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Garmin Montana 650


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I have had my Montana 650 for a week, and mainly used it for Geocaching, and I am very happy with it so far. Also, I have got a lot of useful info by reading this thread. :D

Does the Montana's support Tourguide ?.

Until now, I have used a Nuvi 760 in my car with Tourguide alert for geocaches along the road (GSAK macro GPX_by_Cache_Type) and a 62S for the geocaching. What would be nice is to use the Montana the same way as the 760 and the 62S.

 

The Montana does not support playing TourGuide audio files.

 

Garmin Montana Software Development Team

 

:mad:

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UPS and USPS guys showed up with my new toys. Not bad delivery times considering I ordered everything on a Friday on a holiday weekend.

 

I've spent the last two hours loading maps and playing with my new Montana 650. First off, this thing is huge but no so big that its hard to handle. I've got small hands and it fits just fine and I can reach everywhere on the screen one handed with my thumb. It makes my Oregon 550 look tiny. Even though the screen resolution is slightly lower, I can't really tell a difference. The graphics are great and like others have said it is lightning fast. Start up times are fast all though I don't have any birdseye on it yet. That seemed to slow my Oregon down.

 

I can't wait to get out in the field and see how well this performs. If it's anything like it seems to be now, it will definitely be that all in one that everyone keeps asking about.

 

Edit: Made easier to read.

Edited by bullygoat29
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Out for a geocaching joy ride today, traveled 165 miles and the montana never displayed the posted speed limit. The lane assist feature did prove to be useful.

 

Here is a picture of the lane assist on a day that the montana decided to show the posted speed limit.

 

IMG_20110701_180838.jpg

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I would also like to make a quick note about battery life. Running on AA batteries I can get about 9 hours with the backlight on high, and only (maybe) 3 hours with the rechargeable lithium battery. That was kind of a disappointment until I realized that while using the lithium battery pack the backlight is as bright as when the Montana is plugged into external power. Tomorrow we are taking a trip to the zoo so I will give it a try with the backlight at 80% (comparable to the backlight brightness with AA batteries) and see how much things improve. It also takes about 4 hours for the battery to completely recharge (with the gps off).

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Out for a geocaching joy ride today, traveled 165 miles and the montana never displayed the posted speed limit. The lane assist feature did prove to be useful.

 

Here is a picture of the lane assist on a day that the montana decided to show the posted speed limit.

 

 

Thanks for the info. I haven't used my Montana in a motor vehicle yet. I am embarrassed to say that I am not sure to what you are referring.

 

Is the Montana suppose to be able to show posted speed limits and lane assist? If so, are those abilities built into the latest version of City Navigator?

 

I use CN NA that is about 3 years old.

 

RE: battery life.

I haven't yet checked the life expectancy of either the Li-ion battery or a set of 3 Sanyo eneloop AA batteries. However, I find myself setting the backlight to 0% a great deal of time. The readability of the screen when the device is hand held in a daylight situation is quite acceptable... and much easier on battery consumption.

 

RE: ease of use.

It took me a few days to configure the Main Menu to my liking. Now I can quickly and easily access the information I want. The device is much faster than any GPS I have used previously; the 650 has proven to be rock solid so far.

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Thanks for the info. I haven't used my Montana in a motor vehicle yet. I am embarrassed to say that I am not sure to what you are referring.

 

Is the Montana suppose to be able to show posted speed limits and lane assist? If so, are those abilities built into the latest version of City Navigator?

 

I use CN NA that is about 3 years old.

 

I have 2012.1 version of city navigator loaded so that could be making the difference.

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I would also like to make a quick note about battery life. Running on AA batteries I can get about 9 hours with the backlight on high, and only (maybe) 3 hours with the rechargeable lithium battery. That was kind of a disappointment until I realized that while using the lithium battery pack the backlight is as bright as when the Montana is plugged into external power. Tomorrow we are taking a trip to the zoo so I will give it a try with the backlight at 80% (comparable to the backlight brightness with AA batteries) and see how much things improve. It also takes about 4 hours for the battery to completely recharge (with the gps off).

here are the same results (click: to "Running time - loading times" on the right side):

http://translate.google.co.nz/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww12345678.wordpress.com%2F&act=url

Edited by freeday
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Using the Montana with the following track setup:

Track log: Record, show on Map

Record Method: time

Interval: 00:00:01

Autoarchive: Daily

 

The track is visible for some time (about a hour) on the Display - and then there is no more track line from a specific point(timestamp)

Can anyone confirm this BUG, or is it a false setting (i need a track line all the time)

 

Maybe there might be a reason, that the track is saved every 3.000 points to the internal memory as a daily track. I would prefer one daily track with 86400 points like the gpsmap60csx.

