on the batteries which weren't new when I installed them (I needed batteries so I took the ones out of one of my 3 year olds RC remote control).
We're Oregon guides and we've never depended on anything other than maps, a compass and our knowledge base. Now I feel confident adding this to our gear to assist with navigation. Remember a GPS is not a replacement to a map and compass and knowing how to use them.
This unit is well worth the price. There's a reason this is the unit all others are measured to!