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Trying To Decide Between The 60cx Or The 60csx.


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I am needing opinions on the 60cx and the 60csx. I plan on ordering one or the other soon. I have read were the 60csx will lose signal in a tunnel and have to be restarted after exiting the tunnel before it will aquire sattelits again. Is theis a common problem and is it a problem with the 60cx model also? What are the bugs for each model? Are their any bugs that are exclusive to one model or do they have the same bugs? I currently have a magellan meridian, the basic one. I have had it for 3 or 4 years and I am ready to upgrade. I use it for car navigation, motorcycle navigation, and geocaching. I hope to get a lot of feed back from many of you. I know there is a lot of knowledge about gps units on this forum and I can usr that knowledge to make my decision on which unit to get. Thanks for the help. I will be checking back periodicaly throughout the day. I hope to order a unit this week-end. One more thing. Is the only difference between the 60cx and the 60csx, the electronic compass and the altimeter?

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I love my CSx. The electronic compass needs to be calibrated quite often, but to me it was worth the extra $40 to be able to keep my heading/bearing while standing still. As far as bugs go, I haven't seen many. The one that stands out is that the altimeter can give some funky readings here and there, which is a problem that Garmin seems to be working to fix in a firmware update. As far as the tunnel situation, I think that's a Sirf issue that exists in both the Cx and the CSx-- but I only know that from reading the forums. I was expecting to encounter this bug while driving through a tunnel a few weeks ago... the CSx lost its lock in the tunnel but when I emerged it found the satellites again, so I don't know if I wasn't in the tunnel for long enough or if this bug only exists in some units or what. All in all, I'm glad I went for the CSx over the Cx :lol:!

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I have the CSx and love it. I like the compass and altimeter both. If you think you would ever use either of these, I would just bite the bullet and spend the extra 40 -50 bucks and get it. You will spend more than that on gasoline on your first few geocaching trips and probably never even think about it.

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I have the Vista C and like both the electronic compass and the altimeter.

 

If I could afford to upgrade, I would go with the CSx. JMHO. :lol:

I was thinking that the electronic compass would be worth the extra money. The magellan I have now has a compass but you have to be moving in order for it to work. It would be nice to be able to stand in one spot and find directions. Thanks for the input. I have just about decided to go with the csx.

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I have the CSx and love it. I like the compass and altimeter both. If you think you would ever use either of these, I would just bite the bullet and spend the extra 40 -50 bucks and get it. You will spend more than that on gasoline on your first few geocaching trips and probably never even think about it.

Your probably right. It's not that much extra to go ahead and get the csx. I will probably go ahead and order the csx model. Have you used the city select software? Isn't that the one with turn-byb-turn routing? If so how do you like it. I plan on using it a lot on motorcycle trips. I have used the magellan a lot for that but it just has a point-to-point path and doesn't follow roads. It helps a little but I think the turn-by-turn routing will be awesome. Thanks for the help.

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I have the City Select software on my Vista C and like it a lot.

 

Sometimes it will deliver me to the opposite side of a wall from the cache, :lol: or on a street without access to the park behind the houses, :)

 

but I can always look at the map and figure it out from there . . . :lol:

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spend $14 on a compass that never needs batteries or calibrating and pocket the extra $26!!!

Do they make ones that tell you how far you are from the cache? Because the benefit to me is not that the electronic compass tells me "you're facing north"-- it's that it tells me "the cache is 30 ft. this way". The other benefit, to me anyways, is having one thing in my hand rather than 2 :lol: .

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Do they make ones that tell you how far you are from the cache? Because the benefit to me is not that the electronic compass tells me "you're facing north"-- it's that it tells me "the cache is 30 ft. this way". The other benefit, to me anyways, is having one thing in my hand rather than 2 .

 

Maybe a stupid question but does a GPS need an electronic compass in order to tell you that the cache is x feet this way?

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Maybe a stupid question but does a GPS need an electronic compass in order to tell you that the cache is x feet this way?

