TheMylrea's

That is exactly what I had been doing (prior to the new 6.6 GSAK), and they ARE loaded with the geocache symbol, but they are loaded into the WAYPOINTS section, NOT the Geocache section of my 60CSx (and hence you cannot mark it FOUND, etc...). I did it multiple times, and they always went into the WAYPOINTS app, not the GEOCACHE app. Moot point now, since GSAK has been updated to work with the "x" series.

I'm using the e2 lithiums in my 60CSx with no problems whatsoever. I'm currently on vacation in Kauai, and have had my GPS on and off ALOT this past week. No peculiar behavior (that can be attributed to the batteries). BTW, i've had VERY good performance out of the lithiums. Still shows all four bars on the battery level gague.

Thanks for the help. I was just now browsing ebay looking for good deals, and noticed a seller that was saying Garmin has DISCONTINUED CitySelect, and will only be selling CityNavigator. Not that it matters, but is it true, and if so, why doesn't the Garmin web site mention that? Looks like i'll be shopping for the City Navigator NA v7!!!! Thanks again!

Regarding the City Select NA v7 , the Garmin web site does NOT show this as compatible with the GPSMAP 60CSx. They do show the City Navigator North America v7 as compatible. Will this work on the 60CSx?

Yes, I agree. At the last minute, I was rushing around trying to find the Topo: West Coast & Hawaii, JAN 06 Maps on MicroSD card. Seemed like what I wanted, but couldn't find any locally before we had to leave for Kauai. I'm not sure which would be best for me, though, the City Select® North America v7, or the Topo: West Coast & Hawaii, JAN 06 Maps on MicroSD card? Do they both contain the same level of detail? Obviously, the MicroSD card version only contains CA and HI, whereas the City-Select v7 has all of the US. Does that make it the better value? Thanks!

Thanks for the info. I must say that I am getting more use out of my 60CSx than I did my 60CS, so maybe they both had similar "problems"and I just didn't know it, but it does SEEM to me that the 60CS's basemaps were more accurate and that, overall, I had better accuracy with the 60CS. I am getting to know the 60CSx very well on this trip, so, who knows....Just seems when I have high strength locks on almost all the sats, with 12ft accuracy, that my 60CSx should be pointing me in the right direction when geocaching, and tracks in and out should be within that level of accuracy. Maybe I'm expecting too much from my $500 GPS?

I brought my new 60CSx with me on our vacation to Kauai, and am noticing that although I have a super great lock on almost all satellites out here in the middle of the Pacific, the accuracy is terrible. Either the island has shifted or the built-in maps are terrible. When traveling along the only highway in Kauai, the 60CSx never shows us ON the highway, but about 500 feet to the side of it. The built-in maps are also extremely void of any detail, showing only straight lines (looks like they were drawn with a ruler). When we geocache or hike, and take EXACTLY the same trail out as we took in (doubling our tracks exactly), the 60CSx map shows the tracks to be 20-30 feet off. Using it for geocaching, so far, it is not pointing me in the right direction and is usually about 20-30 feet off in some different direction. I had the 60CS before this, and was generally happy with it. I do LOVE the increased sensitivity, though. My son has the 60C, and just to be sure, we double-check out current co-ordinates, and they both match, so I don't think my 60CSx is bad. Also, one time, I stuck the 60CSx in my pocket and went into a store. Lost the sats. When I came back outside, and tried to get a lock, it would NOT lock onto any sats. I had to turn it off and back on. I'm using the 2.62 BETA firmware. Anyone else using this firmware having similar issues? Aloha!

I've used those methods, plus just directly importing .GPX into Mapsource and sending to my 60CSx. The problem is they import into the 60CSx as WAYPOINTS, not as GEOCACHE points. So under the Geocaching function on the 60CSx, there is nothing...the list is populated under waypoints. Any idea how to get the .GPX file to import as GEOCACHE points? Thanks!

