Garmin 60cxs Screen In Full Sun?

[Tymbee]

Love my iQue 3600. The large screen is viewable from quite a distance-- IF it's dark outside! Otherwise, driving in mid-day sun for example, it's all but impossible to read unless you twist & squint.

 

I expect bright sun will always hinder viewing-- on any gps unit, but I'd like to hear other's opinions of the 60csx screen performance in bright sunlight?

[+BlueDeuce]

Well I have the 76cs and in my opinion, the more sunlight the better.

 

Now if my PDA had that good of a screen.

[+Sputnik 57]

The Gamin C units have a 256 color transreflective TFT display. As BlueDeuce says, the more sunlight the better. The display is much better than my Blackberry. Somehow sunlight seems to brighten the display.

[DriverFound]

The screen on the 60CSx is readable in direct sunlight. I haven't had any issue with it so far.

[tallguyinden]

I live in Colorado where the high altitude sun is very bright and my Garmin 60CSx screen is very visible and clear. In fact it looks even better than the picture our colleague has posted. I wouldn't worry about it AT ALL. I wish my digital camera screen was like this.

[+geobc]

I was skeptical when I ordered my first colour screen GPS (76C) because my experience with PDAs is that the colour screens sucked in direct sunlight. When I received my 76C I was absolutely stunned by how readable it was under all lighting conditions including bright sunlight. Like others have mentioned, I wish my PDA and digicams had the same quality.

 

I now have a 60CSx and its screen is just as great as my 76's was. It's a world of difference from your PDA screen.

 

GeoBC

[Virgin Island]

Love my iQue 3600. The large screen is viewable from quite a distance-- IF it's dark outside! Otherwise, driving in mid-day sun for example, it's all but impossible to read unless you twist & squint.

 

I expect bright sun will always hinder viewing-- on any gps unit, but I'd like to hear other's opinions of the 60csx screen performance in bright sunlight?

 

I'm using a 60Cx monted on the console of an open boat in the Caribbean. If I tilt the unit near vertical, I can't see the screen, backlight or no. If I tilt the unit back so I'm looking at it at about a 45 degree angle, the screen is perfectly bright and readable with no backlight. I'm using 300 ft. resolution on Bluecharts and following bathymetric lines of depth which on a small screen, without this good resolution and brightness would be difficult.

[Tymbee]

I'm using a 60Cx monted on the console of an open boat in the Caribbean.

Oh the pain...

 

If I tilt the unit near vertical, I can't see the screen, backlight or no. If I tilt the unit back so I'm looking at it at about a 45 degree angle, the screen is perfectly bright and readable with no backlight. I'm using 300 ft. resolution on Bluecharts and following bathymetric lines of depth which on a small screen, without this good resolution and brightness would be difficult.

 

Having some experience with trying to view digital camera screens & notebook screens aboard a boat, this would seem like the ultimate affirmation as to the suitability of viewing in full sun. Very good to hear!

 

Thanks much for the input from all. Looks like my iQue is about to have some company...

[+Red90]

I think you need to look at your iQue again. In full sun, it is VERY easy to read. It is hard to read when there is lots of sun around but not shining directly on the screen (such as is normal on the dash of a car). The 60Csx screen is exactly the same way, as are all LCD screens.

[+Centex Trekker]

I think you need to look at your iQue again. In full sun, it is VERY easy to read. It is hard to read when there is lots of sun around but not shining directly on the screen (such as is normal on the dash of a car). The 60Csx screen is exactly the same way, as are all LCD screens.

 

Really? Then why is the screen of my Motorola Razr unreadable in direct sunlight? My old Garmin 60 CS and my new 76CSx are very readable in direct sun.

[+JFDavis (Orion 6)]

Love my iQue 3600. The large screen is viewable from quite a distance-- IF it's dark outside! Otherwise, driving in mid-day sun for example, it's all but impossible to read unless you twist & squint.

 

I expect bright sun will always hinder viewing-- on any gps unit, but I'd like to hear other's opinions of the 60csx screen performance in bright sunlight?

 

Wear glasses? With a polarizing lens? My Problems too. Twist/rotate the unit 45 degrees or take the glasses off. Especially in a newer car with a dark windshield, UV protection.

[Tymbee]

I think you need to look at your iQue again. In full sun, it is VERY easy to read. It is hard to read when there is lots of sun around but not shining directly on the screen (such as is normal on the dash of a car). The 60Csx screen is exactly the same way, as are all LCD screens.

 

?? "Exactly the same: perhaps with respect to the general, overall sun factors you describe, but I've read a lot of reviews that clearly state viewability in daylight varies considerably from unit to unit. Are they wrong?

 

A fellow iQue owner was just telling me how when they were driving w/ someone that had a Treo 650 with a GPS system that the display was much brighter and more readable than the iQue in daylight.

[toddm]

As other's have said I've found that if you have direct sun shining on the unit, it's very easy to see the screen. However in brighter conditions and even overcast without sun directly on the screen it's hard to see even with the backlight on. A give and take I suppose but I have found I have to use the backlight a lot more with the color units than I did with the non color 76s I had, which really lowers the effective runtime.

[f5fstop]

I think you need to look at your iQue again. In full sun, it is VERY easy to read. It is hard to read when there is lots of sun around but not shining directly on the screen (such as is normal on the dash of a car). The 60Csx screen is exactly the same way, as are all LCD screens.

 

I totally agree. When at rest areas, and I'm viewing outside, I make sure the sun is shinning directly on the screen. As for a phone, same with my cell phone, shine the sun on it and it is viewable (unless in the dark); than again, I refuse to use anything that says Motorola on it.

The 60CSX screen is amazing in the bright sun of the desert; either with direct sun on it or not. I can even read the display quite well without my reading glasses, and that in itself is amazing.

[+Red90]

To answer your question, the 60Cx and iQue 3600 screen have very similar viewability (I have both).

 

The new PPC and Palms (and newer iQues) screens have brighter backlights so are easier to see in the "poor" conditions found on the dash of a car.

[bansheegeo]

Great in the sun. BUT... if you have polarized sunglasses on, some angles from the sun won't work. Try rotating it a bit or look under the glasses. As someone else noted some cars have polarized windows too.