GPSMAP 60CSx Road Use

[+joeturse]

I recently purchased a GPSMAP 60CSx.Need some opinions about using it on the road.I really like the unit,and am wondering if it is worth the cost of the software for road use.

Anyone use this unit for the road?

Edited February 28, 2008 by joeturse

[+larryc43230]

I recently purchased a GPSMAP 60CSx.Need some opinions about using it for use on the road.I really like the unit,and am wondering if it is worth the cost of the software for road use.

Anyone use this unit for the road?

I've used my 60CSx for on-the-road navigation for almost two years now. It currently has City Navigator North America NT 2008 loaded (along with TOPO U.S. 2008, but that product doesn't do road navigation). No mapping product is perfect, but I've been able to use my 60CSx, along with a dose of common sense, to find my way from my home base near Columbus, Ohio, to just about every obscure corner of the state.

 

I used the 60CSx to navigate The Great 88 Counties of Ohio Challenge and the Ohio DeLorme Challenge last year.

 

I also used it last year to find my way from Columbus to Nashville, TN, and back, and from Columbus to the Buffalo, NY, area and back.

 

No maps, including Garmin's, are perfect, and there are sometimes detours and other routing glitches to deal with. One cool feature of the unit is its reaction to a closed road: When it detects that you're off-route, it recalculates an alternate way for you to get where you're going.

 

Because these handheld units don't offer voice prompts (at least most of them don't), you need to get used to looking at the unit for guidance while driving, but I adapted to that fairly quickly. They do beep at you when you're approaching a turn or other change of direction, so you'll know when to look.

 

Bottom line, I've learned to depend on my 60CSx whenever I travel to a place I haven't been to before.

 

--Larry

[+joeturse]

Thanks for your reply Larry.

Another question.Should I go with the microSD/SD data card, City Navigator NT, North America ,or the DVD.

Thanks Again

Joe

[+larryc43230]

Thanks for your reply Larry.

Another question.Should I go with the microSD/SD data card, City Navigator NT, North America ,or the DVD.

Thanks Again

Joe

There's been a lot of discussion on this topic here in recent months. Personally, I recommend buying the DVD version as opposed to the data card version. The most obvious reason is that, if you buy the data card version, you won't be able to use the map data on your PC (not for viewing and trip planning, anyway). If you buy the DVD version, you first load the software/data on your PC, then transfer map segments to the GPS unit. In the process, you have the map data on both platforms.

 

The only advantage of owning the data card version, and I'm not sure of this since I've never owned it, is that you can use the card in multiple GPS units (not at the same time, of course).

 

--Larry

[-Oz-]

I agree with Larry on all points. And I too have used my 60csx for road navigation for the past two years with few problems.

[+TeamBaitBucket]

I would agree with everything Larry said about using the 60CSX for road use. With that said, I do find 2 features of its road use a little "problematic"

 

1) The for mentioned beep telling you that you have a turn coming up can be a little bit late depending on the number of lanes, speed, that sort of thing.

 

2) The road closed, or re-navigation feature is REALLY cool, but can also be REALLY wrong as well. I was using it for a business trip in Canada last month and there was a bridge out, every time I would change directions and drive 5 miles away it would recalculate and send me right back the same bridge. Now I relies that this is a feature and not really an error by the GPSr but it is something I think you should be aware of.

 

As with any GPSr road navigation system, you want to take it with a grain of salt, you still have to think about where you want to go.

 

CARD vs DVD.

 

I would go with the DVD again, you can also build routes on your PC, name they what ever you would like and then upload them to the GPSr. I have found this handy when traveling through known bad traffic areas (DC). Or when traveling to some where I have never driven before. Load up where you want to go from the air port, get in the rental car and you can drive like a local.

[rwolf]

I use mine all the time for traveling, and found similar results to the above comments. I was going around a construction zone on I75 one time, and it kept trying to put me back on the interstate. I finally had to shut the unit off and restart it to get the re-routing to work again the direction I wanted to go.

 

Other than that I love using it for travelling.

 

I suggest the DVD route, it makes creating routs and trips much easier.

[+rpminmn]

I've been using my 60Cx for all kinds of road use, especially on my motorcycle. I use it a lot to create routes for our weekend group rides. Works great. Last summer I took a 15 day road trip covering over 5000 miles and 15 states. It performed like a champ and was godsend especially when I needed to find a gas station or a motel at the end of the day.

 

I also use it in the car around the city, especially when I need to find a restaurant or store or museum. It's often right in the installed POIs and I can route to directly to it.

 

I have the City Select v7(?) on a DVD and installed it through the Mapsource software on a 2 GB microSD card.

