hogrod

NOOOOoooooo!!! That's just CRAZY TALK!!! I agree, my experience with both brands/companys I would never buy another magellan.

Main menu, setup, units. its the second option down, it should be set to WGS 84.

The blue circle is an accuracy circle that is relative to the positional accuracy of the GPS and the accuracy of the base map that you are currently using in your GPS. Standing in a stationary position, if I use the World Base map the circle is 500 ft in diameter. If I use Topo the blue circle is 40 ft in diameter. The blue circle is nothing but annoying, I wish I could turn it off. It may be some form of accuracy measurement but as Ergomaniac points out; depending on what mapset you have loaded can also effect how small this circle is represented.

I would check what unit firmware you are using. I along with a few others had some issues with accuracy with 2.70. I haven't noticed any issues with the 2.80 firmware update, you can get the updated firmware here. To check what unit firmware you are currently running: goto main menu, setup, system, hit the menu/find button(lower left) and select software version.

I disagree, if you want a simple plain GPS you can just buy a cheaper one. hell even calibrating an electronic compass is over most peoples technical level. lets take the Nuvi 360 as an example: It has an SD slot I can play my MP3 files from, and an Headphone jack/audio line-out so I can hook it directly to my car stereos line in(some higher model Nuvi's have built in FM transmitters, so you can do this wireless). now I can not only be listening to my MP3's off the GPS, I can get my turn by turn directions through my car stereo speakers. This unit also has bluetooth, which with my bluetooth enabled phone I can wirelessly connect both devices to see my caller ID on the gps screen, answer & place calls, text message, & call any POI in the database. These features are not useful to everyone but guess what? thats why garmin makes 20 different models of Nuvi ranging from the 200-770.

I would make sure that you have the most current unit software installed. Check it here: Main menu, setup, system, press menu, select software verison. As of right now the most current is: software version 3.50, GPS software version 2.90. you can download the updates here or update by using the webupdater.

when updating my 60cx you have to run webupdater twice to get the chipset update. first time it checks for the unit software, then webupdater will ask you to check for additional software, this is when it will update the chipset.

Both my 60CX and vistaCX both show different distance on the trip computer VS the track log distance. If the receiver was using the track log to compute the distance I would think the numbers would be the same.

How did you do the goto? if you selected the waypoint via the map I have seen that sometimes you could accidentally move the waypoint doing it that way. another thing to consider is how did you get the waypoint into your GPSr? did you use some software or manually enter the waypoint? I have had a couple waypoints off(coords were wrong) when I sent waypoints via the "Send to GPS"option on the cache page.

On the card you can store maps, and you can have the unit also log "backup" tracks that you can access later on the computer. you can not use these tracks on the GPSr, but its nice because you can clear the units internal track memory and not loose anything. you also can use garmins POI loader to load custom point of interest files. These are essentially waypoints with larger Name and note area. I think I have 1700 or so POI's loaded to my 60cx, and still have quite a few regular waypoints too. I think I bought my 1gb micro SD card from newegg.com for under $10, they have 2gb cards for under $20.

I am also interested in this, because as I understand it city Navigator V8 was fully unlocked on the the pre-programed cards. I believe garmins website is slightly misleading, these pre-programed cards are sold at retail stores so people without computers can have access to maps. no you don't have to give REI or any other retail store your unit serial number before you buy, its definitely a retail package. I emailed garmin about this, though I didn't specifically ask if I could use the card in more than one GPSr, they did give me a response about if the cards are locked. They said the cards are unlocked on the fly by the unit, so you will have no messing around to do with the unlock process.

I just checked out geobuddy, regular price is $99 but they are currently(summer 2007) $50 off. Even at $50 I wouldn't give them my money. you can buy garmin topo 2008 at amazon.com for around $50. Another option GSAK, is only $25 and you can open waypoints in many free online maps.

Edge 605 Edge 705

Are you talking about the course/bearing arrow compass setting? if you have the compass set to course arrow I do believe it kinda 'Bends'. If this is was you are talking about you can change this setting with your HCX. From the compass screen press the menu/find key(lower left), and select Course pointer. you can follow these same steps to switch back to the Bearing pointer.

I have used my legendC and vistaCX both with a garmin bike mount on my mountain bike. They both get around 30hrs of use on a set of batteries(no backlighting) so I rarely need an extra set of batteries. Only real issue is trying to use the click stick while moving, since it's a directional pad and the enter button all in one, it makes it pretty tough to control if you hit any bumps you end up clicking when you just trying to move though the menus or pan the map. The separate direction pad and enter button on the 60 series is much easier to use while moving. Since garmin released the legendHCX and VistaHCX I have thought about upgrading, the better chipset in the H models would be nice in the woods.

The software is fully unlocked, and you will need a DVD drive in your computer to install the software(because the software only comes on DVD). You do not need the dvd in the drive to use the software as it installs fully by default.

For most people the true/magnetic north setting really doesn't matter. I prefer to have mine set to Magnetic north so the units Bearing data field will give me numbers I can use with a real compass.

Another thought.... if the drive was new and you still have the issue was the drive the same brand? I have seen disk reading problems that only effect some brands of dvd drives.

You replace with a brand new drive? those errors are usually caused by a bad disk or failing dvd drive. since the disk worked in another pc I would still guess it was a dvd drive issue. I would NOT recommend spraying canned air in a dvd drive it would probably do more harm than good. canned air would not clean the laser or pickup mirrors, and probably move more dust onto them. Another option..... don't install the software from the DVD. if you have enough hard Disk space you could Explore the disk and copy its contents to a folder on you computer & install for there. Then you could delete the folder when you have the software installed.

I would say its the dvd drive, especially since the disk works fine in another pc.

wow, people reply to threads that have been dead for more than two years?

You should probably check garmins online map viewer for topo 2008, that way you can compare areas you are familiar with. I owned the old topo US 3.02 and now topo 2008, It is much improved over the old version. One thing with topo 2008, it uses different contour levels in different areas. where I live topo 2008 has 10ft contour levels, yet the rest of my state uses 25ft contours. I was checking the map out in Washington state near Wenatchee and noticed it is only using 150ft contours. The map viewer is in the upper right of this page. http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/mapSource/topous.jsp#

Besides being very Illegal to download maps without paying for them, that site is fake crap. City navigator is locked to the units serial number so it wouldn't do any good to download it Illegally anyway. http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/fullrelea...se&aff_id=0

I do agree with part of what you are saying, my vistaCX doesn't get much worse battery life with of without the compass turned on. The problem with leaving it on all the time is you CAN NOT trust that it's still calibrated properly. If I use my vistaCX on my bike and leave the compass on the metal handle bars seem to slowly pull the compass out of whack, so you need to recalibrate before each hike, and maybe every few hours just so you know the compass is still accurate to within 5 degrees. usually the uncalibrated compass is pretty good, but I have seen it out as much as 25degrees.

I'm surprised that this bare wire version doesn't come with a fuse. I have the normal cigarette lighter version, I would assume the fuse it uses would be the same size you need. of course I don't have my cable handy at the moment, but I'm sure someone else could check theirs. If you don't hear a reply from someone else I'll check mine later and post back.