Yes, they do come with different basemaps. Autoroute is approximately 13mb, Recreational is approximately 8mb. Your experience notwithstanding, Autoroute is more detailed, but neither is adequate for any type of serious mapping. They will both have major highways. Autoroute may have a few more state and lesser highways. Autoroute has some railroads, and autoroute has some rivers and water features. As others have stated, for any type of detail you will want to get some software. US Topo has land form and features, State and national parks, trails and limited street coverage. City Select is a routable road map with 6 million POIs (restaurants, hotels and movie theaters) It's not that we're looking for more detail, just noticing that what was once there is no longer on the 60CSx. Basically, where we were, there was a geocache waypoint at the intersection of highway 67 and Scripps Poway Parkway (in San Diego). Highway 67 is a small 4 line backcountry highway, but both of those were on my old 60CS, and the waypoint was clearly at the corner of the intersection of the two. On my 60CSx, we were at the same spot, and the whole intersection was missing on my map! Just a geocache waypoint symbol sitting out in the middle of nowhere. I looked through the menus, thinking street detail was turned off, but I couldn't find such a setting.

The basemap on the 60CS is very sparse and has the least level of detail of the basemaps that Garmin uses. So it's unlikely that the basemap on your 60CSx is any worse. I wonder if it's possible that some more detailed maps had been loaded onto your 60CS before you bought it as a test or demo. According to Garmin's specs, the two units come with different base maps. The 60CS has the America's Recreational maps, and the 60CSx says it has Americas autoroute basemap. Two different maps. There MUST be some differences, and in my case, it appears the America's autoroute has lesser detail than America's Recreational. Who knows for sure...Garmin seems to keep more secrets than the US Govt!

We're off to Kauai this weekend, taking our GPSr's and laptops and travel bugs, and was beginning to wonder if the GPSMAP 60CSx is going to have the maps built-in for Kauai? I know it says North America, but does that include Hawaii? Aloha!

Well, back in January, I bought the 60CS, as REI didn't have the 60CSx in stock yet. I used the 60CS for a couple of months...except for the electronic compass being flakey, I liked it. I decided to trade it in at REI for the 60CSx, and pay the difference, and on our first outing to a place we'd been before with the 60CS, I noticed none of the roads were showing up on the 60CSx map. I could not figure out how to get them to display. Highways show up, but no major roads...roads that I know were shown on the 60CS. My guess is the 60CSx has lesser maps. That, along with the fact that Garmin felt it necessary to change the USB protocol and break GSAK (why in the world would they futz with that!?), makes me reconsider my "trade-up" to the 60CSx. I do like the Sirf chipset sensitivity, though!

I, too, am disappointed with the Garmin TOPO software. I purchased this SOLELY for identifying trails in San Diego County (and possible Hawaii, as we vacation there often). What I found out is that the TOPO West map does not seem to include any trails if they are not in National parks or forests! Popular trails in the San Diego backcountry are glaring omissions on the maps. I now own practically useless (for me) software. Look on ebay, soon, for a great deal on barely used TOPO map software!

My 60CS electronic compass constantly stops working. It's very annoying and frustrating. I'm having to recalibrate it so often, i'm becoming permanently dizzy!

I have a 60CS, and am totally frustrated with the electronic compass. EVERY time I go out, I have to recalibrate it, and sometimes it stops working while out, and I have to recalibrate it AGAIN! It basically just stops responding. I purchased it at REI (great return policy), and I think i'm going to exchange it for another 60CS (not CSx). FYI.

I use GSAK to transfer my geocaches to my 60CS. No matter what I try with the exporting fields of GSAK, I cannot get my 60CS to show more than 18 or so characters of a geocache hint. Is there any way to get a complete hint onto the 60CS? I hate having to print out on paper each cache's details whenever we go out! Thanks!

Thanks everyone. I did determine that when the cable is going down the back of the 600, the battery does correctly show "Charging", then "FULL CHARGE" when complete. Apparently, with the cable going up, it does trick the unit into going into USB transfer mode (even when there is no computer connected!), and when we chose EXT POWER, it SLOOOOWWWW charged. In any case, case solved! I'll look into the cradles, but space is limited where it would go, and those "cradles" that Magellan sells look rather thick and large. Thanks again!

