Need A New Gps

[kerecsen]

As my GPS broke (http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=101363) and got stolen (in beautiful New York City) within the course of a couple of weeks, I urgently need to get a new one.

I liked the 60cs, but the laughable memory space and the poor reliability let me wanting for something better.

 

Is there anything better for combined hiking/driving use?

 

I was looking at the M5 (but read lackluster reviews), other PDAs (they are huge + battery life/impact resistance are abysmal), the 320c (doesn't look like it would survive a trip in a backpack) and the Magellan units (no Hungarian map + hate the UI).

 

Do I have other choices?

 

Has anyone heard rumors of Garmin coming up with an improvement replacement for the outdated 60cs?

 

Thanks,

Tamas

[+Miragee]

Outdated 60 CS?

 

How many maps do you need?

 

I have all the maps I need on my Vista which has less than half the memory of the 60CS, and I can add more.

 

If I could afford it, the 60 CS is the GPSr I would get . . .

[+IVxIV]

Check out the Lowrance iWay 100m

 

It'll survive your backwoods hiking

 

It'll talk to you during your driving adventures (voice prompted autorouting/rerouting)

 

It supports SD/MMC memory cards for up to 1GB of storage

[kerecsen]

Outdated 60 CS?

 

How many maps do you need?

 

I have all the maps I need on my Vista which has less than half the memory of the 60CS, and I can add more.

 

If I could afford it, the 60 CS is the GPSr I would get . . .

Well, if you compare the speed/versatility/features of the 60cs to any decent PDA-based navigator, you will see that the 60cs's software is seriously stuck in the 20th century. It was very nice and revolutionary when I bought my eMap 6 years ago, but so was a 1 GHz Pentium-III.

 

The 56 megs of ram are barely enough to fit one state, let alone a reasonable 4 day weekend roadtrip (which also requires some topo maps for hiking).

 

And why should I have to "prepare" the GPS for the trip in the first place?! What happens if I miss a plain/train connection and get stuck in some weird city for the evening? Honestly, how hard is it to add an SD (or even miniSD, for all I care) socket? If I can walk around with several gigs of memory for my camera, why does Garmin expect me to carry a laptop for the GPS?

 

But I'm not trying to influence anyone's judgement. In fact I recommend the 60c as the best all-around GPS to anyone who asks (at least I used to before my 60cs broke). But for my purposes and for the hefty $500 price tag (or $800 with EU maps), I find it unduly constraining and inflexible.

[kerecsen]

Check out the Lowrance iWay 100m

 

It'll survive your backwoods hiking

 

It'll talk to you during your driving adventures (voice prompted autorouting/rerouting)

 

It supports SD/MMC memory cards for up to 1GB of storage

This is the feature set that I would need, with a color display and from a manufacturer that acknowledges the existence of EU states east of Italy (such as Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, not to mention the non-EU countries).

[+Miragee]

Outdated 60 CS?

 

How many maps do you need?

 

I have all the maps I need on my Vista which has less than half the memory of the 60CS, and I can add more.

 

If I could afford it, the 60 CS is the GPSr I would get . . .

Well, if you compare the speed/versatility/features of the 60cs to any decent PDA-based navigator, you will see that the 60cs's software is seriously stuck in the 20th century. It was very nice and revolutionary when I bought my eMap 6 years ago, but so was a 1 GHz Pentium-III.

 

The 56 megs of ram are barely enough to fit one state, let alone a reasonable 4 day weekend roadtrip (which also requires some topo maps for hiking).

 

And why should I have to "prepare" the GPS for the trip in the first place?! What happens if I miss a plain/train connection and get stuck in some weird city for the evening? Honestly, how hard is it to add an SD (or even miniSD, for all I care) socket? If I can walk around with several gigs of memory for my camera, why does Garmin expect me to carry a laptop for the GPS?

 

But I'm not trying to influence anyone's judgement. In fact I recommend the 60c as the best all-around GPS to anyone who asks (at least I used to before my 60cs broke). But for my purposes and for the hefty $500 price tag (or $800 with EU maps), I find it unduly constraining and inflexible.

Well, I wouldn't want a PDA-based GPS unit for Geocaching because I've fallen down a few times, plus I've dropped my GPSr. I like the durability factor of a real, waterproof GPSr. The other day my friend dropped her GPSMAP 60CS about ten feet down to some rocks. It bounced a couple of times and all she had to do was dust it off and turn it back on.

 

Personally, I don't want to mess with SD cards and try to keep them straight or risk losing one.

 

Seems like if you already have the maps for that model it would be good to just replace the unit you had . . . or upgrade to the GPSMAP 76 series with double the memory.

 

Also, the Garmin GPSMAP 60CS is on sale at Amazon right now for only $343.94.

[kerecsen]

I like the durability factor of a real, waterproof GPSr. The other day my friend dropped her GPSMAP 60CS about ten feet down to some rocks. It bounced a couple of times and all she had to do was dust it off and turn it back on.

 

Personally, I don't want to mess with SD cards and try to keep them straight or risk losing one.

 

Seems like if you already have the maps for that model it would be good to just replace the unit you had . . . or upgrade to the GPSMAP 76 series with double the memory.

 

Also, the Garmin GPSMAP 60CS is on sale at Amazon right now for only $343.94.

I too like the water/shock proofness of the real GPSes. But that is the ONLY advantage they have, and I'm starting to reconsider how much it is worth to me.

 

You don't have to mess with SD cards. You just get a 1 gig for about $50 and you are set for a looong time. No switching, no downloading, no hassle. Garmin should at least add an internal SD slot and sell the 60cs with 1 gig of memory for an extra $200. I'm sure people would buy it, and they would make an instant $150 profit margin

 

I do have maps, but I've used both my activations, so I'm starting from scratch (a VERY expensive scratch). So this is the perfect time to abandon my Garmin heritage...

[+briansnat]

I liked the 60cs, but the laughable memory space and the poor reliability let me wanting for something better

 

Laughable memory space? I fit the entire northeast using Mapsource Topo in the 56 megs and can get a good sized state using City Select. For road trips I load the maps for my destination and likely stopping points and use the routeable basemap for areas in between.

 

Not sure what you're referring to when you say poor reliability. My 60cs has worked great since day 1 and I know many other very happy 60C(S) users.

[kerecsen]

Laughable memory space?  I fit the entire northeast using Mapsource Topo in the 56 megs and can get a good sized state  using City Select.  For road trips I load the maps for my destination and likely stopping points and use the routeable basemap for  areas in between.

 

Not sure what you're referring to when you say poor reliability.  My 60cs has worked great since day 1 and I know many other very happy 60C(S) users.

A "good sized state" excludes New York. Or any state with significant population. Not to mention most European countries.

 

So if you travel around a bit, you have to always pay attention to having just the right mix of maps in the GPS. Why do I have to spend an hour every weekend puzzling together 56 meg mapsets when I could just get a flash card that would hold them all for $50? (remember, we are talking about a $400 unit here!). I'm essentially getting worse than McDonalds wages for my work...

 

And don't even get me started on the basemap. It's obsolete and misleading. I almost wish I could use those 8 megabytes for storing usable maps.

 

Oh, and talking about the Topo: except for the mountains, everything else is horridly out of date. I have yet to find a single dirt road or tourist trail around Salt Lake City that is anywhere near accurately marked. And no update/alternative is in sight.

 

As for reliability, I had some issues... And although my eMap lasted MUCH longer, eventually it developed some kinks, too...