Styk

sounds like it. I had a sandisk microSD adapter card go bad on me recently. Was included with their 8G micro card.

"Best" is hard to get a general consensus on. Depends on your needs. Also depends on which method of interface you like best also. Are you a touch screen person or a button person. Is overall size a concern? Garmin makea a lt of different models for a reason. Maybe a Nuvi take supports Geocaching direct out of the box (Nuvi 500/550)or a handbheld that can act like a nuvi out of the box (Montana). Lots of choice and a lot of different opinions.

haven't used the 62 so i can't speak to that but i have cached with a few magellans, and a lot of different Garmins. The majority of my finds were done with a 60Cx. I had since owned the Colorado, once the bugs were gone, a nice caching unit. The Oregon, even better. But the Montana tops them all.

the device need to be larger by 5X7X2 cm and heavier by 50 grams. For me I would rather carry a lighter and smaller device. Well, if they packed the Montana software into the Oregon, I'd have stayed with the Oregon a bit longer. However, like many ppl who's eyes are starting to have trouble focusing close, the larger screen is a blessing. Not to mention on the battery pack, the screen is way brighter. Also. the screen readablity is better then the Oregon also. Yes, it's significantly larger and some times I would prefer the smaller unit, until I win the lottery, i have to make sacrifices in my toys.

It's one or the other, they both fit in the same space.

Just sent my 600 in for "repair" which at this time means swap. I did notice that my screen had the honeycomb pattern also. Called garmin support twice today, 1st time the guy was not very cordial. He wanted e to reload the firmware which I have already done several times over the weekend and didn't have a mini USB cable handy so I let it go until I was home and had access to all my cables and laptop. One thing he did say was that the 3.6 firmware was suppose to have the software fix for the calibration problem. Second call went much smoother, after explaining what i had already done, he had me do a master reset and try the recalibration again. Surprise still way off. So it's packed up and ready to send to the repair depot in the morning. This CSR told me, the software fix is still not release and no news as to when it may be released. Procedure is to replace all units as they are reported defective. So in 6-8 weeks , I should have another Montana back in my hands thanks the quick service at Canada's only repair depot for Garmin.

They did make a couple of Nuvi's that worked well for geocaching. The 500 and 550. They are multi use and did both geocaching and Wherigo in addition to there other roles namely automotive, motorcycle and marine. I used it for geocaching, not quite as slick as a Colorado or an Oregon, but way better then a straight automotive Nuvi. Holds 500 caches and is true paperless caching ready. Supports field notes. If you only afford one GPS and you want voice directions on the road and decent geocaching capabilities, they are a good choose.

I'm running 3.6, had my unit about a month now and starting to see problems with screen calibration. this thread has been quiet for a while.

Don't forget the new Montana, it is paperless and with the larger screen, easier to read plus i find the display is brighter also. I got my 600 for $380

previous devices had a power option to determine what would happen in event of external power loss. I use my GPS when trail riding and have had issues with my oregon losing power due to poor connection at the 12v end. Would love to see this feature restored on the Montana.

or rename it to "gmapsupp.img", some units are a bit particular to what the file is named depending on if it's in internal or external memory.

Very easy. I just upgraded from an Oregon which I thought was the cats meow but the Montana is even better. Only downside is the physical size of the unit. Magellan had a larger unit like this years ago, the XL but it lacked a night feture where the screen colors inverted to make it easier to use in a car.

Black tywraps usually are UV resistant but the others will stand up pretty good. Here's a good installation tip, after using the pliers to pull the wraps tight, use a utility knife with a new blade to cut the protruding strap off flush with the head, cutting away from the bars so you don't nick the part around the bar. now if you reach under, you won't cut yourself on a ragged cut off. You can get a nasty cut from improperly cut straps. We use flush cut wire cutters at work reserved specifically for that one task. But we also use a lot of tywraps

Yuppers, full paperless features. Keep in mind the new models are more nuvi like and some features that exist on the older models are gone now. Most notable, you cannot delete individual geocaches. you have to reload you cache gpx file plus either reboot between deleting the currently loaded cache file and loading an updated one or rename the new cache file and then delete the old one and reboot, this way it knows it has new cache data to process.

