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garmin 60sc or garmin nuvi


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In the field, off-road, in the bush . . . the 60 is a "better" device. Driving on highways and roads in a motorized vehicle, the Nüvi is more appropriate. It's an apples and oranges question. Different devices designed for different purposes. Some (minor) cross pollination, but for the most part, handhelds are better when walking, (or bicycling), car navigators are better for . . . well, car navigating.

Edited by volosong
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I have a nuvi 760 and a 60Cx in my collection. The nuvi is the preferred option for in-car nav because of the big screen, and the 60Cx is about equal with the OR for handheld work.

 

The nuvi screen can be a bit faint in direct sunlight (and we have real man's sunlight this close to the hole in the ozone!) but I've never been unable to read it. The 60Cx screen is always readable but it sits under a glossy cover that suffers terribly from reflections - not a problem when you're holding the unit, but frequently a nuisance when it's on a windscreen mount.

 

As others have said it depends what you want to do with it.

 

Gary

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Different units for different purposes.

 

The 60cs is designed for mapping in rugged outdoor conditions.

 

The nuvi is an auto navigating device. The nuvis tend to have poor direct sunlight performance, unless the backlight level is at a high setting. However, I find the text-to-speech the most important aspect, as it allows me to drive without looking at the device.

Edited by notnormal
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Different units for different purposes.

 

The 60cs is designed for mapping in rugged outdoor conditions.

 

The nuvi is an auto navigating device. The nuvis tend to have poor direct sunlight performance, unless the backlight level is at a high setting. However, I find the text-to-speech the most important aspect, as it allows me to drive without looking at the device.

 

I mainly want a GPS unit so I can go Geocaching. So the Nuvi would not be able to do that. I thought it would do both?

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I mainly want a GPS unit so I can go Geocaching. So the Nuvi would not be able to do that. I thought it would do both?

 

For geocaching, you want the ability to directly input geocache waypoints and/or input latitude/longitude coordinates; either manually by hand or by download from a computer. The Nüvi devices do not have those capabilities. They are car navigation systems. If the cache was at an address in the city, they the Nüvi might be useful.

Edited by volosong
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My father in laws has the option to input the waypoints on his. Meaning the Latitude and longitude that is why I thought it would work. I will have to look closer at it. I scrolled down through his menu option and the waypoint option. That is why I thought it would work. I will look again and let you know what I find.

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For geocaching, you want the ability to directly input geocache waypoints and/or input latitude/longitude coordinates; either manually by hand or by download from a computer. The Nüvi devices do not have those capabilities. They are car navigation systems. If the cache was at an address in the city, they the Nüvi might be useful.

 

Have you even TRIED a Nüvi?

 

- You CAN enter coordinates and navigate to them.

- You CAN download geocache coordinates with "Send to GPS" or från my.garmin.com.

 

Just setup the Nüvi to pedestrian/off-road mode so that it does not lock you onto the nearest road and it works very well for Geocaching. Having found my first 140 caches with just a Nüvi I promise you it works for geocaching.

 

It also takes TOPO maps if you want it to and with GSAK and a macro I currently store almost 15000 caches with spoilerpics and full cache descriptions on mine. It's not as accurate as the Legend HCx I recently bought and it's not waterproof, but it works surprisingly well for caching.

 

However one may want to consider adding my custom vehicle as the built in vehicles aren't designed for geocaching. My custom vehicle can be found here: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=213782

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You might not be too happy with the battery life on those car GPS units - mine takes lat & long co-ordinates but the battery is only 4 hours. Plus it would be uncomfortable to carry, and I've had a couple of situations where I put my map60 down on a mossy branch or the wet ground - definitely wouldn't do that with the nuvi. I suspect if you dropped the nuvi, it wouldn't survive too well, but the handhelds can take quite a bit.

 

editing to add: if price is an issue, get a rebuilt yellow Etrex for about $40.00 Ebay, and then to go paperless, combine it with a $99.00 Acer mini laptop from Radio Shack or Wal Mart. Run pocket queries, use GSAK to compile it and to load co-ords into the GPSr, then pop the laptop into your backpack so you can check hints and other details while out on the trail.

Edited by Kacky
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