murs

I went the the 60Csx because a) A larger screen is still a larger screen. A 20" HD TV may have as many pixels as a 60" HD TV, the the 60" is still more impressive. In more practical terms, the screen on my 60Csx is still a bit too small when it's on my dash; smaller with more pixels would be worse, not better. I wanted a unit that I could tell my wife "Press the XYZ button" while I was driving rather than "Press the button on the side". -murray

Gold Wing a road bike?? THIS is a road bike: -murray (yes, I mount my 60CSx to it)

Ok, but how do I load the file that map my ride creates (<routename>.gpx.xml) onto my Garmin? -murray

I'll jump in this thread and add my question. I've got a 60Csx with an SD card from Garmin preloaded with city navigator. I'd like to be able to load routes from sites like http://www.mapmyride.com/ to my GPS, but I also don't want to mess up my map data which wasn't cheap. Mapmyride has an option to download GPX files. Will Garmin Communicator import the route without impacting the SD card? Or is there other software that would work better? Thanks. -murray

Have you seen the most evolved OS yet? Well, technically, nobody "asked" MS to open that can of worms, they did it themselves (with IBM's blunders). Think about it, there aren't too many successful CE markets where one company writes the dominant OS and numerous other manufacturers make the hardware. MS has tried that model in other markets and it seems the computer market is more of an abortion rather than the model preferred by the consumers. -murray

How's the Zune doing? The problem with MS is they approach everything with the question "How can we make more money with this?" This is apparent in several areas including the multiple versions of Windows and the requirement to buy "Zune points" in bunches instead of letting you purchase a single track. It's not so much that everything MS makes is crap (I like Excel), it's just that they rarely have me, the consumer, or a superior user experience in mind when they're developing something. -murray

Mac folk tend to be creative types who appreciate the high level of GUI quality, stability, and ease of use. They are willing to trade off software/hardware compatibility and will pony up non-trivial amounts of $$$. Well, if we're throwing out generalizations, I'd say Windows users are those that are willing to put up with viruses and not infrequent crashes in order to save a couple dollars or run some specialized piece of software. Seriously, Garmin MapSource is the only piece of software I'd run if I loaded Windows on my Mac. There's nothing else on Windows that I want or have any desire to run. (Oh, and thanks for calling me creative and appreciative of higher quality goods ) -murray

Er how about no viruses, malware, adware or crapware? Or an OS based on rock solid industrial strength unix? Here, here! My MacBook Pro gets shut down/rebooted about once a month, and that's generally due to a software update. And if you really want to run Windows software, simply install XP on your Mac. I'd turn it around and ask why anyone would purchase a Windows machine?? History has shown us that the features released on the next version of Windows years from now will be available to Mac users on Friday. -murray

I was trying to point out that a) Current speed is a dynamic number and thus more difficult to check As you point out, it lags on both the GPS and bike computer c) The precision is is lower (0.1 mph on the GPS, 0.5 mph on my computer) than distance measurements. FWIW, I've done several rides up to 46 miles and the GPS consistently shows around .25-.3% more miles traveled than my bike computer. I've compensated for the lower precision of the GPS by watching for it to click over a 10th of a mile and checking the bike computer mileage. -murray

The GPS odometer is always a bit more than the bike computer. From what you're saying, the GPS should be slightly less due to cutting corners, not counting ascent, etc. As I said, it's no big deal, just wondering if anyone had checked the accuracy. Being an engineer, I key in on things like accuracy -murray

No offense, but looking at the current speed readings seems like the least accurate method I could think of to confirm the accuracy of either unit. Yeah, I've done a "roll-out" calibration where I put a paint dab on the tire and measure the distance between 3 marks it leaves on the floor as I ride. I'm just wondering if anyone has done anything to confirm the accuracy of the odometer. I'll likely try this myself between mile markers on the highway, though that is at a steady speed without any turns. As for trusting the GPS more than the bike computer, what would that be based on? I know the bike computer is very precise and repeatable (within a couple hundredths of a mile over 20 miles), but the accuracy depends on the calibration. Bottom line, it's not really that big of a deal, I was just curious. -murray

I've been riding my bike with my 60CSx and comparing the trip odometer on my bike computer. I've determined that the GPS measures about .25-.3% more than my bike computer. Before I re-calibrate my bike computer, I wanted to know if anyone has verified the accuracy of their GPS. FWIW, I determined today that the distance between 9.99 miles and 10.1 is only .6 miles meaning that when it goes from 1/100th mile precision to 1/10th mile, it rounds up to the nearest .1 mile. -murray

Are there any issues installing or running Cachemate from a Mac? -murray

Update: I've used my 60CSx half a dozen hours or so since the last post with no freezes Pure guessing here, but perhaps the altimeter data or tracks had some bad data from the initial satellite find. Just the same, I'm still curious if anyone else has seen their unit freeze on the altimeter. -murray

My second 60CSx (received yesterday from warranty return of the first unit) has locked up on the altimeter screen numerous times. Pushing any and all buttons results only in a beep. When I press the power button, the screen slowly fades away and the unit powers back on normally. This occurred 4 times in less than 24 hours. After powering up, the unit is missing track data from when it apparently locked up. I may have resolved the problem by clearing all the the tracks thinking there may have been some funky altimeter data stored. The issue hasn't happened since I cleared the tracks. Has anyone else seen this issue or have an idea what might be causing it? Thanks! -murray

Like the OP, I'm a Mac user, though I don't have access to a PC. I opted for CN on the chip. I debated getting XP and turning my Mac into a PC, but that seemed like too much hassle. If I had access to a PC, I would have preferred getting the CD and a 2 GB microSD card for $30-40 simply for the data backup, but the buying CN on the chip worked fine for me and saved me the cost of the card. I'm cautiously optimistic that Garmin will come out with a OS X version soon, but I'm happy with what I've got for the time being. -murray

I bought City Navigator for my 60CSx on a micro SD card and it came on a 2 GB card. I also noticed you could buy 2 GB cards at camera online stores for $30-40. -murray

I purchased the City Navigator NT maps on the chip for my 60CSx since I'm a Mac user and I have no way to load the DVD or use the MapSource software. I also saved the cost of a miniSD card. Some observations: >The maps take up about 1 GB of the 2 GB card they shipped me. >Using the USB cable and the "Interface" mode, I was able to see the files containing the maps. I didn't have the guts to drag them over to my hard drive to see if they backed up. One question I have is whether I can save tracks to the card and upload them to my Mac without risk of corrupting the map files? -murray

For me, knowing my wife would be operating the unit frequently while I'm driving, the clearly labeled buttons are a big plus. A bigger screen certainly doesn't hurt either. -murray