Edited by freeday
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Using the Montana with the following track setup:

Track log: Record, show on Map

Record Method: time

Interval: 00:00:01

Autoarchive: Daily

 

The track is visible for some time (about a hour) on the Display - and then there is no more track line from a specific point(timestamp)

Can anyone confirm this BUG, or is it a false setting (i need a track line all the time)

 

Maybe there might be a reason, that the track is saved every 3.000 points to the internal memory as a daily track. I would prefer one daily track with 86400 points like the gpsmap60csx.

 

I bet if you set the auto archive to "when full" you would get what you want but with multiple tracks. Does the orgeon work the same as the 60csx?

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EMS says my Montana 600 should get here by Friday. Any ideas on a cheap mounted car setup? I can mix and match. The garmin price is not too bad but I always like to do it myself if possible. Or a cheap deal on the garmin mount? Oh yes, any ideas for adding a carabiner attachment?

Edited by kentwoodkrew
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I bet if you set the auto archive to "when full" you would get what you want but with multiple tracks. Does the orgeon work the same as the 60csx?

Selecting "when full" - i am not sure to get a daily log. Did anyone test this option already?

 

The 60csx does work different than the oregon.

 

60csx logs automatic daily - if you clear the current log or not - it doesn't matter (i prefer this option because starting a track, i do not like to see the track of the previous journey to the starting point)

clearing the Oregon current log - there is NO daily log of the deleted track.

Edited by freeday
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Out for a geocaching joy ride today, traveled 165 miles and the montana never displayed the posted speed limit. The lane assist feature did prove to be useful.

 

Here is a picture of the lane assist on a day that the montana decided to show the posted speed limit.

 

 

Thanks for the info. I haven't used my Montana in a motor vehicle yet. I am embarrassed to say that I am not sure to what you are referring.

 

Is the Montana suppose to be able to show posted speed limits and lane assist? If so, are those abilities built into the latest version of City Navigator?

 

I use CN NA that is about 3 years old.

 

RE: battery life.

I haven't yet checked the life expectancy of either the Li-ion battery or a set of 3 Sanyo eneloop AA batteries. However, I find myself setting the backlight to 0% a great deal of time. The readability of the screen when the device is hand held in a daylight situation is quite acceptable... and much easier on battery consumption.

 

RE: ease of use.

It took me a few days to configure the Main Menu to my liking. Now I can quickly and easily access the information I want. The device is much faster than any GPS I have used previously; the 650 has proven to be rock solid so far.

 

Hi!

While geocaching how was your experiance with the Montana in woods?

Is the problem that your location seems not to be refreshed when moving around still there?

That somtimes happend on the 62st when the reception gets only a little worse.(but still far from complete reception loss)

...like today i had to look for a place with no trees to get my 62st refreshing again.

 

cant wait to see the Montana show up in europe.

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EMS says my Montana 600 should get here by Friday. Any ideas on a cheap mounted car setup? I can mix and match. The garmin price is not too bad but I always like to do it myself if possible. Or a cheap deal on the garmin mount? Oh yes, any ideas for adding a carabiner attachment?

 

1) The Garmin mount is the only mount with an internal speaker. If you have a routable mapset and want spoken directions I would suggest you bite the bullet. Otherwise you could get a ram mount and use the minijack audio cable to your car stereo. The problems with that are if you want to listen to music you won't hear directions and there will then be two wires running about instead of just one.

 

2) Garmin may design something in the future but if you ask me, the Montana series is not really carabiner friendly. It's a bit too bulky and heavy to have swinging around from a clip. I would suggest a carry pouch such as the Nite-ize Backbone Medium/Tall. Pouch carry is really the only way to go in my opinion.

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Oh yes, any ideas for adding a carabiner attachment?

Hi,

I'm a noob here, mainly hunting for good tips/reviews, thoughts, etc for my week old Montana 600. I'm mainly using it on my motorcycle and for hiking. So far, I haven't done much geocaching.

In any case, I just saw this question, and thought I'd respond.

 

One of the first things I did was attach the carabiner from my old Oregon to my new toy, using an old nylon strap. It works just fine, doesn't swing much more than the Oregon did. I've already been on a few hikes with it, and excess swinging hasn't been a problem at all. Here's a pic:

5909857187_0f10193e1d_b.jpg

DSC08481 (Custom) by skagitstan, on Flickr

Edited by skagitstan
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RAM-MOUNT for GARMIN MONTANA is now AVAILABLE for DELIVERY.

