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Garmin 60cs Or Magellan Meridian Color?


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I'm either going to get a Garmin 60CS (For $400) or a Magellan Meridian Color (in the On & Off road value pack), but I'm not sure which to do. I've already kinda bought the 60CS, just haven't gotten it yet. What would you guys do? The Meridian package will end up costing me about $30 more, but at least I'll already have the extra maps. Someone please advise me.. I really want to upgrade to a mapping unit!

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I'd personally go for the Meridian Color. That being said though, the 60cs's are great units! I'm just not a big fan of the Garmin "feel" anymore... except for the V's... at least when compared to Magellan or Lowrance GPS's.

 

Either way, you'll be pretty happy... guaranteed. ;)

Edited by vw_ev
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I'm either going to get a Garmin 60CS (For $400) or a Magellan Meridian Color (in the On & Off road value pack), but I'm not sure which to do. I've already kinda bought the 60CS, just haven't gotten it yet. What would you guys do? The Meridian package will end up costing me about $30 more, but at least I'll already have the extra maps. Someone please advise me.. I really want to upgrade to a mapping unit!

You do know that Magellan color display is crap (compared to 60CS/C) ?

just to make sure you know that ;)

Edited by vr12
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Yea, I read about that. I guess I'm just trying to find fault with the 60CS because of the fact that I'm now going to have to shell out another $100+ for decent maps. Kinda of bogus in my opinion, but who am I. They should start you out on the best maps available at the time since they're ever-changing/updating anyhow! =\

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Yea, I read about that. I guess I'm just trying to find fault with the 60CS because of the fact that I'm now going to have to shell out another $100+ for decent maps. Kinda of bogus in my opinion, but who am I. They should start you out on the best maps available at the time since they're ever-changing/updating anyhow! =\

go to BestBuy and look at the magellan color display.

 

You forgot that in case of magellan you have to buy SD card separatelly (16 meg card is joke). +$30 atleast.

Edited by vr12
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Yea, I read about that. I guess I'm just trying to find fault with the 60CS because of the fact that I'm now going to have to shell out another $100+ for decent maps. Kinda of bogus in my opinion, but who am I. They should start you out on the best maps available at the time since they're ever-changing/updating anyhow! =\

go to BestBuy and look at the magellan color display.

 

You forgot that in case of magellan you have to buy SD card separatelly (16 meg card is joke). +$30 atleast.

Just an FYI...

I tried bestbuy and they have NO DEMOS of ANY gps.

Bummer.

Anybody know where I can see a M Color?

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Just an FYI...

I tried bestbuy and they have NO DEMOS of ANY gps.

Bummer.

Anybody know where I can see a M Color?

In my BestBuy they have it on display,

display is low resolution (you can easily see big square pixels ),

contrast is low, only 16 colors .....

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I'd personally go for the Meridian Color. That being said though, the 60cs's are great units! I'm just not a big fan of the Garmin "feel" anymore... except for the V's... at least when compared to Magellan or Lowrance GPS's.

 

Either way, you'll be pretty happy... guaranteed. ;)

Hey, lets hear your comparison of the two displays...the lowrance (low res ifinder) to the GPS V.

 

Have you ever wished you had bought the ifinder pro?

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You do know that Magellan color display is crap (compared to 60CS/C) ?

CRAP is an undefined value. Explain your disdain.

display is low resolution (you can easily see big square pixels ),

contrast is low, only 16 colors .....

There is no practical use for more than 16 colors. I don't want to view pictures on my Meridian. I have an iPaq, and can appreciate a high quality screen. However it's not necessary on a small GPSr screen. The high contrast large pixel screen is quit visible sitting on the dash for navigation.

I have a Rino, and the small pixels are irritating to view. My friend has the GPS V and is buying the Meridian Color because it's much easier to view.

As for the screen comparison. The 60 and the Meridian are simply at opposite extremes. The 60 is bright, but bleached out in the sun. The Meridian is very dark when the back light is off. Both work fine.

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I'd personally go for the Meridian Color. That being said though, the 60cs's are great units! I'm just not a big fan of the Garmin "feel" anymore... except for the V's... at least when compared to Magellan or Lowrance GPS's.

