gpscybr

+1; My eneloops refuse to fit in my 62ST- seem to be a tad too big and I do not want to force them in as will do some damage; Oddly enough, other rechargeables like energizers fit. Maybe I have got a bad batch of eneloops as others say that they fit fine.

Eneloops are great batteries but I do not use them in my 62st or Oregon as I find that I have to force them too much to fit in - they seem to be a bit too big and I am worried they could eventually break or damage the contact plates. The energizers and other brands fit fine. Does anybody think that they are oversized as well or do I have a bad batch? No, you do not have a bad batch. I am certain that I have a different batch than you do and those in my batch have a larger diameter than expendables of brands such as Maxell and Energizer. For some reason, my energizers fit fine but my eneloops do not. I bought them when they were on sale at Costco - got one of those multi packs. I compared them side by side to energizers rechargeables and they are physically different. The eleloops as was mentioned are fatter, and at least mine are a tiny bit longer with the positive nib sticking out a bit more. I tried loading my eneloops in the GPS but I am not confortable with the amount of force that is required so I stopped trying.

Eneloops are great batteries but I do not use them in my 62st or Oregon as I find that I have to force them too much to fit in - they seem to be a bit too big and I am worried they could eventually break or damage the contact plates. The energizers and other brands fit fine. Does anybody think that they are oversized as well or do I have a bad batch?

Once again, without proof, this "newer screen" theory is just speculation. I did a little experiment to try to shed some light on this - pardon the pun. I invite other forum members to do the same to prove or disprove this theory. I've got a 550 with a 28xxx serial number which I purchased very recently and which I compared to one with 32xxx serial number and the screens are identical; So, unless the supposed new screens were issued before or after this range of serial numbers (i.e both have "new screens" or both do not / both outside this range) the upgraded screen theory does not hold. This is assuming the serial numbers are sequential and not randomly assigned. In another "experiment" I compared both to a 450 with the same settings. Here I did see a definite difference; if anything, the 550 screen seems better to me / I prefer the 550 screen as it is definitely brighter than the 450's (same backlight setting - at max).

No disrespect to this theory, but I have done quite a bit of research on this and asked very prominent GPS retailers and they swear that this is hogwash, that the Oregon 550 screens have not been changed. Also this has been discussed before and no one could give us proof of this - like after what serial # are the "newer" screens included or has there been a side by side comparison of before and after.

Thanks Gaga and Simply - did what you said and it worked. I now see them separately and can select them individually .

Today I bougnt and unlocked a copy of City Navigator NT North America 2011 and created a mapset together with Topo Canada V4 and sent it to the SD card in my new 62ST. Now the prebuilt in topo is fine, but is older than V4 so I wanted to have the flexibility to toggle between the 2; I also need a street mapping program (CN NA). Problem is that under the "select map" submenu I have only 3 choices: enable or disable: 1) Wordwide DEM Basemap, NR 2) TOPO Canada V2 (preloaded map in the unit) and 3) CN North America NT2011.2, Topo Canada V4. The problem is that in 3, I cannot disable/enable CN North America NT2011.2 or Topo Canada V4 individually; it's either both or none. So for example if I wanted to disable everything else besides Topo Canada V4, I cannot do it as I cannot turn off CN North America only - I have to disable both. In my old 60Csx, the ability to disable one of the maps was there, even though both are in 1 mapset. Does anyone know if there any way to toggle between products in the 62ST mapset on the SD card or is this a software limitation/issue?

At one time Garmin gave 2 unlock codes for each software purchase but no more .... Now they made the program somewhat less costly but you get only 1 unlock code. No work arounds - you have to buy another City Navigator NT map software which comes with 1 unlock code for your new unit.

Reading the posts, does not seem to be a common denominator why the update works for most but for some it does not. It should be all or none. There must be some other factors at work here, perhaps like hardware issues, e.g. faulty cables, USB connections, faulty unit memory or software related issues like corrupted unit drivers, computer communication problems, etc.. It would be nice to know what is causing these inconsistent hangs.

You have to specify the unit you have for a definite answer on this, but If you have a newer Garmin unit, it will take a 32gb Micro SD card with no risks. However the software will only allow you to load a maximum of 4gb map data on it. The rest of the space can be used for other things like photos (if you have a Garmin 550) or Birdseye satellite imagery files. I do agree that 32GB may be overkill. You can probably get away with a 8GB card. Even if you load the maximum map data on it, you will have 4gb left over for other things. 8GB cards are a lot cheaper than a 32GB Micro SD card. The going price for 32gb micro sd cards is currently well over $100 Cheers.