No, it doesn't. But it does need an electronic compass to point you in the right direction when you are standing still. A GPSr will always be able to tell you that the cache is x feet away, and they will point you in the right direction when you are moving. But when standing still, the only GPSr that will tell you "the cache is x ft. this way" is the one with the electronic compass. Not essential, but still worth the extra $40, IMHO.

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I have the CSx and love it. I like the compass and altimeter both. If you think you would ever use either of these, I would just bite the bullet and spend the extra 40 -50 bucks and get it. You will spend more than that on gasoline on your first few geocaching trips and probably never even think about it.

 

I totally agree.

 

I do not regret the extra 40-50 bucks on my 60CSx either. I count my money but I shall probably never think about these extra ones.

 

Would I have bought the Cx, I'd be thinking "why didn't I buy the CSx, maybe it was worth it ?". But I won't.

 

And again the 60CSx is well worth its price.

 

Now, if you have a lot of experience on previous GPSrs, with or without altimeter, you may have a more accurate view of your own needs and you could allow yourself the 60Cx only. Some people on this forum did it that way, and they knew what they were doing.

 

Personnally, I find it very cool standing still and the screen tells you where the north is. It also gives you the possibility to display the map or the track heading to north always, regardless of the device orientation itself.

 

As for the altimeter, based on my own and initial experience, subject to objections, my feeling is that the barometric altimeter gives a smoother indication of the GPS altitude variations. In other words, depending on how the reception conditions are, even within 10, 20 or 30 seconds, the GPS altitude may vary a lot, let's say about 10 or 20 meters. You can check this by asking for the altitude through the menu of the satellites page several times within a same minute. Then you go to the odometer page, and there, the altitude is much more steady, it may be a mere mathematical mean of the instantaneous GPS altitude measurements, but I think that the barometric altimeter is also involved in the altitude indicated in the odometer page. I can't prove it though.

 

For hiking in mountains, I think it is an interesting feature.

 

pyt22fr

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The compass needs calibrating every time you change batteries, and the altimeter needs calibrating for each use, and sometimes even more frequently in changeable weather. When I grab my GPSr, I wanna hit it, git it and go! I don't wanna spend time fiddling with a bunch of buttons every time I wanna go somewhere! Spend more money to complicate my life more...? :lol: that's just crazy-talk! Save time and money and enjoy life more - get a Cx

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I went with the 60CSx not having the CS hard to say if it was worth the money or not. I don't often use the compas but do use the altimeter mostly to measure total elevation changes while out hiking. I don't often calibrate the altimeter as I'm not often looking for the current elevation just looking for the total change.

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Maybe a stupid question but does a GPS need an electronic compass in order to tell you that the cache is x feet this way?

No, it doesn't. But it does need an electronic compass to point you in the right direction when you are standing still. A GPSr will always be able to tell you that the cache is x feet away, and they will point you in the right direction when you are moving. But when standing still, the only GPSr that will tell you "the cache is x ft. this way" is the one with the electronic compass. Not essential, but still worth the extra $40, IMHO.

 

Heres an (sarcastic) idea. When you walk to the cache, look at the nav. compass (on the Cx). Then, when you stop 30ft away, don't turn your body. The cache will still be where that dadgum arrow is pointing. You don't need an electronic compass.

And, someone will say, "but, the Garmin x-series will constantly change headings when standing still, so the electronic compass is necessary." No, it's not. If the GPS thinks it has moved (changed its coordinates), your arrow on the CSx will be moving around anyways.

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The GPS is accurate enough at reporting altitude for me.

 

Hi Alphawolf

 

I take it you are not a mountaineer? For me altitude is another vital bit of info when on an almost sheer cliff. 15 feet in any direction could mean death.

 

Sandy

 

Well, ya, I know a bit about it, and there's not a mountaineer I know anywhere that would pack a Garmin 60 up a mountain...I won't even backpack with one! Way too big and heavy. Altimeters are much lighter and don't take batteries. You actually use a GPS for climbing?!?!

