Will I be happy with 60CS for auto?

[ernieandbert]

OK, typical story -

 

I started looking at car GPs units, I was almost ready to bite, then I read about the Geocaching craze and I would definitely love to get involved.

 

It seems as if the Garming 60CS is one of the best to get for Geocaching and it will also work in the car.

 

So my issue is will I be happy with the 60CS for an all around unit (the csx is a little out of my range), or should I get two units - something like a streetpilot for the car and a magellin sport track for Geocaching?

 

I also see the the Garmin Quest works OK for both. All opinons welcome and appreciated - I just dont want to regret anything later on!!!

 

Thanks ALL

 

Ernie

Edited August 28, 2006 by ernieandbert

[+Timpat]

You can't go wrong, or have any regrets, by getting a Map 60C, 60CS, or the 60C/S "X" unit for autorouting in the car and geocaching.

[kerecsen]

It seems as if the Garming 60CS is one of the best to get for Geocaching and it will also work in the car.

 

Where are you going to be car navigating and/or geocaching? If it's a big city for the former (with tall buildings), or a forest for the latter, you will really-really want a sirf-iii unit (such as the cx). Also, if you will be doing a lot of driving with the GPS, you will be better off with one that does voice guidance (text-to-speech is more annoying than useful, but basic spoken "turn left, turn right" style instructions are a godsent).

 

So all in all, imho the 60cs will work for both, but will be far from ideal for either. I had a 60cs for a few years, and honestly I wouldn't again spend a single cent on the crappy compass and altimeter in the "s" versions.

 

For what it's worth, I now have a PDA phone with a bluetooth GPS for car navigation and hiking, and a Venture cx for the occasional case when a PDA is really not suitable.

[+Train_Man]

I don't know, will you? (lol i just had to)

[+Red90]

IMO, no.... I think the screen is too small. Also voice directions are much better for paying attention to driving.

 

Now like I say, this just my opinion based on my experience. I would want a screen 3" or larger.

[appletree]

I have the Quest which I use for car and trail and it is great for both. I also have a GPS V which was great in its day, but the voice prompts are so much more helpful than beeps and needing to glance at the screen that I really think they are "essential" technology at this time. For trail use, I always use a small, light external antenna with the Quest and I rarely lose lock, even in deep cover. I am also able to put the GPS in my pocket and just take it out when I need to look at it, while it maintains its lock and records my track the whole time. The price of the Quest includes the current detailed street maps for the US and Canada which you would need to purchase separately with the 60 and all other hand-held units, except the GPS V.

[appletree]

I have the Quest which I use for car and trail and it is great for both. I also have a GPS V which was great in its day, but the voice prompts are so much more helpful than beeps and needing to glance at the screen that I really think they are "essential" technology at this time. For trail use, I always use a small, light external antenna with the Quest and I rarely lose lock, even in deep cover. I am also able to put the GPS in my pocket and just take it out when I need to look at it, while it maintains its lock and records my track the whole time. The price of the Quest includes the current detailed street maps for the US and Canada which you would need to purchase separately with the 60 and all other hand-held units, except the GPS V.

[+Team Teuton]

I use the 60CS for both geocaching and car navigation. It works perfectly well for both. It doesn't have voice commands but if it did I'd turn them off anyway.

[kerecsen]

Also, if you will be doing a lot of driving with the GPS, you will be better off with one that does voice guidance (text-to-speech is more annoying than useful, but basic spoken "turn left, turn right" style instructions are a godsent).

 

I apologize for replying to myself. I wanted to add one more thought:

 

Before I actually had a GPS that could do voice navigation, I always thought that it would be a waste of money and not very useful. Now I can't imagine life without it (much like I can't imagine traveling without a GPS, or surviving without a cellphone -- both of which I was somehow able to do for decades in the distant past). So if you do go down the 60cs route, do not, under any circumstances try a higher-end model beforehand, or you may become spoiled.

 

The Quest would be a pretty decent compromise if it had the sirf-iii chipset (or in case you live out in the middle of the desert where thick foliage and tall buildings will be the exception rather than the rule).

[+apersson850]

Units not having SiRFstar III can often work pretty well, if you place an external antenna on the roof.

