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Gps 60..to Color Or Not To Color


wickedsprint

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Would like to see it in full sunlight... also the cell phones makers say that their screen are readable in sunlight but this is not exactly true... ;) at least is much less true than for the monochrome.

If it's TRULY readable... here starts the money question ;)

If, say, for the same money I can get the color or the monochrome with compass and altimeter (not checked if it's so) I will surely go for the compass.

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If the screen is truly Transflective TFT, then it will be very visible in daylight. The new Palm Tungsten W is a transflective TFT and is the most gorgeous screen I have ever seen. Full daylight, flourescent light, even a flashlight doesn't diminish the image at all.

 

Not sure who their provider is for screens (research anyone?) but if it is the same as Palm (for their Tungsten W) then it will rock.

 

I agree that if you are going to go colour, you may as well go all out... the price difference is minimal and you do get the extra features. I just hope the compass works a little better than my friend's 76S, which can be a bit flaky.

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Transflective screen.

 

50+ megs of ram.

 

All the best of the GPS V and the Vista in one GPS?

 

30 Hours of battery life.

 

What's not to love?

It sounds great to me and I am sure that I will be replacing my vista when these new units come out, but the one drawback is that it looks like they don't come with the City Select maps like the GPS V. You will have to buy the City Select maps separately for an additional cost. I already have Roads & Rec, Metroguide, and Topo, but not City Select (Bummer).

 

Total approximate cost with City Select:

 

GPSMAP 60CS - $420 (Street Price)

City Select - $100

 

Total - $520

 

I better start saving my pennies.

 

Rocket Man

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How does th 60CS do in water? Does it float? I don't think I would want to take the iQue Geocaching.

I just went to Garmin's Web site and found the answer to my question about the 60CS...

 

"Waterproof to IEC 529 IPX7 standards (can be submerged in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes)"

 

I would say from looking at the iQue that it is not made for outdoor use and that one time under water and it would be ruined.

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Did you have to call them for the unlock?

No, you don't have to call them. You can do it online.

 

http://shop.garmin.com/cartography/mapsource/default.asp

 

From that page: "Your MapSource coupon code is valid for use with your own GARMIN GPS unit. If you own two GARMIN GPS units, you are allowed to obtain a second unlock code for the same region at no additional charge. Simply repeat the unlock process for the second unit."

 

Cheval

 

PS. The iQue cost is more in the $450 range without an auto nav kit and extra memory.

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I wouldn't worry about being able to read the color screen, they are great now a days. I have a sony clie and a ipaq both with the color TFT screens and they just light up in direct sunlight. As far as durability, I think they would be just as durable as any lcd screen under a thick plastic cover.

 

I wouldn't think twice about buying this unit as it seems like a great one.

 

I currently have my eye on the Garmin StreetPilot 2610 which I hope to have before the 60 comes out sometime in the 04 1Q. Maybe I will pick up one of those by then too. :)

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I find my breadcrumbs hard to see on some backgrounds. I'm hoping that color would correct this problem.

In fact, you can even customize the colour of your trail! From the Garmin GPSMAP 60CS page:

 

User-configurable track-line color, waypoint projection, display color scheme, large-numbers option, audio tones, and pages (turn on/off main pages or change the sequence in which they appear)

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I would be very pleased to have color. It's often dificult to tell roads from tracks from topo lines from streams... Maps are some of the most info-dense media available, and color adds a huge factor for readability.

 

It's pricey, though: a lot more than even the 76S. On the other hand, the battery life alone might make up for that. I'm lucky to get 8-12 hours off alkalines in the 76S.

 

On top of all that, nobody's mentioned that it comes with a USB cable!!! Just having USB support from Garmin is a huge step: they don't officially support any of the Serial-USB systems out there, and they're all a little funky. Map download never works at the highest speeds, making filling 24MB an hour or more process.

 

So apart from some software features I'd like to see (such as being able to quickly tell the device "I'm walking, I'm driving, I'm walking again" so I can track the actual exercise I'm getting), the 60C/CS is missing one major thing: better input, such as a touchscreen. The iQue has lots of things, but durability is, as pointed out above, sorely lacking. But when it comes to things like entering the next point on a multicache, naming a waypoint, locating a restaurant in the POI database, or just moving to a different spot in the map, a stylus would be a big help.

 

Actually, just a little patch to pop up a grid of letters/numbers when I'm entering data, instead of linear scrolling, would be a big help (ya listening, Garmin?)

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I wouldn't worry about being able to read the color screen, they are great now a days. I have a sony clie and a ipaq both with the color TFT screens and they just light up in direct sunlight.

But does the display stay lit up? All the devices I've seen seem to dim down to conserve power after a while if you aren't constantly fiddling with them.

 

George

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I wouldn't worry about being able to read the color screen, they are great now a days.  I have a sony clie and a ipaq both with the color TFT screens and they just light up in direct sunlight.

But does the display stay lit up? All the devices I've seen seem to dim down to conserve power after a while if you aren't constantly fiddling with them.

 

George

I don't know about the gps and I didn't mean "light up" in my post there that you quoted. I just meant that when the direct sun light hits the reflective backing of the display that it becomes "bright" without the backlight.

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