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The compass needs calibrating every time you change batteries, and the altimeter needs calibrating for each use, and sometimes even more frequently in changeable weather. When I grab my GPSr, I wanna hit it, git it and go! I don't wanna spend time fiddling with a bunch of buttons every time I wanna go somewhere! Spend more money to complicate my life more...? :D that's just crazy-talk! Save time and money and enjoy life more - get a Cx

 

I agree. I have the csx, and the altimeter isn't worth the trouble of regular recalibration. When I step out my door, at 500 ft, the csx barometric altimeter typically reads 100 to 150 feet too high. The gps elevation (to which you have the option of calibrating it) is always more accurate, usually within 20 ft. It'd be nice if Garmin offered the option of turning off the barometric altimeter and just getting the gps elevation, but they don't.

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The compass needs calibrating every time you change batteries, and the altimeter needs calibrating for each use, and sometimes even more frequently in changeable weather. When I grab my GPSr, I wanna hit it, git it and go! I don't wanna spend time fiddling with a bunch of buttons every time I wanna go somewhere! Spend more money to complicate my life more...? :D that's just crazy-talk! Save time and money and enjoy life more - get a Cx

 

I agree. I have the csx, and the altimeter isn't worth the trouble of regular recalibration. When I step out my door, at 500 ft, the csx barometric altimeter typically reads 100 to 150 feet too high. The gps elevation (to which you have the option of calibrating it) is always more accurate, usually within 20 ft. It'd be nice if Garmin offered the option of turning off the barometric altimeter and just getting the gps elevation, but they don't.

 

actually, there is such a feature on the CSX. On the satellite page hit MENU then select GPS elevation.

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It'd be nice if Garmin offered the option of turning off the barometric altimeter and just getting the gps elevation, but they don't.

actually, there is such a feature on the CSX. On the satellite page hit MENU then select GPS elevation.

That lets you see what the current GPS-based elevation is, but it's not the same as turning off the pressure sensor. The recorded tracklog will still be based on the pressure sensor and the elevation shown in the data field on the map and other pages will be as well.

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Does it?

 

I have the old eTrex Vista, and there it goes like this:

 

From the satellite page, you can view the current GPS elevation, but only static. It will not change if the elevation change. You have to close and re-open the window then.

 

In all other data fields, the elevation derived from the barometric sensor is used.

 

You can calibrate the barometric sensor against a known elevation, GPS elevation (if you have 3D reception) or a known air pressure.

 

You can select the altimeter to calibrate itself against GPS elevation, in which case it will use an exponetially decaying influence from the GPS elevation, to calibrate the altimeter.

 

In the track log, GPS elevation is always stored, regardless of how you set up the barometric altimeter.

 

However, I haven't used any of the newer models with barometric altimeter, so there I don't know for sure.

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I have read were the 60csx will lose signal in a tunnel and have to be restarted after exiting the tunnel before it will aquire sattelits again. Is theis a common problem and is it a problem with the 60cx model also?

I had this glitch occur twice over the weekend on my new 60Cx. Had to walk through an underground pedestrian tunnel approximately 100 feet long to reach a cache and totally lost signal. It took probably a minute or more to walk through the tunnel. After exiting the tunnel the only way I could regain signal was to restart the GPSR - just as you stated. Of course I had to restart after going and after returning through the tunnel.

 

I'm glad I happened across this topic because I wasn't even aware of the problem until I read it this morning. I've been using my 60Cx heavily for the last couple of months and this anomaly is the first peculiarity of any kind that I've experienced. I imagine it's only an inconvenience at present and that it will be fixed in a future FW upgrade.

 

Suppose it would do any good for me to contact Garmin as another customer who's experienced the problem?