 

Either way, you'll be pretty happy... guaranteed.  ;)

Hey, lets hear your comparison of the two displays...the lowrance (low res ifinder) to the GPS V.

 

Have you ever wished you had bought the ifinder pro?

It's not all that low res though... It may not be as sharp as a Legend or Vista, but it's perfect for what it does. No problems whatsoever reading the screen.

Edited by vw_ev
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I asked the same question about a month ago and got alot of good feedback. I started using Magellan gps's so was leaning towards the Mei color. Thats until I compared the 60cs and the meri color side by side. I prefer units with the buttons on the bottm and the 60cs has a great feel. The detail and quality of the screens is lightyears apart. The 60cs has a far better display, and has a longer battery life. It took alot to break me away from the Mei color, but the 60cs did it. I even inquired about the memory capabilities, and it has not been an issue. I have a chunk of texas from austin in the south up to ok city in the north, west to midland and east to hot springs AR. It only took up about 48MB or so and thats with everything loaded.

 

look at authorized garmin dealers in your area. I found a boating supply store that had one instock so I could compare.

 

I have been impressed with the 60cs and am tickled that I got it over the Meri color.

 

MH

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The meridians dont autoroute do they??

 

Just so we are comparing apples to apples.

 

I think someone said that you can load routes that were created from the PC but I dont think thats the same functionality as what the V or the 60CS can do.

 

Disregarding autorouting, my choice of GPS would be much more difficult.

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The 60 is bright, but bleached out in the sun.

 

You know, if the 60cs has a display that's bleached out in the sun, I wish all displays were bleached out in the sun. Personally, I've found it to be absolutely superb in the sun. I've been using it on the dash of my car (with the car kit, the friction mount), and found it's very easy to read. Heck, I'm not convinced it's not better in the sun than with the backlight.

 

Now, I've never seen the magellan color screen in the sun, so I can't comment on that, but calling the 60cs screen bleached out is an injustice.

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Disregarding autorouting, one might consider the lowrance airmap 500 (ifinder based). These come with all sorts of accesories including external antenna.

 

also, you get to know when you enter different airspaces while your driving around...LOL Actaully, as a frequenct flyer, the information in the airmap is interesting while in flight..you can understand sometimes why you just made a turn south (when the Gps says you just passed over a nav marker)..

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The 60 is bright, but bleached out in the sun.

 

You know, if the 60cs has a display that's bleached out in the sun, I wish all displays were bleached out in the sun. Personally, I've found it to be absolutely superb in the sun. I've been using it on the dash of my car (with the car kit, the friction mount), and found it's very easy to read. Heck, I'm not convinced it's not better in the sun than with the backlight.

 

Now, I've never seen the magellan color screen in the sun, so I can't comment on that, but calling the 60cs screen bleached out is an injustice.

I agree here. The 60C is just amazing in direct sunlight. I thought it would fade like on my Palm Tungsten, but it actually becomes sharper in sunlight.

-Scott

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I'm either going to get a Garmin 60CS (For $400) or a Magellan Meridian Color (in the On & Off road value pack), but I'm not sure which to do. I've already kinda bought the 60CS, just haven't gotten it yet. What would you guys do? The Meridian package will end up costing me about $30 more, but at least I'll already have the extra maps. Someone please advise me.. I really want to upgrade to a mapping unit!

You do know that Magellan color display is crap (compared to 60CS/C) ?

just to make sure you know that :blink:

I think all color displays are crap. Go with the Meidian platinum.

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The meridians dont autoroute do they??

 

Just so we are comparing apples to apples. 

 

I think someone said that you can load routes that were created from the PC but I dont think thats the same functionality as what the V or the 60CS can do.

 

Disregarding autorouting, my choice of GPS would be much more difficult.

Yes they do auto route, Just like with Garmin You have to use the propler software Magellan Direct Route Software auto routes, I have been using direct route for a few months now. As a matter of fact all the Magellan GPSr that support maps autoroute with Map Send Direct Route.

Edited by JohnnyVegas
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The meridians dont autoroute do they??

That's the best thing about Directroute. All, but basic, Sport traks and Meridians Auto route.

