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: great on the road, terrible off the road
Summary: 2 Stars
My review really breaks down into two categories: on the road (3 out 5 stars) and off the road (1 out of 5 stars).
Bad Parts
Preparing a trip on the computer is impossible for many reasons. For one, the software is absolutely terrible (both MapSource in Windows and Basecamp on the Mac). For some obscure reason, for example, I cannot use the map that I paid $100 for on the computer. Eventually I figured out that by putting the device in USB Mass Storage mode, I can use the map in Basecamp on the Mac, but I never got it to work in Windows. As a consequence, it's nearly impossible to plan a route with a crippled map.
The interface to plan a route is bad beyond belief. Being a software engineer myself I can understand how programmers would design software this way. It's just that I expected Garmin to test their software on normal users. They obviously have not.
Importing a route using a .gpx file works, but then transferring it to the device fails, because there is an incomprehensible limit on the number of waypoints for a route (the max is 50). There is also a limit on the number of waypoints for a track (500), even though the active log allows tracks to have 10,000 waypoints. MapSource in windows allows you to reduce the number of waypoints for a route in various ways, but Basecamp for the Mac hides this feature somewhere deep in Preferences. All of this is undocumented and took me many hours to figure out.
I was only able to get a long-ish bikeride planned on the device by breaking it down into 4 parts. This involved planning the route using 200 waypoints, then deleting 150 of them, and transferring the remaining route to the device.
(And don't get me started on why Garmin felt the need to differentiate between tracks and routes. Probably another one of those engineering-driven decisions.)
The device itself is slow and has a deeply counter-intuitive interface. The manual is incomplete, and, in some cases, contains lies or refers to features that don't exist. Too many features on the device rely on the user pointing things out on a map that is awkward to use and slow to load.
All in all, the user experience for this device is deplorable. Had it not been for my software engineering background, I would have immediately returned it.
Good Parts
Once you finally get a route planned, the device is relatively helpful. It draws a purple line over the road you plan to travel. While it is sometimes awkward with giving directions (it doesn't really understand intersections very well), it's overall decent.
The device runs on AA batteries. That is much better than built-in rechargeable batteries.
Customer Review: Great GPS for geocaching
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great GPS and I would buy it again. In fact, I did. We use our GPS for geocaching so it gets turned on and off several times a day. With all that use, the power button broke on it and we got another. The power button isn't cheap or shoddy, we just used it A LOT. I will say though that it is a very firm button so I think part of the reason it broke was how much force is required to power it on/off and doing that so many times broke it.
It is by far the most accurate GPS we have seen and we meet a lot of people with GPSs. This also includes the more expensive Garmin Oregons. The Oregons are cooler looking and have about the same features but the accuracy just isn't there. This level of accuracy isn't required by everyone but it is when geocaching so I really appreciate it.
Here are a few notes:
- This model has the electronic gyroscope as a compass which needs to be calibrated. I find it's WORTHLESS unless you hold the GPS very flat or else it will give you a random heading. You can set the GPS to calculate heading based on your movement (taking a step forward) anyway so I just do that. Since it is a simple fix, I don't really count that against it.
- High quality construction. You wouldn't believe how many times we've dropped this on rocks, concrete, etc. It still works great.
- The maps that come with it a pretty bad of course. Only highways and major rivers which is on par with every other GPS so that you have to pay for additional maps. One suggestion, though, Garmin maps come on MicroSD card or DVD. I suggest the MicroSD card because the maps HAVE to be registered to a GPS. Now that we bought another GPS of the exact same model, we can't use the same map disk!
- It has built in features for geocaching which is great.
- One cool thing that the Oregon can do that the GPSMap 60 can't is store multiple maps. The Oregon can store street maps and topographic and you can switch to either type or overlay both which is cool but I don't need it. If you did have both sets of maps on MicroSD then you could just swap them out.
- Depending on which maps you get, it does support turn by turn navigation but not with the maps that come with it.
- I'm not really covering most of the features because they work as advertised so no need to mention each by name.
To summarize, this GPS is all about hard core construction and accuracy with a rich feature set. This is perfect for the outdoor type. If you plan to use it heavily for turn by turn navigation, you might want to think about alternatives. For the outdoor person though, this might be the best there is.
Customer Review: Garmin 60Cx Pros and Cons for Geocachers
Summary: 3 Stars
Garmin 60CSx Pros:
-Accurate only on open spaces. The Delorme is more accurate.
-International Maps are easy to find for free but hard to install.
-It is compatible with Macintosh computers. The DeLorme isn't.
Garmin 60CSx Cons:
-The screen is hard to read in sunlight.
-Does not accept Geocahing descriptions.
-It does NOT come with usable maps at all. You MUST buy the maps to make it work.
-Garmin Topo maps are way overpriced, over $100 each!
-No satellite imagery available at all.
-Extraodinarily long learning curve. No good tutorials anyhwere.
-Hard to use even with a tutorial.
-Lousy interface design, clearly not an Apple product.
-Limited proximity alarm, 0.2 miles minimum, why?
-Full of arbitrary limits on maps, tracks, waypoint, etc.
Conclusion:
Warning: The 60CSs is misleading you when they say the unit comes with a map, if you live in some areas you will soon discover the unit shows a blank screen with not streets, not even your home street address. When they say basic maps they mean too basic to be of any use to anyone at all.
Secondly, a GPS that does not accept geocaching descriptions is pretty useless. It forces you to walk around with either a pile of paper or a PocketPC and that is way too complicated.
Warning, a salesman may recommend the newer Garming models (Oregon, etc) with the larger "touch screen" but those are useless, don't waste your money on them. The touch screen is literally unreadable when you are outside. Don't be fooled by the slick interface.
Should you buy a 60Csx? If you are going to use it in the city, forget it, the Garmin 60Csx is NOT what you want to use while driving around town, first of all you won't find any current information built-in, you have to pay extra for it, even then, it will give you awful directions and you will simply get lost also you will very likely provoke a major car accident while trying to read the 60CSX small screen, so, be a good boy and get a CAR GPS instead, they are cheaper anyway. If you are going on a hiking trip, you should know a GPS only works if there aren't any trees in the vicinity, you need plain view of the sky. So, basically it only works in the snow, the deserts and specially well in the ocean. Do no use it in a forest, you may get lost.
Finally, I do not believe Garmin has made yet a decent GPS device for geochaching, I would wait another year, until 2010 at least before making a purchase. The 60Csx is outdated and overpriced, I returned my 60Csx after I wrote this review.
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!
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.