 

-Bob

Edited February 28, 2008 by rpminmn

[+larryc43230]

1) The for mentioned beep telling you that you have a turn coming up can be a little bit late depending on the number of lanes, speed, that sort of thing.

This late-warning issue can occur when you have a situation where you need to make two direction changes in quick succession, and when you've deviated from the recommended route and the unit has been recalculating. In both cases, you do need to use common sense and plan ahead.

 

2) The road closed, or re-navigation feature is REALLY cool, but can also be REALLY wrong as well. I was using it for a business trip in Canada last month and there was a bridge out, every time I would change directions and drive 5 miles away it would recalculate and send me right back the same bridge. Now I relies that this is a feature and not really an error by the GPSr but it is something I think you should be aware of.

Oh, yeah, I've had this happen a few times, too. The unit can get pretty insistent when it tries to keep routing you back to the same closed road. It has no way of knowing the road is closed; It just knows that you "disobeyed" it, and it's simply trying to get you "back on track." This is where common sense and being willing to ignore the unit when needed come in handy. You still need to be aware of where you are and where you're trying to get to, at least in general.

 

As with any GPSr road navigation system, you want to take it with a grain of salt, you still have to think about where you want to go.

Wiser words were never spoken!

 

--Larry

[+TeamBaitBucket]

<- wise,,, well I have been called allot of things before, that was never one of them,, I am going to have to show my better half that one. " See honey,, I am wise!!!"

 

"disobey" it.... thats funny, now I know what to call it when its getting all pissed off at me when I will not turn where it wants me to and it keeps beeping after recalculating..... Sometimes you have to ask who had the opposable thumb.

[+Firefighter Skippy]

I too use a handheld for navigating - 76CSx with City Select v7. When my buddies and I are on a caching roadtrip, we hook up to my laptop running nRoute. This gives us a larger screen view and voice turn - by - turn directions. Works great, but like the othe said, it can have issues with rerouting back to the "closed" road.

[+pigpen4x4]

I've used a 60CSx for this also and it worked very well.

My old (?) eyes decided I needed something bigger, so I bought one then exchanged it for a Nuvi 200W, the 200W was around $150 or so.

[+BiT]

Like the rest said, it works great. Use to from TX to AZ, OH to NC, TX to AK, TX to OK, OH to WV, and etc...

 

The only negative is I wish the alerts were louder since I like to listen to the radio and music and have four kids talking and at time it can be hard to hear.

[Bite_Me]

 

2) The road closed, or re-navigation feature is REALLY cool, but can also be REALLY wrong as well. I was using it for a business trip in Canada last month and there was a bridge out, every time I would change directions and drive 5 miles away it would recalculate and send me right back the same bridge. Now I relies that this is a feature and not really an error by the GPSr but it is something I think you should be aware of.

 

 

When encountering "closed roads" you can try a different routing method, like routing for a "bicycle" will avoid major roads and often give you a completely different route.

 

You can also route without following the road. Of course this just gives you just a straight line to your destination, which can tell you if you are at least going in the right direction.

[xxgg]

I personally had Street Pilot C320 before and played around with nuvi 200 before giving it to my brother as a gift. Now for the past 6 months or so I have been using my 60CSx for everything including road use.

I do have to say... I am very used to 60CSx and have almost no problems with it to navigate. If I had bit of extra money to spend I would definitely get myself a used C320 or nuvi 200, one of the lower end models because even having that simple voice prompt is so useful... plus that larger and brighter screen.

I've also played with Mio Digiwalker C220 for several days before I returned it. I must say,,, I hate everthing about this product exampt that it's got better hardware than Garmin Road GPS that it renders the screen so fast so smoothly. It doesn't have that somewhat slideshow alike delay like Garmin GPS.

But... now that I think about it,,, even if I had money I wouldn't buy another GPS for the road because of the fact that Garmin does not allow 2nd unlock code. That just sucks.

[+Dryphter]

I have a 60csx with City Nav 2008 NT on it. I travel a lot for work and it have used it to navigate, find caches, etc. I never leave home with out it!

[+boda]

I've used a MAP60CS to travel around So. California quite a bit and it does very well.

 

A short story - we were traveling and caching with friends. We had a Streetpilot, my MAP60CS and a MAP 60CSx. We were going to stay at a hotel South of San Francisco's airport. We had the hotel's address loaded into the Streetpilot, but it routed us North of the airport. Checking and resetting the address took us to the same spot - the wrong address. I knew there was a cache behind the hotel, so I brought that up in the MAP60CS and it took us 5 miles right to where we wanted to go. BTW, all three units had the same maps installed.

 

I still like the way the MAP60 works, but I have a Nuvi 660 now that I like even better. I still appreciate how the MAP60 worked on the LA freeways during "rush" hour. I had timely warnings and good, easy to read directions.