sviking

Wrong. The shape is perfectly fine and it's nicely contoured and rubberized for grip. It's primarily designed for holding, unlike the Nuvi that lives its life in dash/windshield cradle. You'd be surprised how quickly you get used to the Montana's size. Physically, it's actually shorter and no thicker than the venerable Garmin 60CSx. Heck it isn't really even that much wider, even with that HUGE screen.

Just picked up a Garmin Montana 600...again...

Garmin Montana. Best handheld ever.

No problemo. It's the absolute best "do it all" GPS unit ever made...for now... Buy it from a place like LL Bean (lifetime repair, replacement or, most notably, refund for ANY reason at ANY time) if that ever becomes not the case with it being the best.

Why? No reason to trust it any less than the massively complex system known as the "rest of your GPS"...from your ground unit to the ground stations to the satellites...

The reason for this is because you aren't directly pressing the "ON" button...when you press what you think is the "ON" button... There is a thin plastic rod going from the rubber "ON" button down to the actual "ON" switch on the circuit board. When the unit gets hot, this thin plastic rod gets soft and flexes to the side instead of actuating the "real" power switch when you try to turn it on/off. Simply place it in a cool area and the problem goes away in a minute or two. Even putting it in the shade will alleviate the problem. Some people have replaced this rod with a thin wooden dowel that won't flex if it gets hot.

Amazing... I got my 60CSx brand new years ago with Garmin TOPO USA bundled for under $200. That said...get a Montana 600... LOVE mine. MUCH better than the 60CSx and I really loved that unit. And, I'll love it again if I ever have to fall back on it as a backup unit since I'm never selling it.

Garmin Montana. Awesome GPS, but ya gotta pay to play.

Boo freakin' hoo... You work for Garmin or something?

Exactly. My old 60CSx and StreetPilot 2720 are built like brick "you know whats" and still work just fine today after many years of hard use. In fact, my 60CSx is still my primary handheld.

Excellent point. I missed that little detail. Also, he hasn't posted since so it must not be that important to him anyway.

Not doing your research ahead of time? YOU suck, OP.

I recently took advantage of Amazon's return policy and "played" with a Montana for two weeks or so because I could not find one locally to physically look at. It was pretty slick and one nice GPS, but not $550+ "nice", so it went back. My 60CSx still does exactly what I need a GPS to do and it still does it quite well. I'll pick up another Montana when the prices eventually drop to sub $250. And, they will...

BINGO. Mine's been rock solid for years. Very accurate (SiRF), too. I have newer, "better" units, but if I absolutely had to rely on just one, it would be my trusty, dusty 60CSx. That thing has been all over the world with me in the Navy.

That convenience doesn't do you much good if you need to change that pack out in the field and you don't have a set of easily carried AAs with you... Plus, those proprietary packs are expensive and, very often, you can't charge more than one at a time since it has to be done in the GPS unit.

For rechargeable AA batteries, go with Sanyo Eneloops.

I sent in my 76CSX with the SiRF chip and the (different) one that came back had the SiRF chip. How do you know that for sure? Did you crack it open and read the markings on the chip? Just because it says SiRF on start-up doesn't necessarily mean it's SiRF hardware. There were 60CSx units that way after the GPS chipset switch and, as we all know, the 76 isthe exact same GPS, just in a different wrapper.

DROPPING the GPS firmware to where you get ZERO satellite reception is a "feature" issue and/or "insignificant" to you?

Mine did that to me once years ago when I first got it. Reloaded the firmware (current version is GPS SW 3.00s) and it never did it again. I read somewhere that messing with the backlight before the unit fully boots up can cause this. I played with it under controlled conditions (i.e. at the house) every which way I could think of trying to replicate the problem. Couldn't do it and it's worked fine ever since. Still, it is a nagging thought in the back of the mind that this could suddenly happen on the trail and you'd be left with a brick until you got back to a computer.

If you can swing it and want a full featured modern unit, the Montana is pretty darned good in the sunlight, too, without the needing backlight. Bonus for aging eyes is that it has a BIG, nice, high resolution screen. But, it's expensive. Gotta pay to play with that one.

Oh, yeah, I know about gpsfiledepot. I have a couple of states installed that I travel to on a regular basis. I just want the rest of CONUS for the less traveled areas.

Well, it's still a lot more detailed than the crappy base maps...and I already have it...

Yeah, I don't think Garmin sells a 24K TOPO for the entire US in one map product. It's by region.

Copying that file won't work because it's keyed to the individual unit.

One file does NOT work. Email from Garmin says total tile limit is "about 4000". Why the idiots can't just up and tell me EXACTLY how many the limit is, I'll never know.