Is this "turn by turn" autorouting like in the gps V?

 

Tell me more about it.....My GPS V pops up and give me highway exit information, exiting left or right in 1/2 mile..that sort of thing.

 

Does it work this way on the meridians? I didn't think it did or could but if I'm wrong then it opens my selection for my NEXT GPS.

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I had the MeriColor, and I found it to be hard to use outdoors in bright sunlight, I much prefered the MeriPlat for Geocaching. The MeriColor is nearly perfect for Auto Navigation with backlight on and plugged into external power. I did return the MeriColor GPS the next day because the screen on my unit was krap in the outdoors.

 

The 60C is perfect outdoors except for nagging scratches on it's screen. It is nearly a perfect GPS except for the memory being only half the size that it should have been for a trip from Detroit to Tampa Florida. The 60C in the Car is Krap without the backlight ON and the GPS plugged into external power. Here is where my 60C's screen washes out inside the car, due to glare. With tons of glare from indirect light, I have to keep my backlight on all the time in my car. The one thing though is that any GPS in a car on a very bright sunny day can be hard to read, when the sun don't shine on the GPS's Display. If I had a screen protector on the 60C with Anti-Glare, I would buy some of the stuff.

 

Anybody know of Anti-Glare Screen Protectors that will work on a 60C?

Edited by GOT GPS?
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For night driving nothing beats a 60C/CS, because it's Night Time Display mode will protect your eyes from night blindness, it is really cool at night to look at.

 

Night Time mode:

0aa58ebd-02f8-4490-bb43-8a14c279896a.jpg

 

Day Time Screens:

e0b7afd9-1467-42bd-b8dc-35c3868a475c.jpg

 

It is so cool to be able to do USB screen captures of the 60C using G7ToWin.exe, and you cannot easily get a screen shot of any Magellan, except with a camera.

Edited by GOT GPS?
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Is this "turn by turn" autorouting like in the gps V?

 

Tell me more about it.....My GPS V pops up and give me highway exit information, exiting left or right in 1/2 mile..that sort of thing.

 

Does it work this way on the meridians? I didn't think it did or could but if I'm wrong then it opens my selection for my NEXT GPS.

Yes. Directroute is for turn by turn directions. It works on Meridians and Sport Traks.

The only thing it doesn't do is reroute automatically, if you go off course. You have to navigate yourself back on course, or manually select reroute.

 

So far I haven't had it make any routing errors.

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I used the MeriColor with DirectRoute and Topo for almost a year. A good unit, BUT, for routing and caching my new 60cs, which I've had for three months, blows it away. Spend the extra bucks for Citi Select and Topo and you have a great and complete package.

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I used the MeriColor with DirectRoute and Topo for almost a year. A good unit, BUT, for routing and caching my new 60cs, which I've had for three months, blows it away. Spend the extra bucks for Citi Select and Topo and you have a great and complete package.

Can you compare displays of these two units in different conditions, outside/inside, sunny/cloudy day.

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Meridian has a better antenna, works better under tree cover.

 

Garmin has better screen, readable in adverse conditions.

 

Garmin is noticeably faster in operation than meridian, at least when you have a ton of waypoints loaded into either.

 

Does the meridian package come with maps? You need to pay extra for map disks with garmin, I assume it's the same with magellan - I don't have the auto routing package for mine.

 

Meridian has expandable memory - although the amount that's in the garmin may be enough for most cachers.

 

I have both a Garmin 60c and a Magellan meridian yellow. I'm not well experienced with the color meridian, although I've held them - if they've speeded up the processor it might be a close call, but using my meridian with 500 waypoints loaded is painful after the speed of the 60c.

 

Tough choice!

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I forgot to mention, that City select software (Unless Garmin has changed it) will only cover major metropolitan areas, While Magellan Direct route covers the enteire US.

My impression is that in US it covers everything.

Edited by vr12
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I read aother thread the covers problems with the 60 an auto routing. If I knew how to copy into this one I would but I don't. look into.

 

Where Is My Road?

I dunno Johnny, it seems like you really have something against either the 60CS or Garmin. What is it? :(

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I have a problem with Garmin? What ever gives you that impression! I may even be opening a store that will carry GPS gear in a few months. If I do open a store I will stock Garmin and Magellan.