 

Apart from that, my opinion is exactly the same as what I've seen above: Yes, a GPSMAP 60C[X] will do very well in the car, until you've tried something like a StreetPilot c550, or better. Then you'll wonder how you ever thought the 60 was good in the car.

 

Voice guidance is mostly useful in heavy traffic. If then the layout of the streets is complex as well, and provided there are readable street name signs, then TTS is useful too, in that you can easily hear which road you are supposed to aim for.

When there's little traffic, you have time to look at the screen, something you always have to do with the 60.

[+briansnat]

I've used the 60CS in the car for navigation for 2 years and it works great. I'm amazed by how consistently accurate it is. Its not perfect, but in 2 years of frequent use I've encountered maybe 10 times where it made a mistake (each time it eventually corrected itself).

 

I have mine on the dashboard without an external antenna and rarely lose reception (tunnels are an exception). Oddly enough, it doesn't get as good reception in my wife's car and sometimes I have to hold it out the window to get a fix. I drive a Honda CRV and she has a Subaru Outback. I don't know if it has to do with window configuration, maybe a coating on the windshield, or what. If I frequently used my wife's car I would probably buy an external antenna, but I haven't seen the need in my car.

 

One limitatation in the 60CS is if you drive long distances, you might drive outside its map coverage. The unit has 54 megs of map memory which for me covers all of northern NJ, NYC, Long Island, most of southern NY (Albany to NJ and west to Binghampton) and a good portion of southern VT and CT. If you live in a less populated area you will see map coverage expand dramatically.

 

The new 60CSX has expandible memory so this is no longer an issue if you have a large enough memory card. It also has much improved reception over the 60CS.

 

None of the Map 60 units have voice prompts (they beep instead). That is not an issue to me, in fact its a benefit. I find the voice prompts to be extremely annoying. Others like them, so voice prompts are a personal preference.

 

In all I'm extremely happy with my 60CS in the car. Keep in mind though that it is cheifly designed as a handheld and auto use is an afterthought.

 

Unlike a previous poster here I've never had issues with the compass or altimeter in the CS. Whether you want to pay extra for them is up to you though. You may not see a need for either a save your self some money buy buying a 60C or 60CX and pick up a $10 handheld compass.

 

If you want a unit that is chiefly designed for the car, but will work well as a handheld, you might want to consider one of the Garmin Quest models (Quest and Quest II).

Edited August 28, 2006 by briansnat

[+lamas]

We have been doing some geocaching, with both 60CS and Quest units.

If we are only talking about these models, and your main use is for the car, the Quest is the right choice.

It has voice prompt, and we have found most of the caches we had searched. The screen is the same size as the 60CS, only the orientation is diferent, but the screen is more visible in direct sun light.

On other hand, the 60CS, for geocaching, if we are not talking about the new generation of chipsets, is one of the best models for a good hunt.

[+bigdog999]

Maybe. I've experimented with both a GPSMAP 60C for geocaching and street navigation. Also a laptop with Delorme street Atlas and a wired receiver. Also a PDA with mapoplis and a bluetooth receiver. Obviously as fas as screen resolution and detail, the laptop was the best, but requires you to look away from the windshield. It has voice commands, but I could never hear them over the radio. The PDA was probably second for screen color and clarity, but too fragile for geocaching.

 

I primarily used the GPSr. One limitation is the amount of memory. A large state could tax the memory of the unit. Which is why the new units are gaining popularity.

[+egami]

I am in the process buying a GPS right now and just decided against the 60csx doing week long test with a unit my friend loaned to me. On the geochacing side it's nearly flawless. It was the car nav that I wasn't overly impressed with (understanding that it's not designed for that).

 

On the driving side...it's very, very good, but imo an external antenna is a must. I tested about 15 various routes that would challenge reception an accuracy and without the antenna I would get very late signals (beeps, not voice remember) on when to turn in some areas.

 

Also, I seemed to get better reception in some vehicles than others (even with antenna). Our Dode Ram 1500 and Honda Accord worked very well. Our Ford Taurus seemed problematic for some reason...again, all tested on the same routes.

