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Will I be disapointed with a garmin 60csx?


msuman

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This will be my first hand help GPS unit and I an new to geocaching. I have just about talked myself into the 60csx. I was also thinking about the oregon 300. But I probably wont upgrade to premium membership to truely use the oregon to its fullest. So would the 60csx be the best option for me?

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I have a 60CSX and love it to pieces. My former GPSr was an eXplorist 210. The 60CSX puts it to shame. Caching became a lot easier once I switched.

 

I do not know of anyone who has been disappointed with a 60CSX.

 

You'll love it!

 

(It's probably the most used GPSr that I see being used in the field.)

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Me and two of my caching partners have 60csx's. None of us has ever been let down by them, and they all seen to give very accurate and consistant readings. One of my partners just bought an Oregon 300. It seems to be pretty much as accurate as the 60csx. Nice unit. If you want to paperless cache and download Pocket Queries to one device the Oregon is the way to go. Other than that the 60csx is truly one fine gpsr its been around for a while and its a proven winner.

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Yep, it's a great unit. If you eventually upgrade your membership and start pulling down Pocket Queries, you can still do quite a bit of paperless caching with the 60CSx. I use mine to instantly see the Type, Size, Difficulty, Terrain and with a couple more clicks I can see the results of the last four logs and the hint.

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I was debating the same thing as you, and I bought the 60CSX bundle with TOPO USA from REI. I just got it, did 3 caches this weekend and it worked great. The display is very good, and the TOPO map shows up very well. I was concerned after looking at the Oregon about screen brightness. Battery life also seems very good, I used it for probably 6 hours and the gauge still shows full. I got the bundle on sale for $335, didn't seem worth the extra $265 for the paperless caching, although that would be nice. You can still download cache info to the 60CSX, you just don't get the notes, descriptions, etc. It does put in the name and coordinates and shows it on the map. So far I have been very pleased with this unit.

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(It's probably the most used GPSr that I see being used in the field.)

 

I'd agree with that. When I first started caching I went to a local event and was surprised at how many people had a 60csx. I don't think anyone would be disappointed with a 60csx unless you were used to the papeless caching on a CO or OR. But for the money, the 60csx is a rock-solid accurate GPS.

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I use mine to instantly see the Type, Size, Difficulty, Terrain and with a couple more clicks I can see the results of the last four logs and the hint.

Do you have to have a premium membership to do this? I have downloaded geocaches from the garmin website and didn't get any of this.

 

Yeah, I use my premium membership to pull down Pocket Queries into GSAK and then, using a combination of macros, custom symbols, and the Garmin POI Loader move the information to the unit itself.

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I use mine to instantly see the Type, Size, Difficulty, Terrain and with a couple more clicks I can see the results of the last four logs and the hint.

Do you have to have a premium membership to do this? I have downloaded geocaches from the garmin website and didn't get any of this.

 

Yeah, I use my premium membership to pull down Pocket Queries into GSAK and then, using a combination of macros, custom symbols, and the Garmin POI Loader move the information to the unit itself.

 

Yes, with a premium membership ($30) and GSAK ($25), you can use custom codes to download the Type of cache, the Difficulty, the Terrain, the Size, and the first 50 or so characters of the hint.

That's how we do our paperless caching. It works great.

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I use mine to instantly see the Type, Size, Difficulty, Terrain and with a couple more clicks I can see the results of the last four logs and the hint.

Do you have to have a premium membership to do this? I have downloaded geocaches from the garmin website and didn't get any of this.

 

Yeah, I use my premium membership to pull down Pocket Queries into GSAK and then, using a combination of macros, custom symbols, and the Garmin POI Loader move the information to the unit itself.

 

Yes, with a premium membership ($30) and GSAK ($25), you can use custom codes to download the Type of cache, the Difficulty, the Terrain, the Size, and the first 50 or so characters of the hint.

That's how we do our paperless caching. It works great.

 

I have the Csx and the Gsak prog but Im new to how it all works. Could you elaborate on how to get the hints to DL on the Csx I would love to have that info! Thanks in advance

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Go out an buy the 60! You won't be disappointed! It is truly a bargain too! I have had a 60 for over 4 years. I just purchased an Oregon 300 over the summer and I am not sure if it is truly an "upgrade". Yes, paperless caching is pretty cool but as far as functionality, the 60 will do everything else just as well. Do not hesitate making the purchase.

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60csx is a fantastic unit, however, I'd be tempted to get the model below (60something) that has the same features but not the barometric altitude sensor. Its useful, but on mine it bugs me as on a plane you will see barometric cabin height (8000ft approx) and theres no way to turn it off!

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60csx is a fantastic unit, however, I'd be tempted to get the model below (60something) that has the same features but not the barometric altitude sensor. Its useful, but on mine it bugs me as on a plane you will see barometric cabin height (8000ft approx) and theres no way to turn it off!