 

I have been to so many stores(REI) in which the employees do not know the first thing about GPS. I just like to make sure people look at all their options. I have used both Garmin and Magellan, I just feel Magellan is a better product.

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I just feel Magellan is a better product.

Feelings are irrelevant.

What exactly is better in MeriColor ?

In my opinion the only thing which is better in MeriColor is SD memory.

 

I agree that since MeriColor doesn't have barometer/compass MeriColor should be compared with 60C. Ithat case price difference is smaller.

Edited by vr12
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I read aother thread the covers problems with the 60 an auto routing. If I knew how to copy into this one I would but I don't. look into.

 

Where Is My Road?

How is that problem with autorouting ?

Road is simply missing on the map.

I bet every map (Garmin, Magellan ....) have missing roads.

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I have had my 60cs since they first shipped. Can say that the turn by turn symbols overlayed on the main map view are the only way I would go. As to the color, can only ditto the positive remarks I have read alreadfy. Bottom line, I recommend the 60cs to all my friends. The Geocache function is especially important to me.

 

SergeantMajor

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I read aother thread the covers problems with the 60 an auto routing. If I knew how to copy into this one I would but I don't. look into.

 

Where Is My Road?

How is that problem with autorouting ?

Road is simply missing on the map.

I bet every map (Garmin, Magellan ....) have missing roads.

Where is my road?

 

is the thread with postings re auto routing in the 60c

I should have made that more clear I guess

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I just feel Magellan is a better product.

Feelings are irrelevant.

What exactly is better in MeriColor ?

In my opinion the only thing which is better in MeriColor is SD memory.

 

I agree that since MeriColor doesn't have barometer/compass MeriColor should be compared with 60C. Ithat case price difference is smaller.

Who cares? The Garmin vs Magellan debate will never end... some people just prefer one over the other for no particular reason!

Edited by vw_ev
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I have had my 60cs since they first shipped. Can say that the turn by turn symbols overlayed on the main map view are the only way I would go. As to the color, can only ditto the positive remarks I have read alreadfy. Bottom line, I recommend the 60cs to all my friends. The Geocache function is especially important to me.

 

SergeantMajor

food for thought

 

I do not see any advantage to a color screen over a monochrome screen for geocaching.

 

Does the color screen make the GPS more accurate, No.

Does the color screen make it it easier to navigate, No

Does the color screen make it easier to see the arrow in the compass screen, No

Will you find more caches will a color screen, No

 

Does the color screen add to the price, Yes

Does it look cool, Yes

 

If you want to spend money on the cool factor it makes sense, but it's not going to work any better than a monochrome screen.

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I have had my 60cs since they first shipped. Can say that the turn by turn symbols overlayed on the main map view are the only way I would go. As to the color, can only ditto the positive remarks I have read alreadfy. Bottom line, I recommend the 60cs to all my friends. The Geocache function is especially important to me.

 

SergeantMajor

food for thought

 

I do not see any advantage to a color screen over a monochrome screen for geocaching.

 

Does the color screen make the GPS more accurate, No.

Does the color screen make it it easier to navigate, No

Does the color screen make it easier to see the arrow in the compass screen, No

Will you find more caches will a color screen, No

 

Does the color screen add to the price, Yes

Does it look cool, Yes

 

If you want to spend money on the cool factor it makes sense, but it's not going to work any better than a monochrome screen.

Does any display other than numerical one make the GPS more accurate, No :laughing:

 

Does the color screen make it it easier to navigate, Yes, Yes and Yes

Edited by vr12
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Meridian has a better antenna, works better under tree cover.

 

This used to be true, but with the new quad helix in the 60cs they are virtually identical. Before selling my Meridian, I field tested them in tandem in every possible condition. The Meridian NEVER outperformed the 60cs.

 

The viewabililty is SO much better on the 60cs. Not having to use the backlight to just see the screen in daylight is a treat. The color and sharpness have to be observed side-by-side to be appreciated.

 

Having said all this my MAIN reason for making the immediate switch was the speed of finding caches. No more being the last one of a group to zero in on the cache. The rest was just gravy when I got it.

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