Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx Handheld GPS Navigator
by Garmin
|
List Price: Our Price: $369.99 You Save: $166.00 (31%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $320.00 (click here) Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx Handheld GPS Navigator
Customer Review: Garmin 60CS upgraded to the 60CSx
Summary: 5 Stars
I took the plunge and upgraded to the 60CSx when my long time travel parter, the 60CS was stolen from my vehicle. I had a few complaints about the 60CS, but only complaints that you would have after owning it for a long time.
I didn't like the ease in which it lost satellites in big cities or in dense canopy. Acquisition seemed like it took a bit too long sometimes and when you need the GPS, and it has to reacquire, it can be very frustrating when it is slow.
I also hated being limited to 54mb of memory. I could fill that in no time and had to take a laptop with me to download the next set of maps if I was taking a decent road trip. It was annoying.
Finally, the unit was glitchy in it's later years. Mine would freeze every once in a while and the only way to solve it was to turn the unit off and then turn it back on. Of course doing this lost all of your current trip averages and all the counters would start over. this would also start your trip to a waypoint from where you are standing, not from where you started, so I lost all the miles I had traveled too.
The 60CSx, which I have owned for a total of two days now, is incredible. The boot time is much faster, as is the acquisition of satellites from my armchair in my house (where I unpacked the box and powered it on for the first time). I bought with it a Kingston 4GB micro SDHD card and downloaded my old maps to it. I chose this size of chip because I called a Garmin rep and he told me the larger, newer maps can press closer to 4GB. So, with the cards being under ten bucks, I went for it.
Uploading the maps took hours, literally. I went to bed when it said I had 3 hours left of loading and I had already spent the past hour setting the CSx up the way I like it to operate. But, I now have all of North America on the chip and didn't have to buy a new set of maps. The upload time from PC to the unit seems the same...slow. All future map upgrades will be bought on the microchip from Garmin.
The maps work like a charm. I am driving from Florida to NC next weekend and it routed the trip for me in moments. It is so much faster than the old 60CS.
Acquiring satellites is really fast, it holds the lock even indoors and the computing in the unit is so much faster than the old model. The time it took me to produce directions to NC was about as fast as the old unit would take to produce short two hour drives or recalculations if I missed a turn.
All in all, I am very pleased. It looks and feels like my old unit, but with a tune up. I highly recommend this model.
Customer Review: Great all-around GPS
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently upgraded to the GPSMAP 60CSx from the 60CS. I've had a chance to run the "x" through its paces and am very happy. The reception is excellent-- manifest in very fast time to initial position and good tracking under tree cover, amongst tall buildings, inside some buildings!, and from within a backpack or pocket.
I use the unit (as I did its predecessor) for auto-mapping when I travel and also for outdoor fun. In the spirit of full disclosure, I own and use the Garmin TOPO and City Navigator North America software (about $100 each).
Auto-Mapping:
I never travel to a new city without the 60CSx loaded with the appropriate City Navigator data. Finding hotels, appointments, dining, airports is now an absolute breeze. Unlike the StreetPilot units, the 60CSx doesn't provide voice feedback and the interface takes a little practice--but these are small concessions when you consider the handheld flexibility of the 60csx. The automatic route calculation works well and provides very good guidance at the point of turns, etc. The CS could hold data for 2-3 destination cities-- but I can load destination data for everything west of the Mississippi onto one 512mb chip in the CSx. Pre-load 3 chips and you'll have the full US. This increased storage capacity and flexibility was the feature that motivated my upgrade.
Outdoor Fun:
With the help of the Topo software and some USGS quadrangles, I've had great success plotting waypoints and creating routes on backpacking and hiking trails. I typically do all of the plotting on the PC and upload the data to the GPS--it is a great comfort to have the route and waypoints in-hand as you explore new areas. On a recent cold weather bacpacking trip, the CSx kept my position locked under dense foliage while the unit was in my breast pocket-- under similar conditions the CS reception would have been spotty (but still useful). It is amazingly fun to return from a hike and upload your track (electronic breadcrumbs) to the PC and then view the data in GoogleEarth.
I think the CSx has slightly poorer battery life than the CS. Hours of battery life varies widely with conditions--my current pair of Energizers have sustained the unit through about 10 hours of cold weather hiking (hard on batteries) and another 3-4 hours of auto-navigation. The battery level navigator is down to a single bar and I'm going to replace them before the next trip.
I heartily recommend this unit for the all-around user--it's not often you get a toy that is so much fun while still being useful.
Customer Review: This is an ideal GPS for outdoors.
Summary: 5 Stars
I realize that this basically a last generation GPS, it doesn't have a 3D display or a camera with geotagging. However, I cannot recommend this GPS enough.
I got it primarily for hiking and mountain biking, twice having found myself off a trail and lost in unfamiliar woods. So last year I loaded my 60Cx I've been on many regional mountain biking trips in unfamiliar woods armed with this GPS and the topographical maps and set out. The quality of the device is apparent the first time you use it. It doesn't have a colored 3d display, but it does have all of the land relief and contour information at your finger tips. It's very easy to see what kind of a climb you have in front of you when you're holding this thing. It breadcrumbs your route as well, so you can see real easily how to backtrack if you get lost. Mark landmarks or trailheads, and have it route you back to them later.
