dswarthout

I've had my Montana since Christmas and haven't used it much yet, but so far I mostly like it. The only thing I've found not to like is that there's no place to attach a lanyard, which makes it rather awkward to carry. It's too big for many pockets and sometimes you just need both hands free. I've come up with a solution which works pretty well for me, but I'm wondering what others use while geocaching. My solution involves a harness made for hunters to carry binoculars at chest level; to this I clip a small bag (just about the right size to fit the Montana) with a mesh front; I've cut a hole in the mesh to be able to see the compass. My biggest problem with this arrangement now is putting the Montana into the bag without touching the screen. Anyone have any better ideas? Apologize for the long delay in this response. I love my Montana. I had a 60Cx for years and loved it too before it died on me but the new Montana far outshines it. The ability to store more than one map and more than one set of waypoints would be enough to make me switch. The huge display and other features are cool too. They might have designed the lanyard loop a bit better but there are many work-arounds available. That said, the Montana and the Basecamp software to manipulate maps are works in progress. The Montana firmware is undergoing constant revisions to eliminate bugs and add features. The learning curve for Basecamp and the Montana can be steep but it's worth going through. I didn't like Basecamp at first but now I think it's a vast improvement over Mapsource, the program it replaced. And of course, it works well for MACs too if you're an Apple person. Here are several suggestions of places to check out if you own a Montana. One has been mentioned before in this thread. That's the Montana Forum at: http://garminmontanagpsr.wikispaces.com There are others but IMHO this one is the best. There is a similar one for Basecamp at: http://garminbasecamp.wikispaces.com This one is fairly new so there's not much there yet. Two pieces of free software that I have found invaluable are used to manage maps and the Montana itself. There are JaVaWa Device Manager and the related JaVaWa GMTK to manage maps. See: http://www.javawa.nl/gmtk_en.html and: http://www.javawa.nl/jdm_en.html I got into using the GMTK tool when I wanted to have more than one OSM map on my computer and the Montana. All the maps you get from the Free Garmin Auto-routable Map site (above) have the same name (OSM_Generic_Routable) and internal ID. That means when you try to load a map of New York State into Basecamp or Mapsource and there is already an OSM map of Florida present for example, the new one replaces it. GMTK allows you to change the default name and ID to different values so you can have as many maps as you want on tap at all times. I have OSM streetmaps of Africa, Thailand, Alaska, and New York State, along with GPSFiledepot topo maps of several states in Basecamp. GMTK allows them to coexist and play well together. The JaVaWa Device manager is easy to use and is arguably better at managing maps and waypoint files on your Montana than even Basecamp. I use it for enabling and disabling visibility of the multiple maps I keep on the Montana and in Basecamp. Works like a charm. There are, in addition, a few other places besides this forum that contain sage advice concerning the Montana. This thread, "New Gamin Montana", at ADV Rider is oriented around motorcycling but is still very good: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=688775 It currently runs to over 100 pages but is packed with useful information. Along with that is another "Montana Wisdom and FAQ" thread at: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=790308 also at ADV Rider. Happy Trails, Dave Travel blog at: http://dswarthout.blogspot.com Bike: Honda CBR250

It's pretty clear that you want to spend some money, so don't let us stop you. But note that you can easily inspect the free OSM maps right on your Etrex Legend Cx and probably also on your Nuvi. The Montana will process everything faster, but you can see the quality and the various map features with your older GPSrs. If you have the audio going out to a speaker, then you can hear spoken directions with the Montana; your Nuvi can probably do that also but you eTrex won't as it has not provision for audio-out. If your experience is like mine, you won't be buying any more maps and map upgrades from Garmin, but because of this tool you may well be buying more Garmin GPSrs (I have bought two Montanas which I would not have bought if it had not been for availability of the OSM maps). I quite agree about the OSM maps. I'm a volunteer mapper who contributes regularly to the OSM mapping project. I live part time in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and can tell you that the OSM maps for my area are superior in many ways to the Garmin maps. Garmin will typically have more detailed coverage in any particular country but their Thailand map is literally riddled with errors. As for the OSM routing accuracy in the U.S., it sort of depends on whether there are many OSM mappers working in the area where you're driving. Some parts of the U.S. have dedicated local mappers that produce a much more detailed and accurate map then Garmin has. But then if you drive through East Mudflats Utah, maybe no body is doing that area and consequently the routing and road name accuracy is weak. One other difference, and for me this is paramount, is that you can fix the OSM routing errors yourself if you join the OSM project as I did. Not so with Garmin maps. It's a long and arduous process to get any errors corrected. Mapping is not for everyone and the OSM project is both massive and complex, but if you're frustrated with Gamin's maps or the strict no-copy policies forced on you by Navtec and Garmin, maybe it's time for a change. I fully expect OSM maps to replace paid-for maps at some point in the future, jut like Wikipedia has all but replaced print encyclopedias. I've been using them on my motorcycle in S.E. Asia for years and wouldn't waste my money on a Garmin or ESRI map of Thailand or Cambodia. You can try out an OSM map of your area, or state, or country, for free. You can download them with installers for Windows and Mac from the following site already mentioned in this thread. Installation is simple. Just double click on the exe file and sit back. No calls to Garmin, no unlock codes, no BS. And chances are, your map will be outdated in a month or two as the OSM Map of the World is constantly changing. No problem. Go to the site and download a new map. Better yet, get involved and work on the map in your locality where you're the one with the expert knowledge. Experience a routing error? Fix it yourself. http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ A postscript: If you find yourself using OSM maps a lot, you might consider donating a few bucks via Paypal to help pay server expenses for this all volunteer project. Oh, I also own a Montana 600, which is what drew me to this thread. Happy Trails