OK, I don't get it. Both of the above referenced "cradles" look to be just mounting brackets for cars or boats. When getting a cradle, I expect something that sits on your desk, with the AC and/or USB cable attached, and you just sit your device into the cradle, and it starts charging and is available for communications. Both of the above referenced don't say anything about being an "active" cradle, nor do I see any contacts on them to serve as cradles. Am I expecting too much?

So, about this cradle for the 600...Magellan's site doesn't show a cradle for the 600. Seems like a logical accessory (necessity), but they don't list one. Even ebay only shows cradle/mounts for inside a car. Any info or links to the cradle for the Explorist 600? Darryl.

To all that have replied: Thanks for the tips and info! FWIW, we aren't plugging into the USB on the computer...only using the AC adapter and connecting to the back using the (dumb) screw-on connector. I'm not sure whether we have the cord running up or down, but I will double check that. I thought it was weird that, when not plugged into a USB port, that the 600 would go into USB transfer mode just by plugging the power connector onto the back!! I don't want to transfer, I want to charge the 600 (and maybe even play with it too, while charging)! In any case, i'm going to track down one of those cradles...is the cradle USB-enabled, or just power? Thanks all...I'll report back. Darryl.

Let me say first, that I am a new Garmin 60cs user, but I got my son a used Explorist 600, and considering that I am new at both, I must say that the Magellan interface is terrible. Nothing is intuitive. I can figure out my 60cs fine, but we all get frustrated trying to work with the Explorist 600. Now, to the matter at hand...we cannot seem to get the battery to charge. When we connect the cord to the 600 and plug in the AC adapter plug, then turn on the 600. It automatically comes up on the USB File transfer mode screen. Seems odd. In any case, we cannot get off this screen unless we change the selection to POWER ONLY. Once changed, the screen that shows the battery level now only shows EXT. POWER and a symbol of a yellow AC plug. According to the manual, it should show BATTERY CHARGING. When left in EXT POWER mode, the battery never charges. Can someone explain how this "Rube Goldberg" GPS is supposed to be set to charge the battery? ps. Whoever designed that screw-on connector just to charge the battery should have every connector in their house changed to teeny-tiny screw-on connections!

No, nothing magnetic. Thanks for the idea, though!

With Pocket Queries, it seems easy to fill up all 1000 spots on my Garmin 60CS. Does the GPS slow down (mapping, navigation, anything?) if there are a large number of waypoints in the system? Thanks!

Well, REI has probably the BEST return policy, which is why I bought from them. They will take it back anytime, for any reason. So, if the 60csx turns out to be the "cats meow", then I will exchange it. Regarding the compass, don't you ALWAYS have to hold it HORIZONTAL for the compass to give an accurate reading?

I have a new Garmin 60CS unit, and on both treks out, i've had problems with the compass. Now, I'm very much a novice at this, so maybe I'M doing something wrong, but I don't think so. I have the Electronic Compass on. When we are out and using it, it will be working fine. Then, the compass seems to STOP responding. No matter which direction I turn, the big compass on the compass page doesn't respond. The "N" arrow on the map page stays pointed in the same direction (relative to the screen) no matter which direction I turn. Also, the compass page shows the HOLD LEVEL message, even though it IS level. If I hold the compass at about 45degree angle, the HOLD LEVEL disappears. If I recalibrate the compass, it starts working again. I haven't tried turning off the Electric Compass yet, because I couldn't figure out how, and I didn't have the manual with me. (Now, I know how, and if it happens again, i'll try turning off the electric compass, and see if the GPS compass works). Anyone have any problems like this? It's only a week old, so if we suspect a bad unit, I'll return it to REI. (Actually, I wish they'd get the CSx in, so I could exchange mine for a 60CSx). Thanks for any tips. Darryl.