Pacific NW

The last I knew, FWIW, Garmin's location in Oregon (Salem area) was for their aviation products.

Short answer: GPSMAP 64s. Just had a MSRP price drop to $299. The GPSMAP 62s is fine, but doesn't have the newer GLONASS satellite access. The Oregon 600 is a nice looking unit, but according to some needs additional firmware tweaking. The eTrex 20/30 units are slow to refresh/redraw the map screen. If you don't need/want the electronic compass and barometric altimeter, you could go for the base model GPSMAP 64 (which has an SD card slot; the base model 62 doesn't). That just dropped to $250 MSRP.

Yeah, I think Amazon's prices are just a reflection of their daily up/down fluctuations. I sent a price change request in anyways, and pointed them directly to Garmin's own site with the lower MSRPs.

One nice feature is that they added the Micro SD card slot back in on the GPSMAP 64. That was something they had in the 60Cx, then removed from the subsequent basic 62 model.

Honestly, I've been a little underwhelmed by Garmin's handling of Bluetooth. Instead of having phone notifications or live tracking, I would have liked to have the ability to do exactly as you described. I can confirm that between their BaseCamp app and their Connect app, it is possible to send / receive waypoints to the GPS, and upload track logs. Better than nothing, but still plenty of room to grow in this area.

^^ That's what I'm wondering, too. ^^ That would be the best of both worlds. Although, admittedly, the 64-series only recently came out this year. I'm thinking Garmin hasn't sold as many of the 64-series as they anticipated so far, at least, not at the original $400 price tag.

Just noticed this, too. Not much help for us 64-series early adopters, but I'm sure it will help sell plenty more units. Interestingly, I don't think this is a sale, but rather a MSRP price drop -- as Garmin's website has changed their prices, too.

Necro-Thread.

Just saw that, too. Thanks for sharing the heads up!

Excellent advice. And this will keep your blood pressure lower, too!

Do keep in mind that REI has changed their return policy somewhat recently. You have up to a year after purchase to return an item for any reason whatsoever. But... if there is a manufacturing defect, I believe you can return it beyond a year. Although not the same as the old days, this is still *much* better than buying elsewhere with only a 30-day return window. No connection to REI, just another member chiming in. Their prices are generally MSRP unless you catch a good sale, such as this one.

Also noticed the compass issues here. Doesn't seem to hold a calibration very long. Originally, I avoided the Oregon 6xx series because of all the ongoing firmware issues. While the 64S is relatively stable, Garmin needs to get on the ball here and straighten things out.

I've been running the Eneloop NiMH batteries in the 64S since day one. When I select "Pre-charged", I noticed that the battery level drops almost immediately, and seems to drop faster overall. And that's with freshly-charged, newer Eneloops coming off a conditioning charger at 100%. If I instead select "Traditional", the battery level gauge seems to be more forgiving with Eneloops. I know there are different discharge curves, but I'm not so sure that Garmin programmed them in correctly. The GPS battery gauge doesn't quite seem to match up to real life, despite the available menu choices.

The 650 might have needed a firmware update, but still, I think you will like the 64s -- especially here in the NW. Good choice!

Quick heads up that Garmin released FW 3.10 for the 64s & 64st. Apparently it has something to do with a fix for pressure trending. Just installed it, will see if any hiccups develop...

Tough choice. Like others have said, seeing them firsthand is the best way to decide. I tried out the Oregon 600 and GPSMAP 64s in-person, and walked out with a 64s. But there is quite a bit of heavy canopy in our area, so the quad-helix combined with the GLONASS option makes for a nice pairing. If I had to frequently enter lots of waypoints and data manually, I would have probably gone for the Oregon 6xx series, since it has a touch screen. Good luck with your choice!

Be sure to look at your cache filter settings on the GPS device itself, just in case... I heard there was a recent change by Groundspeak to the GPX files generated by PQ's. Not only that, but on my 64S while viewing the map screen, I have to go in and make sure all filter settings are enabled, then click "Apply". For some reason I have to do this at every power-on cycle, despite all filter settings already being activated. Something to try just in case -- I think it had to do with cache sizes being "Unknown" or "Not Chosen". If I don't do this step, then I am magically missing some caches near home. Another thing is you could try looking at the list of caches on the GPS unit, and see if the caches you want show up there. If so, then it's probably the filter issue. If not, then it likely means the PQ file is too big, corrupted, etc.

Have you tried creating a new pocket query GPX file -- maybe something separate from the normal ones you have been running? I wonder if there's an error in the original GPX file(s) somewhere. Barring that, a factory reset and start over fresh?

I was just about to ask this very question -- thanks!

You might try contacting Garmin's customer service. You should be able to copy pocket query GPX files to the GPX folder on the device, and have them recognized.

Historically, the USFS was more focused on managing public lands and their resources for multiple users (mining, ranching, recreation, logging, hunting, etc.). On the other hand, the NPS is tasked with preserving everything within a certain boundary and funneling visitors through with as little impact as possible. Although nowadays that line is being blurred, especially with vast wilderness areas being set aside by the USFS. So I can see why the NPS might get a little upset at a cache, virtual or otherwise, causing heavy visitation to a particular site or location. But don't get me started on user fees. You've already paid your taxes once in the year, it doesn't seem right to pay again at the gate or iron ranger. But I digress...

I believe Garmin only allows their maps to be unlocked and used with one device. Hopefully someone else more knowledgable can chime in here. Some of the free third-party maps, such as those at GPS File Depot, are actually pretty darn good.

Can you provide more specific information? Without knowing more it's hard to know what advice to give. Were they Garmin maps he paid for, or else third-party free maps from online? Did they come on an SD card originally, were installed from a CD or DVD, or just downloaded? Were they unlocked to his original GPS, the Dakota 20?

Since they have products aimed at the aviation and marine markets, and there's not much of a margin for error there... perhaps those areas of the company are tying up the QC dept. Just a thought.

I'm going to guess that perhaps renaming the GGZ folder is what caused the problem. I upgraded to FW 3.00 yesterday and then copy 'n' pasted two GPX files to the GPX folder. Seems to be fine after many power off/ons. However, I have nothing in the GGZ folder -- I deleted all three files there and just kept the empty folder (the caches are out of date anyways). So if you're trying to preserve the big GGZ file for later, maybe rename the GGZ folder to how it was originally, and just copy the three GGZ files to your computer until needed. I have no idea if you can have both GPX cache files *and* GGZ cache files present on the device at the same time. Not to keep dogging on Garmin, but it would be really nice for them to provide instructions for how to handle all these different files and folders on the GPS unit.