 

A few days ago I checked the availability of the Ram-Mount Garmin Montana mounting bracket. The Ram-Mount website at that time said the Montana mounting bracket would become available at the end of August. Well, I checked the Ram-Mount website today and it appears that the Garmin Montana Ram-Mount mounting bracket is now available and shipping. So I ordered one.

 

Uh, no, I have no relationship with Ram-Mount... other than sending them money.

 

Go Here for more info.

 

rambicyclemount-montana.jpg

Edited by Barrikady
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Or, if you alreay own the car cradle you could opt for this nuvi bike mount. The only downside is that the car cradle isn't bombproof/waterproof and there is a speaker inside so bombing down a mud slick in the rain probably wouldn't be good for it. But for my uses (riding around the neighborhood on nice summer days) it's great.

 

41Bflo-3HJL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Edited by yogazoo
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I bet if you set the auto archive to "when full" you would get what you want but with multiple tracks. Does the orgeon work the same as the 60csx?

Selecting "when full" - i am not sure to get a daily log. Did anyone test this option already?

 

The 60csx does work different than the oregon.

 

60csx logs automatic daily - if you clear the current log or not - it doesn't matter (i prefer this option because starting a track, i do not like to see the track of the previous journey to the starting point)

clearing the Oregon current log - there is NO daily log of the deleted track.

 

After giving it a try today, I ended up having six different track segments from the day. I had the track log set to record every one second, and auto archive when full. This is the same behavior that I experience with my other garmins.

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RAM-MOUNT for GARMIN MONTANA is now AVAILABLE for DELIVERY.

 

A few days ago I checked the availability of the Ram-Mount Garmin Montana mounting bracket. The Ram-Mount website at that time said the Montana mounting bracket would become available at the end of August. Well, I checked the Ram-Mount website today and it appears that the Garmin Montana Ram-Mount mounting bracket is now available and shipping. So I ordered one.

 

Uh, no, I have no relationship with Ram-Mount... other than sending them money.

 

Go Here for more info.

...

42 $ for shipping !!!!!!!!!

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RAM-MOUNT for GARMIN MONTANA is now AVAILABLE for DELIVERY.

 

A few days ago I checked the availability of the Ram-Mount Garmin Montana mounting bracket. The Ram-Mount website at that time said the Montana mounting bracket would become available at the end of August. Well, I checked the Ram-Mount website today and it appears that the Garmin Montana Ram-Mount mounting bracket is now available and shipping. So I ordered one.

 

Uh, no, I have no relationship with Ram-Mount... other than sending them money.

 

Go Here for more info.

...

42 $ for shipping !!!!!!!!!

 

Uh, I'm guessing the shipping is $42 for you because you live in Austria.

Edited by Barrikady
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Yogazoo said:

 

"Or, if you alreay own the car cradle you could opt for this nuvi bike mount. The only downside is that the car cradle isn't bombproof/waterproof and there is a speaker inside so bombing down a mud slick in the rain probably wouldn't be good for it. But for my uses (riding around the neighborhood on nice summer days) it's great."

 

Yogazoo,

 

This is my first Ram-Mount purchase. I ordered the bicycle mount, the Montana bracket, the car-cup holder and the quick-release adapter to be used with the car-cup holder

Edited by Barrikady
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Yogazoo said:

 

"Or, if you alreay own the car cradle you could opt for this nuvi bike mount. The only downside is that the car cradle isn't bombproof/waterproof and there is a speaker inside so bombing down a mud slick in the rain probably wouldn't be good for it. But for my uses (riding around the neighborhood on nice summer days) it's great."

 

Yogazoo,

 

This is my first Ram-Mount purchase. I ordered the bicycle mount, the Montana bracket, the car-cup holder and the quick-release adapter to be used with the car-cup holder

 

You will have to let us know how they work out! I am surprised they came out with a ram mount that fast.

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Yogazoo said:

 

"Or, if you alreay own the car cradle you could opt for this nuvi bike mount. The only downside is that the car cradle isn't bombproof/waterproof and there is a speaker inside so bombing down a mud slick in the rain probably wouldn't be good for it. But for my uses (riding around the neighborhood on nice summer days) it's great."

 

Yogazoo,

 

This is my first Ram-Mount purchase. I ordered the bicycle mount, the Montana bracket, the car-cup holder and the quick-release adapter to be used with the car-cup holder

 

You will have to let us know how they work out! I am surprised they came out with a ram mount that fast.