 

If you can deal with that smaller screen and no voice then it's doable, but to me when you are taking unfamiliar routes I'd prefer just MapQuesting the route over the 60csx for safety. I am going to get a PDA/GPS for car nav and the minimum geocaching I'll be doing for now and then save up for a 60csx later to use specifically for geocaching. In my research I don't feel like there is a near perfect device for both.

 

Geocaching, I give it a 9.0 (because no unit is perfect).

Car Nav, I give it a 4.5

 

Which reminds me...I need to log my caches I found and tested with.

Edited August 28, 2006 by egami

[+evelbug]

I have a Quest that I use for driving and caching. It has it's drawbacks, but it does a decent job for both tasks. If I had the money, I'd love to get a real good handheld for caching and a good car navigation gps for the car.

[ernieandbert]

So far I guess I am leaning twards the quest! I have yet to hear a real big negative about using it for both puropses - most seam happy who have it. The wife will be able to use it with ease due to the voice prompts. The only thing I am wondering about is if I will miss not having 3D view on the Quest.

 

BTW - Quest2 is out of the running - No mapsource included(quest1 has it) and I do not mind it if I need to reload more maps.

 

Thanks all!!

 

Can't wait to get my first cache (there is one .1 miles from my house!!!!).

 

Ernie

Ernie

[+egami]

Quest seems like a good option. I leaned away from it for two reasons:

 

1. Memory

2. Reviews indicated that pre-loaded map data was outdated

 

Seems like maybe the Quest didn't have SiRF III as well, but I forget. Overall, it was rated very high in reviews though. Sounds like a good fit for you.

[+BigLarry]

I have the Quest for the car and the 60CSx for geocaching and the trail.

 

The Quest with voice prompts is much better for road. It's software and buttons are more road oriented too.

 

The Quest has 128 MB of memory and can get pretty much all of CA roads. You can change the maps and I just updated with City Navigator v8. The older receiver in the Quest has been intermittent in some thick foilage in Santa Cruz, and the tall buildings of SF right down town. But this problem was very rare, and generally I've had very good reception.

 

The 60CSx would offer better reception, but is known to have problems with late beeps due to software it seems. I had a friend you used the 60CSx in his car on vacation and loved it. But he never got spoiled by a voice unit.

[+briansnat]

So far I guess I am leaning twards the quest! I have yet to hear a real big negative about using it for both puropses - most seam happy who have it. The wife will be able to use it with ease due to the voice prompts. The only thing I am wondering about is if I will miss not having 3D view on the Quest.

 

The negatives for the Quest (at least for me) are that it doesn't use replaceable AA batteries. If your caching trips are only a few hours duration, that might not be an issue. Also, the screen doesn't orient for handheld use, so you have to hold the unit at an odd angle when using it as a handheld.

 

Outside that, I think its great for both uses.

 

BTW, the Quest II comes with Mapsource City Navigator NA already loaded. There is something to be said for having all of CN on your unit and never have to worry about driving out of your coverage area.

[+Team Dubbin]

It seems as if the Garming 60CS is one of the best to get for Geocaching and it will also work in the car.

 

The 60cs is NOT a very good GPS for caching. It drops signal in very little tree cover. I regret shelling out the money for mine. Just yesterday I was standing outside with it and it lost signal with open sky all around it other then my house behind me. Once I find a killer deal on a 60cx or 60csx I will be upgrading.

 

Now the 60cs does an excellent job routing me to the cache areas.

[+baloo&bd]

OK, typical story -

 

I started looking at car GPs units, I was almost ready to bite, then I read about the Geocaching craze and I would definitely love to get involved.

 

It seems as if the Garming 60CS is one of the best to get for Geocaching and it will also work in the car.

 

You've done your homework. The 60 series are among the most popular and among the best choices for navigation and geocaching in paticular. As mentioned earlier, if you will be in the city, the X series will give you a leg up.

 

I use the 60CS in both the car, hiking and caching. I have a RAM mount suction cup as the bean bag type mounts have proven useless for anything but highway driving. The voice prompts I CAN get thru nRoute since my laptop is usually running on the seat next to me, however they are turned off as they tend to be more irritating than helpful.

 

Go ahead and grab it. You won't have any regrets.

Edited August 29, 2006 by baloo&bd