The flipside to this comment is that (I think) the compass and barometric altimeter come together. While the altimeter may not be terribly useful for caching, I find the compass VERY useful. If you don't have a compass the GPS will show your direction of travel on the pointer. That's fine until you stop and want to know if you're facing the right direction for the cache.

 

I also use the compass for "normal" navigation that has nothing to do with caching. If you've got to head out across a field in a given direction, it's nice to know you've got the direction more or less right.

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60csx is a fantastic unit, however, I'd be tempted to get the model below (60something) that has the same features but not the barometric altitude sensor. Its useful, but on mine it bugs me as on a plane you will see barometric cabin height (8000ft approx) and theres no way to turn it off!

The flipside to this comment is that (I think) the compass and barometric altimeter come together. While the altimeter may not be terribly useful for caching, I find the compass VERY useful. If you don't have a compass the GPS will show your direction of travel on the pointer. That's fine until you stop and want to know if you're facing the right direction for the cache.

 

I also use the compass for "normal" navigation that has nothing to do with caching. If you've got to head out across a field in a given direction, it's nice to know you've got the direction more or less right.

 

I originally had a 60CSX and didn't like having to calibrate the compass as often as it required me to. I found myself using my good ole magnetic compass and turning off the electronic one. I have the CS now which doesn't have the compass or barometer but the same chipset. I like it better but it just boils down to person preference I think. I find the magnetic compass to be more responsive and consistent than the electronic one...and if the unit somehow went down, I could still navigate with it.

 

Either way, you cannot go wrong with that advanced chipset.

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60csx is a fantastic unit, however, I'd be tempted to get the model below (60something) that has the same features but not the barometric altitude sensor. Its useful, but on mine it bugs me as on a plane you will see barometric cabin height (8000ft approx) and theres no way to turn it off!

The flipside to this comment is that (I think) the compass and barometric altimeter come together. While the altimeter may not be terribly useful for caching, I find the compass VERY useful. If you don't have a compass the GPS will show your direction of travel on the pointer. That's fine until you stop and want to know if you're facing the right direction for the cache.

 

I also use the compass for "normal" navigation that has nothing to do with caching. If you've got to head out across a field in a given direction, it's nice to know you've got the direction more or less right.

 

I originally had a 60CSX and didn't like having to calibrate the compass as often as it required me to. I found myself using my good ole magnetic compass and turning off the electronic one. I have the CS now which doesn't have the compass or barometer but the same chipset. I like it better but it just boils down to person preference I think. I find the magnetic compass to be more responsive and consistent than the electronic one...and if the unit somehow went down, I could still navigate with it.

 

Either way, you cannot go wrong with that advanced chipset.

Um, did you list the wrong unit?

 

The Garmin Cs does have the barometer/altimeter (that's the S part of the name) but it doesn't have the same chipset as the CSx. The X versions of the 60 series use the SiRF-III chip. They also hold more map data because of the expandable memory (micro SD card up to 2G).

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60csx is a fantastic unit, however, I'd be tempted to get the model below (60something) that has the same features but not the barometric altitude sensor. Its useful, but on mine it bugs me as on a plane you will see barometric cabin height (8000ft approx) and theres no way to turn it off!

The flipside to this comment is that (I think) the compass and barometric altimeter come together. While the altimeter may not be terribly useful for caching, I find the compass VERY useful. If you don't have a compass the GPS will show your direction of travel on the pointer. That's fine until you stop and want to know if you're facing the right direction for the cache.

 

I also use the compass for "normal" navigation that has nothing to do with caching. If you've got to head out across a field in a given direction, it's nice to know you've got the direction more or less right.

 

I originally had a 60CSX and didn't like having to calibrate the compass as often as it required me to. I found myself using my good ole magnetic compass and turning off the electronic one. I have the CS now which doesn't have the compass or barometer but the same chipset. I like it better but it just boils down to person preference I think. I find the magnetic compass to be more responsive and consistent than the electronic one...and if the unit somehow went down, I could still navigate with it.

 

Either way, you cannot go wrong with that advanced chipset.

Um, did you list the wrong unit?

 

The Garmin Cs does have the barometer/altimeter (that's the S part of the name) but it doesn't have the same chipset as the CSx. The X versions of the 60 series use the SiRF-III chip. They also hold more map data because of the expandable memory (micro SD card up to 2G).

 

Um, yes. I mean to say Cx. Thanks for catching that.

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I have the Csx and the Gsak prog but Im new to how it all works. Could you elaborate on how to get the hints to DL on the Csx I would love to have that info! Thanks in advance

 

Real simple version: I export my GSAK database to a GPX file and use %hint in the description field. I then import that GPX file into my GPSr as Custom Points of Interest using Garmin's POILoader.

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