I will update the forum after I receive the Ram-Mount accessories. The estimated shipping date is Monday, 11 July.

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Has anyone noticed that when routing to a destination via streets in pedestrian mode, if you go off route, the Montana will not recalculate the route even if there is a clearly shorter path. Say you route to your home and your coming from the West, even if you walk a giant circle to approach from the East it will not recalculate. Hmm, is this behavior just the way pedestrian mode works (Oregon, Dakota, 62/78)?

Edited by yogazoo
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Hmm, is this behavior just the way pedestrian mode works (Oregon, Dakota, 62/78)?

 

My Oregon 450 did that, and so does my GPSMap 62S. I can get completely off the calculated route and it will stubbornly keep it in place. With the Nuvi 1690 in my car, the instant I get off the route it recalculates a new one. I wish the handhelds would do that.

 

For instance, as you probably know, San Francisco is very hilly. However, often you can take a slightly longer route that has a lower gradient (maybe a block or so), or miss a big hill altogether. The Garmin handhelds will calculate the most direct route even if it goes right over the top of a hill. I might elect to take a flatter route, but it ignores what I am doing and keeps the old route in place. I have to press "FIND -> Recalculate Off Road - FIND - Recalculate On Road For Distance" to make it calculate a new route according to where I am now, and often as not it will want to route me back to the old unsuitable route.

 

I have almost given up on using City Navigator for pedestrian routing it's so wacko, and often as not just do direct routing and figure out the best way to get there as I walk along. I think next time I buy a Garmin handheld I will just skip CN and use the free and excellent California Topo instead.

Edited by michaelnel
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Worked for me, I received the folloing confirmation email:

 

Greetings from Groundspeak!

 

You have successfully redeemed your 30 day Groundspeak Premium Membership has now been activated on your account. This trial will expire on Saturday, 21 January 2012.

 

To learn how to use your new account features on Geocaching.com, please visit http://www.geocaching.com/about/premium.aspx. At any time, you can easily locate links to Premium features in the right sidebar of your "My Profile" page at http://www.geocaching.com/my.

 

To learn how to use Premium features on Waymarking.com, please visit http://www.Waymarking.com/about/premium.aspx.

 

We hope you enjoy your Premium Membership Trial!

 

Cheers,

 

The Groundspeak Team

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Don't forget to get your free 30 Groundspeak trial premium membership when you register your new Garmin GPSr. I was surprised to see this still available given the present Groundspeak/Garmin relation.

Thanks! I almost forgot about that!

Just saved me $10! Thanks!

More like $3.33 (or $2.50 if you pay by the year) :)

 

Edit : unless you mean you have 3 of them lying around unused.

Edited by Chrysalides
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Might as well box up the 62s right now.

 

I'll wait until I have had some pretty extensive usage of the Montana outdoors. I thought my Oregon 450 was OK at first and didn't give up on it for about 4 weeks. I am hoping that the larger display coupled with a little lower resolution will help it perform better in more angles in the sun.

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Don't forget to get your free 30 Groundspeak trial premium membership when you register your new Garmin GPSr. I was surprised to see this still available given the present Groundspeak/Garmin relation.

Thanks! I almost forgot about that!

Just saved me $10! Thanks!

More like $3.33 (or $2.50 if you pay by the year) :)

 

Edit : unless you mean you have 3 of them lying around unused.

 

I mean I usually download PQ's biannualy so I pay $20 for two 3-month memberships. Things don't change as far as geocaches go too much in Montana so that plan works best. I'll now forego the second of this years $10 memberships. As I said, thanks for saving me $10.

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People with the Auto-mount with speaker:

 

My auto-mount keeps popping off the ball-joint on the suction arm part. It's almost like the ball socket on the mount isn't deep enough to accept the ball. Is anyone else having problems or noticing any peculiarities with your auto-mount? Mine's going back for replacement.

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I don't notice anything out of the ordinary with my auto mount. It holds everything nice and firmly.

 

On a side note, would anyone be interested in a Zagg shield for $5 shipped? I was looking at cellphone shields that I could cut but they're $20. For $10 more, I picked up an original iPad shield that I can get 8 shields cut from. I can't provide a warranty like Zagg but it's a lot cheaper.

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People with the Auto-mount with speaker:

 

My auto-mount keeps popping off the ball-joint on the suction arm part. It's almost like the ball socket on the mount isn't deep enough to accept the ball. Is anyone else having problems or noticing any peculiarities with your auto-mount? Mine's going back for replacement.

