Slinger05

I've been thinking about the 650t but have read the screen freezes up. Have you experienced this at all? Nothing concerns me more than Garmin Beta devices. I almost feel like Garmin's are not worth their weight until they've been on the market for two years. (This is coming from a guy that has owned a Garmin 62st, Garmin Monterra and now a Garmin 62s.)

i went out caching for the day with the backlight on all time but lowest possible setting and i got 4 and half hours with 16% left so i reckon five hours tops 30 caches found but always carry spare batteries would be nice to share geocaches between devices my oregon 400t plus have the geocache total of the dashboard im still getting used to it not used for auto mode im wondering if gb discover sd card map is ok for routing with it on the whole i pretty happy compass issue is ok i had no probs one issues is you cannot see on the cahche desciption the photos from geocaching dot.com cheers That's good to hear you didn't have any issues and the battery made it that long. I remember trying to hike and navigate with the Monterra when I had it. It's very big compared to the 62s. I also didn't have a d-link attached to it so it was like holding one of the original cell phones with no place to put it. Obviously too big for pockets. Have they launched any D-link attachments for the Monterra? Had anyone used any aftermarket components for such or have thoughts on how to carry this device when on a hike?

No way. A page dedicated to garmin monterra bugs..Awesome bro. Thanks http://garminoregon6xx.wikispaces.com/Common+Issues#x-Bugs

Have you tried a hard reset? If not, I would try there first, then report back. Thankfully, I didn't need to resort to that. I went caching all day yesterday and part of today. After properly calibrating the compass, it has kept me on track. Now, if I could get more than 3 hours of battery life out of it, I'd be ecstatic. I go caching every day (my streak is well over 900 days) and on weekends I typically go caching all day. My Montana would last at least 8 hours of solid caching, sometimes more, sometimes less. I'm lucky to get 3 hours out of my Monterra. That's horrible. My Garmin 60S and 60csx lasted about 6 hours which I thought was annoying, but three hours. I guess, buying a backup batter is a must. Would you ever go back to the Montana?

Have you tried a hard reset? If not, I would try there first, then report back.

Can someone please confirm the the map alignment has been fixed. Thank you.

No resolution for compass=faulty device=return=buy when new model comes out=happy Edit Someone just posted on my YouTube video that the latest update fixed the compass and possibly the map misalignment. Can someone confirm here and my YouTube post? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYgXUS6RC7Y&feature=youtube_gdata_player

That's just weird that a third party application works. Does it drift like the stock application does? Which Compass app?

After I returned mine, I bought another garmin 62 s off eBay for $180. It works and makes me wonder why I spent all that money in the first place. Although I probably would buy another but it seems like everyone in this thread returned the . Heck we might never know if it's fixed, lol.

For sure, that is what I meant. Thank you for the clarification. My map pointer was off about 50-60 degrees West, which was interesting because the compass was misaligned 20-25 degrees East.

What about the pointer on the map. Does it now point in the correct direction?

It is. I found out while I was returning the unit.

No go on calibration with backlight off. Now, I'm getting concerned because I bought this at REI and I'm getting super close to a 30 day return policy. I think I'm almost convinced it's hardware only because it drifts. If you think of it from a logical perspective, the drift is the unknown variable. They can force calibrate all they want but it drifts for a reason. They can't possibly account for a drift because it will either start out wrong then drift to correct position or start out right and drift out of calibration. I think we should take a vote on whether to return or not. I'm probably returning tonight to be honest. I don't want to be part of the hassle of waiting for Garmin to recall the item and then having to mail the brick back, only to wait to receive a new one. Edit. Well I couldn't stand it any longer. I strongly think it's hardware because of the drift. I returned it about 5 minutes ago. I can always buy another once they fix it but I can't depend on this device while hiking. I actually went hiking with this 3 weeks ago and at the time didn't know it was off and was so confused when I got off the trail. I kept seeing the pointer point towards a terrain feature that I knew I was pointing at. NowI uunderstand it wasn't me, it was the pointer and map being off. I'll be checking this thread quite a bit until I get solid confirmation the calibration and drift are corrected. Good luck guys.

Tonight I'm going to try and calibrate with the screen light off and see if that helps at all. I'd say if it does or the compass doesn't move in backlight mode being off then I think it's safe to say it's hardware defect. I hate to think that but anyone want to test calibration with the backlight off?

Hmmm. I never tried that one. I'll give it a go right now. Thanks! Ooops. Sorry for the double post. Edited Tried the update..Failed. I also tried calibrating it on the wall...failed. I'll keep trying several times before I give up on this thing. Dang 750.00 paper weight. lol. I guess I'm going to have to try this. lame... I know the compass is really messed up but has anyone lined their pointer up on a map? It's way off guys....still with the update...way off. TO test. Line your device up to run parallel with a known street. The device should show an obvious 60 degree off. Please confirm for those that have tried the update. Also: This is the worst calibration tutorial ever! The second you finish with one calibration, it immediately moves into calibration to another direction without giving you time to stop calibrating it the other way. Update after factory reset and update: After I installed the update, I was surprised to see the compass without a calibration was much more in line with Magnetic North; however, after the calibration it was as if I never installed the update. It's as if, there's a strong piece of metal in the device causing it to pull the pointer or north to the right.(just thinking outside the box here). Try this: Just for fun, turn the screen off then turn it on keeping it steady. Notice how the pointer defaults to about the correct direction but then starts drifting 10 degrees east. Weird.

Please delete

So this is where everyone is talking about the bugs in the monterra. lol. I called Garmin in early December about so many problems with this device. 1) Compass calibration-Ya, it's a software problem but no fix yet? 25 degrees off....on two devices I tried. 2) Pointer is way off on the map? I'll be facing one direction and the compass is pointing 60 degrees+/- in the other direction! 3) I concur with others on batter life. The GPS stays on even when the screen is off. I'm sure this is meant to do this so after turning the GPS off, it's fine and last a while but I get about four hours if the GPS is on constantly. I'll probably end up buying another spare battery so not a deal killer but fix the compass and map calibration please! 4) Sight N-Go doesn't work at all. (Yes, I've calibrated several times) Those are my two biggest gripes about this device. I used to have a Garmin 60st and that was a dinosaur but accurate..lol. So my question is... Is it just my device? Any news as to when this will be fixed? Edit: I too have confirmed from Garmin the following: COMPASS ISSUE: Issue? as in hardware issue? The just don't see how the compass can be fixed with software. It's like they put the thing in upside down. lol. If it was installed wrong, that would mean, they'd have to do a recall. They couldn't possibly differentiate between devices with messed up compasses and new models that are correctly working. Maybe I'm going too far here. Sorry.