Glad to hear you had a good experience. Up here in the cold north, we have one authorized warranty repair center, they are slow and rude.

With the Colorado models, some of the early units had more ten their fair share of problems. I have been watching the Montana threads with great interest as the Montana has re-introduced some features I missed with my Colorado and Oregon. Biggest one for me is the night mode. In any case, I have found a deal on the 600, $380 plus tax. Are there issues that have been resolved via hardware modifications in the earlier released units?

so, has anyone managed to interface with their GPS on an android tablet?

Looks like I spoke too soon, mine is almost unuseable now. The area closest to the words "Montana 650" seems to wok fine but anything diagonally opposite that is way off. Doesn't matter how many times I calibrate it always says "Calibration successful" yet the problem persists. I spoke with Gpscity.ca today and they are nice enough to offer a replacement for me even though I am outside of the 30 day RMA period (I just have to pay shipping). Garmin warranty in canada is handled by Raytech in Quebec, I am not sure what their turn around time is, but I will drop them an email (since its after hours there now.) I have dealt with Raytech twice now. If I were you and gpscity offered a replacement, take it cuz you have to pay shipping to Rayteck anyways and Raytech is notorious for being SLOW!! They advertise an average turn around time of 2 weeks or used to. First unit was a Colorado, 7 weeks and I called twice, end of the 3rd week and beginning of the 7th when they magically had just looked at it and determined it had to be replaced. Second was an oregon 450, 2.5 weeks and I believe that was because #1, after talking with Garmin for over an hour they agreed it was FUBAR and wanted it sent to them (in the US) from Raytech. #2, Garmin emailed them with instructions to replace and return my unit to them. However, they ignored the email or had no procedure to track incoming units to spot it and did NOTHING until I called, complained and pointed out that Garmin had sent them an email with replacement instructions which they CC'd me also. Once they read said email, they had a replacement unit shipped out the next morning. Overall, kinda poor service having only one repair center in Canada. You"ll be up and caching again a lot sooner dealing with GPSCITY then Raytech.

screen size borrowed? Garmin has been making GPSs with various size screens for years. Lithium ion battery pack, nothing new for any manufacturer, just a matter of where does it make sense to use it versus the ever popular AA cells. 9v battery, why would you suggest a power source that the first thing you have to do is waste power converting it to a usable voltage, the trend is to lower the supply voltage to actually reduce power usage allowing longer run time on a given capacity battery. The faster the processor, the more power it requires, now a multi speed processor would make sense, idle down when processing requirements are low, save battery power. Plus they make these features availble to users outside of the US unlike Delorme and Bushnell.

Never tried one personally but a friend of mine bought one for the kids but the difference between the Magellan GC and his Garmin Oregon made for some frustrating caching trips. I personally think that's a Garmin versus Magellan thing but typically the lower end of the line units are feature lacking. But if it can do all or even most of what you want, then it's usually worth the savings.

What scale is displayed?, if it's out to far they can disappear. The older units could be setup to change what was visible at what scale. I haven't played much with settings on my 450, just left most at the default settings.

I wonder about the long term reliability of the contacts for power in the cradle and on the Montana when used for ATVing. Riding in a group in the summer usually involves a lot of dust. I too am waiting for tyhe majority of bugs to be fixed, jump on the bandwagon real early with the Colorado, waited about a year before getting a Oregon and that was a hugh improvement. The Montana looks like the perfect unit for off-road activities.

Ouch $50, they were only $100 units back when they were new and it's been a while since they were introduced, I looked at them and when i found out they had only a base map and didn't connect to a PC, I stayed clear. Sorry to be so negative but eBay is a buyer beware shopping mecca

yea, was kinda hoping a Montana owner may have checked this out already as I'm sure I'm not the only one annoyed with the power loss behaviour of the Oregon. Nothing on the wiki regarding this or much else for that matter.

Length limitations depends on current draw of the load, so long as the current is low level, so will voltage drop. As long as the GPS gets enough voltage at the USB plug to drive the internal regulator it will be fine. USB provides 5 volts, batteries provide 2.5 - 3 volts