reppans

Another good idea NordicMan... I'll wrap a piece of scrap around and see the effect. Thanks guys.

Good points, thanks. My other car was tinted professionally with non-metallic and it is holding up fine after 3yrs (warranty also 3yrs), although it is garaged and doesn't get much direct sunlight. The van I'm about to tint will sit outside. I do place the GPS pretty much in the center of the dash, in a cup holder.... just thought the GPS might need to access more satellites via the sides.

Anyone use metallic window tinting in their car with a portable GPS? I've heard metallic window tinting degrades the satellite reception in your car... how bad is it? I've already tinted one car with non-metallic tint and reception is fine, but installers always seem to have limited warranties (2 or 3 yrs) on non-metallic and lifetime warranties on metallic tints. Want to tint to cool the car in the summer sun (just sides and rear), and I use a 60CSX. Thanks.

I think you had flawed batteries. I had a similar experience. Bought some Chinese made "Power2000" 2700 mAh, 1.25v for my camera and could barely get 20min of video with any combination batteries (out of 12 batts). Returned all of them... absolute crap. Alakines gave 30mins+ of video Then, after a bit of research, I bought from here: http://ripvan100.com/ and got 3.5 hours of video from a pair of batts. Sanyos high capacity (for heavy duty use) and Sanyo Eneloops (for intermittent use) are the way to go.... and with a quality charger. If you really want to look at some good battery analysis go here.... these guys are the battery geeks of all geeks: http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=133440 (their site seems to be off line for the moment, but I'd check back, they've tested the best of the best)

I've heard that 76 can be one-handed easier because, well, your thumb is naturally at the top of the unit when cradling it with one hand. Also the 76 comes with a 128mb card, the 60 comes with a 64mb card (but neither is sufficiently sized).

I generally like north up if I'm just viewing my location on a map and track up if I'm navigating a route, but I've really become a fan of the highway mode now. I use a 2610 on a motorcycle and use track up (0.2 or 0.3mi scale) to warn me of hairy corners coming up (but I don't *rely* on it). I once saw a hairpin coming up on the GPS... the guy in front of me didn't... and he went down .

I just loaded both (City Navigator & Topo) on the my new CSX. A couple of observations. - you should hide either CN or Topo if you are not using it. If you leave both open, the unit will need to redraw the screen for both, even though you can see only one. This takes more time and, I'm sure, batt. power. - always, always show the base map. If you zoom way out to move around different states, like 20 miles+ scale, the base map takes over and redraws very quickly (since it is pretty sparse). Without the basemap, CN and Topo have tons of detail and redraws painfully slowly, even when selecting least detail on Topo. Well that's my $0.02.

If you need to park your car in a questionable area, try and leave absolutely **NO** evidence that you own a GPS unit. And by evidence, I mean: - External Antenna - Power cable - Dashboard or windshield mount - Even the telltale suction cup ring of a windshield mount Portable GPSs have become the new car radio of the 80s - expensive and easy to steal and sell. The thieves know that many portable GPS users will simply hide their units under the seats, or in a glove box, when they leave the car. Unfortunately, it is often worth it for them to test that theory and break a window to find out. Leaving mounts, cords and suction cup imprints in sight just lets these slimes zero in on the most likely targets. For years, I never had a problem.... but it only takes once. I was hit last year . I made the mistake of always leaving my 2610 power cord in the cigarette lighter. Even though I did not have my GPS with me this time, they broke my window to find out. The only thing actually stolen was that cord, and they did not even bother touching a radar detector I had left on the windshield. Spoke to the cops who said a half dozen other cars were hit that night, all portable GPS users. I've subsequently read about this problem on a number of different car forums. Don't give these slime bags a reason to hit your car.... leave no trace.

I'll be taking my GPS skiing next week and had the same question. Warm and safe for the GPS is an inside chest pocket, but I know of some people that have cracked ribs landing on cell phones that way....

The quality of NiMh batts can vary immensely. Not knowing anything, I bought some 2700s and a high tech charger of a no-name ("Power2000") from a very large electronics dealer in NYC (J&R) for my digicam. What a Piece of Crap. Couldn't muster more than a 20 min video from any combination of batteries and alkalines made it 30mins (2gigs) on the first try... returned it. Did a bit of research and went for the Sanyos and a good charger... Unbelieveable! 3.5 hours (15 gigs!) of video recording from 2 AAs! I bought from here and highly recommend them: http://ripvan100.com/ Then I found this site, which is the geek site of all battery geeks I've ever seen: http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=133440 Of course, the Sanyos & Ripvan100 rate quite highly Bottom line, get Sanyos... 2700s if you're going to use them continuously for a few days, Eneloops if you will use intermittently over a longer period of time or in the cold. PS.. quick chargers fry your batteries... they won't last long.

Normal NiMh rechargeables, not so great.... but Eneloops claim to be. Will be testing that claim... if my 2700s every run down . Quote: - high performance even at low temperatures down to –10 °C during your winter vacation From Here: http://www.eneloop.info/215.html

Thanks folks, lots of good ideas here. I do carry spare batteries, and I do also have the Sanyo Eneloops which I'll be swapping with the high capacity 2700 Sanyos depending upon if running constantly or intermittently. I know battery life will be more than enough around civilization, but I'm concerned about saving juice on extended backpacking/kayaking trips. For that, I'll be carrying backups for the backups (Lithium AAs). So, for max life: Disable WAAS, Compass, backlighting, sound.... and I like the blank page idea. I guess I can believe that an *unchanging* display uses low to no incremental power, but I have to believe the constant redrawing of maps as you move, and the screen scrolls, should use significant incremental power. Thanks for the comments!

Hi all, I'm new here. I'm hoping to pick up the 60CSx shortly and was just wondering what it's real world battery life was like. Gamin says around 18 hours with alkalines but I was just wondering if people were getting significantly better than that, and what they were doing. For example: - Using 2700 NiMh? In a digicam, these batts can beat Alkalines by 4-6x in # of shots or minutes of video. - Understand there is a battery saver mode which samples less frequently. Does this add a lot to the 18 hours? - Can you turn off the LCD screen? I got to believe it takes a lot of juice to constantly power and refresh the screen as you move, and it's not like you need to constantly watch the screen (but would want to run tracking constantly). - Hiding unused map layers (eg, City Nav and Topo). A Garmin rep said, even if you can't see the 2nd the map layer, if it is not purposely hidden/turned off, the unit will redraw the 2nd layer underneath the primary layer using more batt. and slowing screen refresh rates. - Any other ideas to extend battery life? Thanks for your help...