It's constructed very ruggedly. It waterproof and shock resistant. It's been over the handlebars with me quite a few times and it has never even received a scratch. I bought a plastic protective case for it, but I don't think it even needed it. It also goes out in the rain with me a lot. Never had an issue.
Another thing that this product has going for it is a large installed user base who are obsessive about mapping. It's not difficult to find someone who has mapped the trails of any excursion you plan to take. Those tracks are readily available a click away on the internet.
Another great feature this GPS has is one that's going by the wayside these days: It uses standard AA batteries instead of a proprietary rechargable battery. Think about it, if you're off several days into the woods, and it dies, are you going to be able to find an outlet or computer to plug it in to? You're much better off with standard AA batteries in that case. And the battery life is excellent anyway. I will change them once a summer, after taking several weekly day trips.
Note to buyers: This product only comes with what is called "base maps," which aren't good for road or trail.
You do have to buy to external products to get the most use out of it. You'll need to buy Garmin's topographical map set to get the off road benefits, and you'll need to buy City Navigator if you plan to use it for driving. Those can cost upwards of $100 each if you buy the entire US. Approx $50 if you buy individuals regions. Factor that into the cost of the device.
Customer Review: FANTASTIC Device, But Be Prepared to Buy Map Chip
Summary: 5 Stars
Shortly after I bought this (before it arrived) I began to suffer buyer's remorse; I started thinking this was just an expensive toy and a waste of money. But after receiving it [and the North American detailed street maps chip (another $160)] I don't regret a single penny spent.
It's great for mapping (showing a route, down to the foot, you've taken) so you can backtrack and not get lost while hiking. And, with the North American street maps microSD Data card, I travel to new destinations stress-free now. With the detailed street map chip, it gives driving directions as well as any automotive gps with the exception that the 60CSx doesn't give voiced instructions and, of course, the screen is smaller. And it'll show all the restaurants (or gas stations, atms, etc) near my location and sorts them according to distance. This comes in handy when you're in an unfamiliar area and need a Starbucks STAT. I know, this is starting to be a review of the Maps microSD Data chip/card, but I think anyone buying this unit should definitely invest in the extra chip, too. Doing so makes the unit many times more useful.
Regarding battery usage, it has accomodations for both alkaline and lithium batteries (supposedly lithium batteries have more energy than alkalines and can cause problems with some electronic devices). And I find that the 20 hour battery life is accurate as long as you don't use the backlight too much. When I first got this, I was playing with it all the time, using the back light and got about 10 hours on Duracell Ultra alkaline batteries.
It also has other cool features like the ability to tell you the exact location (current or any time in the future) of the sun or moon. How cool would it be to know where the shade will be when you get out of that Phoenix movie theatre and have your car already parked there, in a spot that was blazing hot two hours earlier? Knowing the exact time the sun will set or rise can come in handy, too.
When I first got it, I didn't care for the economy of buttons on the device. But after using it almost daily for two weeks now I appreciate that I can effectively operate the unit with one hand because of the smart design/layout of the buttons.
I'd also invest twenty bucks in a protective case. The case is nicely designed with very good functionality allowing you to clearly see the screen and operate the buttons through a thick, tough, transparent barrier.
Customer Review: Git-R-Done with the 60csx !
Summary: 5 Stars
If all you are doing is navigating to a campsite or back to your car in fairly open country the Etrex units will do just fine at a much lower price. Plus the 60csx is bigger and heavier than an Etrex. However if you ever need a gps in steep or heavily wooded country the 60csx is amazing. Being a GIS (geographic information systems) professional the thing that gets me excited about the 60csx is that it starts to bridge the gap between recreational grade and mapping grade gps units without having to bother with differential correction or the significant added expense of a unit that will allow you to do that (not to mention being three or four times as big and heavy). As WAAS satellites are added units like the 60csx will continue to move closer to the accuracy of the differentially correctable units.
I have used it quite a bit to map trails and except for a little clean up at the ends of the lines the gps files hardly need any editing and what little editing that may be necessary can be done with the included MapSource software. This unit is a great tool used in conjunction with say Google Earth or Google Maps. GPS data can be saved as gpx files and there is a menu item that will open your GPS file in Google Earth. (I imagine all the Garmin units will do this now with this included MapSource software but the 60csx produces much higher quality results)
I have used the unit on the handle bars of a mountain bike in the woods and it will keep a good satellite fix the whole time. I have also tested the 60csx side by side with a several thousand dollar industry standard 2006 Trimble GeoXT and an Etrex Legend in steep heavily wooded terrain, inventorying potential land slide areas. In the most challenging scenarios there, even with the PDOP set the to the max, the GeoXT typically would not be able to get a fix at all, the Legend would be at plus or minus 80 feet after taking several minutes to get a fix and the 60csx would quickly lock in at about plus or minus 20 feet.
The other astounding bit of technology as other reviewers have mentioned is being able to load all the roads in the US and Canada on a 1 Gigabyte Micro SD card the size of a finger nail for under a hundred dollars.
If only Garmin would make a unit like this that you could add more attribute information to the GPS data without having to have it hooked up to a laptop or tablet PC and specialized software.