What kind of death did your 60cx suffer ? I have a 60csx that works fine but it has some cosmetic issues with the case. Would you be looking to sell your non-working 60cx ? the3Gmen It will not locate satellites. I tried many fixes, but the internal firmware is stuck at version 0.00, apparently a well known bug, and it refuses to update although both Webupdater and manual firmware updates report success. The lettering is worn off the buttons too. I'm in Thailand for the next few months so it would be expensive to ship it anywhere, especially considering that it's dead LOL. I think I would have been happy using it for years more but it was not to be. The case is okay but very worn (the antenna "leg" where you would attach a lanyard is gone) but the screen looks good as it's had a Zagg Invisible Shield on it for a long time. If you're still interested, make me an offer. Shipping would take about 3 weeks and cost maybe $20, not sure. Contact me through email daveswarthout at gmail dot com I'll give it some thought and let you know. By the way, the "antenna leg" as you call it was never intended as a lanyard attachment. As you probably found out when it broke it is just rubber. I never used a lanyard with that unit - the power plug serves that purpose well I would think seeing as it requires quite a tug to pull it free LOL But I was under the impression that it was made for that purpose. I stand corrected.

What kind of death did your 60cx suffer ? I have a 60csx that works fine but it has some cosmetic issues with the case. Would you be looking to sell your non-working 60cx ? the3Gmen It will not locate satellites. I tried many fixes, but the internal firmware is stuck at version 0.00, apparently a well known bug, and it refuses to update although both Webupdater and manual firmware updates report success. The lettering is worn off the buttons too. I'm in Thailand for the next few months so it would be expensive to ship it anywhere, especially considering that it's dead LOL. I think I would have been happy using it for years more but it was not to be. The case is okay but very worn (the antenna "leg" where you would attach a lanyard is gone) but the screen looks good as it's had a Zagg Invisible Shield on it for a long time. If you're still interested, make me an offer. Shipping would take about 3 weeks and cost maybe $20, not sure. Contact me through email daveswarthout at gmail dot com I'll give it some thought and let you know. By the way, the "antenna leg" as you call it was never intended as a lanyard attachment. As you probably found out when it broke it is just rubber. I never used a lanyard with that unit - the power plug serves that purpose well I would think seeing as it requires quite a tug to pull it free LOL But I was under the impression that it was made for that purpose. I stand corrected.

What kind of death did your 60cx suffer ? I have a 60csx that works fine but it has some cosmetic issues with the case. Would you be looking to sell your non-working 60cx ? the3Gmen It will not locate satellites. I tried many fixes, but the internal firmware is stuck at version 0.00, apparently a well known bug, and it refuses to update although both Webupdater and manual firmware updates report success. The lettering is worn off the buttons too. I'm in Thailand for the next few months so it would be expensive to ship it anywhere, especially considering that it's dead LOL. I think I would have been happy using it for years more but it was not to be. The case is okay but very worn (the antenna "leg" where you would attach a lanyard is gone) but the screen looks good as it's had a Zagg Invisible Shield on it for a long time. If you're still interested, make me an offer. Shipping would take about 3 weeks and cost maybe $20, not sure. Contact me through email daveswarthout at gmail dot com

I had a 60Cx for many years and loved it. Awesome GPSr. It died a few months ago and I had to decide what to replace it with. The units I considered were, another 60Cx bought off eBay, a 62 Series, or the Montana. I use my GPS mostly on a motorcycle. The Montana is pretty expensive but it does have a power connector that is much more rugged than the mini-USB connectors on the 62 Series. The old 60Cx had a special 4-pin power plug that was almost as good as a lanyard but I looked around and couldn't find one for less than about $300 so I finally decided on the Montana. I'm very happy with it. The huge screen and the power connector sold me. Thee are some issues, learning curve issues mostly, when moving from the 60Cx and Mapsource to the Montana and Basecamp. Basecamp is still under development and it has bugs but overall it's vastly more powerful than Mapsource. Mapsource is an obsolete product will not be updated while Garmin offers new Basecamp releases every few months so in time most bugs will be resolved. As for accuracy, the units are comparable. My 60Cx amazed me when I first moved from an eTrex -- I could get a signal inside of a building! The eTrex lost signal in the forest where I needed it most. I hear the Montana has lots of geocaching features as well but I don't geocache so they're only peripherally interesting to me.