Help Deciding Between Vistac 60cs And 60csx

[+dougtape]

Alright so here goes. I have been reading everything i can these last 3 days about the new units out there. I have decised to stick with Garmin for now since i Love my Legend to death. But i have been made an offer wich requires the aquisition of a new (to me) GPSr. I have been loking at the 60 series pretty heavily, mostly the 60cs and the 60csx I have also looked at the legend C and vista C . I want color in my new unit but afte that i am confused. After playing with a 60Cs the other day I am leaning towards a unit with an altimiter and a compass in it, but after taht i am unsure about getting the X series or not. After reading all of the issues that seem to be not worked out i am wondering if i should save some money now and just get a vista C or 60CS. It sounds that with the SiRFIII there is not much accuracy gained, but reception indoors (which i don't need) is improved, which may come in handy for my tree covered mountains i will be using it in. And then the 60CSX seems to have altimiter issues.

I guess what i am trying to ask is does anyone that has used any combnation of the 3 units what is your opinion? I am rather leaning towards the 60cs at the moment.

another thing i am unsure about is I am used to holding my GPSr flat due to my patch antenna, how is the 60 series supposed to be oriented up and down or horizontal? also besides andtenna what is the major difference between the vista C and the 60 CS? i can't seem to find many differences anymore.

 

As for mapping the only maps i may forsee using in the near future is the topo maps so the minSD is not a major selling point to me at the moment since i have not loaded any maps in my legend.

 

so any advice is greatly appreciated. sorry if this post is so erratic i am extremely confused right now!!!!!

 

dougtape

[+Miragee]

I love my Vista C, and I just got a Legend C as a "spare." It worked great and I didn't miss the compass and altimeter at all.

 

I prefer the smaller size of these units, and like the "click stick" operation.

 

Because I don't get an opportunity to travel very frequently, the 24 MB is plenty of memory for my use, although with the USB cable, you can change the mapsets quickly and easily.

[+Wrench&Wench]

I've had my 60cs for almost a year now and couldn't be happier. Honestley I was thinking about selling my 60cs for the csx but have decided to stick with what I have. It does everyhing I want it to perfectly. And oddly as this may sound to some who know more than I do, I actually find better accuracy oriented horizontal. I noticed this the last couple times I was out hunting. But then I'm only talking about the accuracy that shows up on the gpsr screen. I have never had a problem getting very close to the cahce I'm looking for. I am now seeing "d's" and strong signals in my back yard the past couple months that I have never been able to get before. Last cache I was looking for in the compass screen had me zeroed out, I thought something was wrong, nothing around, turned out I was standing right on top of it!! Literatly. Just my 2 cents.

Edited April 17, 2006 by Wrench&Wench

[+YuccaPatrol]

I have had the 60cs since it came out and just got a new 60csx.

 

I am thrilled with the improved capabilities of the CSX model. Side by side, it gets significantly better satellite reception, especially in heavy tree cover.

 

The altimeter works correctly with no problems so far and I suspect that the issues with WAAS are more related to the satellites being moved than with the units themselves.

 

Way back when I got my 60CS, I thought that it would be perfect if only it had expandable memory. Well, I got my wish with the CSX, but never dreamed it would be able to maintain a strong lock in heavy tree cover.

 

Of course, the 60CS is still a great unit, and if you don't need the expandable memory, you will be very happy with it too.

 

But you said you don't really care for maps, so you might not want to pay extra for autorouting and serious mapping capability if you won't ever use it. If that is truly the case, get the Legend and your money by not paying extra for capability you won't use.

 

Personally, I wouldn't ever want a GPS that was not loaded up with both topo maps and routable street maps. Having my gps calculate the quickest/shortes/most fuel efficient route to the cache and then switching over to topo maps for the hike is truly awesome.

Edited April 17, 2006 by YuccaPatrol

[+flyingfisher]

I'd used a etrex Vista for a year and a half. It quit on me a few months ago. I'd wanted a Map60C to use for car navigation as well as geocaching. I had decided not to get the cs as whenever I was out with someone wihtout the extra compass feature and altimeter, they acquired a signal much sooner than I did. But then the 60cs went on sale at a local store at a great price and I bought one. I find it great for geocaching and was out Sunday with someone with a 60C and didn't find much difference. I thought for a long time about springing for an x model, but decided against it at this point. I've also purchased City Select maps and the power cord for using the car's power source and am very happy with the guidance.

 

You didn't say what features you were particularly interested in.

Edited April 19, 2006 by flyingfisher

[+dougtape]

Well after reading a _lot_ of opinions and comparing several diferent models i decided to go with the Gpsmap 60CS especially after playing with one in the store recently and seeing the potential of the compass feature while zeroing in on caches (I only have two hands and it is hard to hold gpsr, regular compass, and sometimes PDA or printout while trying to figure out where the hiding spot is) That and being in the mountains and enjoying hiking in them i have been interested in my altitude changes for a while now and not have had a way o keep track/chart them easily. That and the deal i found came with quite a few acessories that i would probably had to spend extra money on otherwise and it still came out cheaper than an X series!

 

Thank you a for your imput and help, it is greatly appreciated!

 

dougtape