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The compass needs calibrating every time you change batteries, and the altimeter needs calibrating for each use, and sometimes even more frequently in changeable weather. When I grab my GPSr, I wanna hit it, git it and go! I don't wanna spend time fiddling with a bunch of buttons every time I wanna go somewhere! Spend more money to complicate my life more...? :D that's just crazy-talk! Save time and money and enjoy life more - get a Cx

 

Strictly speaking, you only need to calibrate the compass when you want to use it. If you don't use it frequently, then don't calibrate it every time you change batteries, just calibrate when you actually want to use it. The altimeter can be set to auto-calibrate based on GPS elevation, which I have found to be quite satisfactory. I've seen enough spikes from GPS elevation tracklogs to know that the barometric altimeter gives much smoother, more realistic elevation data and relative climb data, and the auto-calibration does a pretty good job at keeping that elevation accurate in the absolute sense.

I'm not trying to push one model over the other - if you don't have any use for either feature, don't spend the money. However, I don't think that the effort of doing the calibrations (which I think is pretty minimal) is a good reason to forego the compass or altimeter.

 

Keith

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I have the Map60Cx and had used the Map60C before that.

 

There is a ton of elevation noise in my tracklogs, especially if I do not hold the 60Cx vertically all the time.

 

I am in a flat area, and my hikes in local parks and around my local neighborhood, completely flat, but my 60Cx, can at times, show a bit of elevation gained and lost, when I view the profile in Mapsource, and TopoFusion will tell me all the climbing I did, even when there should have be zero climbing, like around my own neighborhood, it says that I climbed about 391 feet.

 

I really like my older Map76S, with it's big screen, and it has an excellent compass, and Altimeter, and with that old GPS, I can average a waypoint out in the open, then use that elevation to calibrate the altimeter. The 76S, has been excellent GPS for hiking in hilly areas, and greater areas of climbing like in western New York State. That GPS gives me a very accurate readout of my vertical excercising. I've taken it out to a tobbogen run, to climb up and down, to approximate a several hundred foot climb. Even though it's 24 megs, and serial GPS, I like to use it in hilly areas.

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Interesting discussion. I'm torn between the two myself. Some like the csx for the compass, some for the altimeter. I have several altimeters including a wrist model. For me, that barometric altimeter on the csx is therefore of little value. Is the compass worth $40? Are there other unique features on the csx that make it worthwhile? What about the "Sight 'n Go" feature: how accurately can the GPS be pointed? Can I point at an object 500 yards away and get within 10 yards?

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Interesting discussion. I'm torn between the two myself. Some like the csx for the compass, some for the altimeter. I have several altimeters including a wrist model. For me, that barometric altimeter on the csx is therefore of little value. Is the compass worth $40? Are there other unique features on the csx that make it worthwhile? What about the "Sight 'n Go" feature: how accurately can the GPS be pointed? Can I point at an object 500 yards away and get within 10 yards?

 

I've got the VistaC, so it's not quite identical but similar. I suspect the Sight'n'Go may not be as accurate as you want, although I haven't tried it myself. The compass on the VistaC is fairly susceptible to tilt, which limits what can be achieved here. I'm not sure if the 60csx compass has improved on this compared to the earlier generation models. The thing I wanted in the VistaC was the altimeter; even though I have another altimeter, this has the advantage of recording those altitudes in the track log, so I can go back and look through the data in detail.

 

Keith

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The compass needs calibrating every time you change batteries, and the altimeter needs calibrating for each use, and sometimes even more frequently in changeable weather. When I grab my GPSr, I wanna hit it, git it and go! I don't wanna spend time fiddling with a bunch of buttons every time I wanna go somewhere! Spend more money to complicate my life more...? :huh: that's just crazy-talk! Save time and money and enjoy life more - get a Cx

 

I agree. I have the csx, and the altimeter isn't worth the trouble of regular recalibration. When I step out my door, at 500 ft, the csx barometric altimeter typically reads 100 to 150 feet too high. The gps elevation (to which you have the option of calibrating it) is always more accurate, usually within 20 ft. It'd be nice if Garmin offered the option of turning off the barometric altimeter and just getting the gps elevation, but they don't.

 

actually, there is such a feature on the CSX. On the satellite page hit MENU then select GPS elevation.

 

Thanks!

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