 

It must just be a defect with mine then. At first the fit was so tight I nearly broke the mount by simply inserting the ball in the socket. I had to use extreme force. After a few days the fit was still tight but the cradle would pop off the ball and land on my dashboard when I would drive over minor bumps.

 

Oh well, Garmin is sending a replacement.

Edited by yogazoo
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On a side note, would anyone be interested in a Zagg shield for $5 shipped? I was looking at cellphone shields that I could cut but they're $20. For $10 more, I picked up an original iPad shield that I can get 8 shields cut from. I can't provide a warranty like Zagg but it's a lot cheaper.

 

Sign me up for one! PM sent!

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08da7317-2ebe-4d17-b00a-4b2998a0c712.jpg

 

Ok, here they are. I have seven (7) total hand cut Zagg Invisible Shields. I left these slightly large as to help hide the slight irregularity of cutting by hand. There is a small lip that they can tuck under on the Montana if needed so they completely cover the screen. If you've had Zagg supplied shields before you know they usually have a little lip where they don't fully go to the edge.

 

I'm asking $5 to cover my costs on these. PM me for paypal address. These will be sold on first come first serve basis.

 

1. michaelnel - Paid

2. yogazoo - Paid

3. cacheoholic - Paid

4. Gob-ler - Paid

5. Zork V

6.

7.

Edited by bullygoat29
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I'm fairly interested in the Montana 650t, I'll use it about 80% Geocaching, 10% in the vehicle, maybe 5-10% logging trails hiked or rode on the ATV or Boat.... The logging the trails really is the least important too me, if it works it works, if not ehh...

 

I've used the Colorado 400T since it was released have been really happy with it The complaints about it are Battery life, long bootup /Satellite acquisition time and the occasional lock up... But I have enjoyed the unit and found a bunch of caches with it... I think the ones I did not find were do to my lack of ability to find them vs the GPSr pointing me in the right direction...

 

I would love to hear a comparison between the Montana 650T and the Colorado 400T and more from folks who have really used it a lot for Geocaching....

 

I've not seen any pics of the various screens and menus relating to caching, so that would be nice also if anyone has them. Does it actually have Geocaching mode like the Colorado and others have had???

 

Ohh and Garmin Chirp support? I do not recall any mention of this... Is it dead or did I miss it???

 

Also wanted to say this seems to be a pretty good thread, Seems like everyone is being specific about what bugs they have ran into vs just complaining that the unit is junk , detailed the issue well, then shared any feedback from Garmin... I find this helpful in learning more about the unit...

Edited by solo63137
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For the people that have sent me money. I need screen names and addresses to make sure these get sent to the correct people. So far I've got money and no where to send the product! laughing.gif

 

Sounds like a great business model! :lol:

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I'm fairly interested in the Montana 650t, I'll use it about 80% Geocaching, 10% in the vehicle, maybe 5-10% logging trails hiked or rode on the ATV or Boat.... The logging the trails really is the least important too me, if it works it works, if not ehh...

 

I've used the Colorado 400T since it was released have been really happy with it The complaints about it are Battery life, long bootup /Satellite acquisition time and the occasional lock up... But I have enjoyed the unit and found a bunch of caches with it... I think the ones I did not find were do to my lack of ability to find them vs the GPSr pointing me in the right direction...

 

I would love to hear a comparison between the Montana 650T and the Colorado 400T and more from folks who have really used it a lot for Geocaching....

 

I've not seen any pics of the various screens and menus relating to caching, so that would be nice also if anyone has them. Does it actually have Geocaching mode like the Colorado and others have had???

 

Ohh and Garmin Chirp support? I do not recall any mention of this... Is it dead or did I miss it???

 

Also wanted to say this seems to be a pretty good thread, Seems like everyone is being specific about what bugs they have ran into vs just complaining that the unit is junk , detailed the issue well, then shared any feedback from Garmin... I find this helpful in learning more about the unit...

 

 

I haven't used mine for caching yet so I can't give any insight on the accuracy. It does have chirp capability. I can't see Garmin putting out a geocaching capable unit now that isn't chirp compatible.

I'll get some screen shots shortly.

4f43ee59-a860-4b2b-918a-15d274c1ab2d.jpg

 

7e7fd5e3-6dff-4d5b-957c-2558819b4bdf.jpg

 

90395110-92fc-4a6b-b01f-bb129b599b7a.jpg

 

54e0de29-98fb-4cfb-8a7e-3d295978be6c.jpg

 

These are stock geocaching dashboard and compass.

Edited by bullygoat29
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