Try powering down the computer, unplug it for a couple of minutes and then restarting it. Seems to work a lot of times to fix the problem. if not, you can try going in device manager and uninstall the usb hub where the unit is connected and reads "unknown device" and restart the computer - the usb hub will be reinstalled and might fix your problem

I applied the beta to my 62ST and it worked without a hitch. The only thing, as was mentioned before, you have to be patient when the unit re-initializes on re-boot as it can take a while - it's not hung!! If you pull the batteries while it's doing this, there is a strong chance you could corrupt some files.

AFAIK, only by serial number or a side-by-side comparison. There was a lot of commentary around here a while back about the fact that the 550 seemed to have suddenly picked up the 450's improved touch screen with a positive impact on readability. Poke around and I'm sure you'll spot those threads. Very interesting; perhaps the one I tried was an older model. I did a search but could not find a way of determining this e g. After a certain serial number , etc. Is there a way of telling if you are getting a new version 550 without powering up and doing a side by side comparison? I.e. Before buying the unit. I doubt any retailer would allow you to do this before paying for it.

550 with original or newer design screen? Big difference (like 400 to 450). Huh? I thought there was only one version of the 550. Is there more than 1 and if so how do you tell them apart ???

-1 for the Oregon. I tried the 550 and although I really loved it's many features, particularly the photo geo-tagging, I simply could not live with the display when I was outside and it was a bright day - even with the backlight at 100%. I am hoping the next version will have more of an iphone type, nice and bright screen (the 650 ?? LOL), I will buy it right away. I am a person that is used to good and viewable displays outside, like cell phones, car GPS units, and the gold standard Garmin 60csx. I found myself squinting and trying to move the GPSr to a viewable angle (the sweet spot) or having to go for shade so I could see the display. Perhaps if I was not so spoiled by the displays on these other units I would be more inclined to find the Oregon display acceptable. I have read reviews though and it seems that either they love the display or hate it, not too much in between. I guess you have to try it for yourself to decide in which camp you are in.

The paper shim makes perfect sense with our theory of the halves of the case rubbing together. The shim eliminates that small amount of play between the board and the case thereby eliminating the flex and the noise. I'm not sure however if paper is the best material as regular papers has acids in it that can in time corrode the internal components. It should be an inert material. Overall however, it's totally ridiculous that we need to mod a $500 unit. Shame on the engineers who designed and quality control that approved this poor case in our opinion.

By looking at the picture above, it may just be the 2 halves of the case rubbing together at their joints that makes the squeaking noise. Maybe a better designed o ring or gasket?

Well, sounds like Garmin is starting to come around to acknowledge there is a problem. I doubt that they will be able to "quietly" fix this in their next run and not take care of the units already sold. My thinking is that Garmin will eventually do the right thing and recall / offer free fixes to these otherwise great units.

I tried the Oregon 450 in bright sunlight and could not see the screen very well at all even with maximum backlight. That was the main showstopper for me. I also found the reception not as good as the 60csx, and frequently lost signal when I put the unit in my pocket. For these two reasons I do not recommend an Oregon 450 for you.

No, it's not "next to nothing". It's about Garmin putting out a piece of crap case that is almost EXACTLY the same as the 60CSx predecessor case and expecting customers to take it in the arse, as demonstrated by the reply in the post above. THAT case was just fine. Very solid but Garmin had to go and screw up a good thing that they had ALREADY FIGURED OUT? That's what most people are pissed about. All of mine squeaked with normal pressure, simply turning the gps on or off caused the noise. That can hardly be acceptable for a gps that is advertised as rugged. Agreed. In my opinion this flaw should not be accepted by anyone. What's more alarming is that the company does not seem to be acknowledging this problem. A lot of loyal long time customers may be be turned away because of this. I really hope they change their mind on this and accept the valuable customer feedback on this, and provide the kind of support that they in the past have been famous for.

Any updates on the altimeter issue?

Yep, the whole point of the using a barometric altimeter is for accuracy. The "fixed elevation" mode is not accurate enough to be useful other than for general trends. Definitely not useful to the statistics crowd. --Marky Don't forget that we paid $200+ more than the 62 model for these sensors, so we have every right to expect them to work as intended. You do not have to be a statistician to have these totally reasonable expectations. I don't want a work around, I want the unit to work as intended.

Nevermind - please delete reply

you would thing they would have some sort of beta testing team. get 100 people to use the units months in advance, work out all the glitches and problems, then release it. Why do it when they know there are guys like us, early adopters (a.k.a. guinea pigs) that will pay $500+ to do it for them LOL Seriously what do we do - return the units to the store we bought them while there is still time to do so or have faith in Garmin to recall the units / quickly fix these seemingly major hardware flaws? I am torn, because other that this confirmed serious altimeter issue and hit and miss squeaky case issue (geeze, do i need more "other thans"?), I like my new 62ST.

I also was amazed when I got a lock in my basement! Seems like it gets better reception than the 60CSx so far ...