which handheld GPS to buy?

[babs2]

does anyone have an opinoin on the best handheld GPS to buy ?

[Tanya]

The Garmin Oregon is very easy to use, even for an old fart with few tech skills. Quite like mine.

[Poguebilt]

I love my garmin gps60cx

[coach]

There was another thread about this a few weeks ago. I've got an Oregon 450 and really like it. Before you buy anything you might want to look into all the additional costs associated with your unit. It's about $150 for the BC Backroads mini SD, another $130 for Canadian cities and streets, you'll need screen covers, a case, window mount.. Like I said - great devices but not cheap!

[tomahawk]

The Garmin Oregon is very easy to use, even for an old fart with few tech skills. Quite like mine.

That's what I have as well, no complaints!!

[Buck]

The Garmin 60csx are great units and you should be able to find one for around $200 bucks.

[Squire]

The Garmin 60csx are great units and you should be able to find one for around $200 bucks.

What he said. This model has been replaced by the Garmin 62 series but there isn't a lot of difference. I bought two of them last summer from Cabelas Canada for $250 each and another $100 for the Canada-wide map base. Very user friendly and can be found in the hands of a lot of forestry workers. I saw some at London Drugs in December 2010 for $198. Great value if there are any still around.

[waistdeep]

https://static.garmincdn.com/en/products/010-00564-01/g/cf-sm.jpg (https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=146&pID=8523)
Rino® 530HCx (https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=146&pID=8523) this is a fine unit and works very well with other hunting partners :)

[Mikey Rafiki]

Try to get something newer that will allow for color aerial maps. My Garmin 60csx does not support this, but it would be handy to know of any clearings or bodies of water that dont show on the basic maps from Mapsource. Next one I get will have this ability.

[Davey Crockett]

I would go with the garmin Oregon series. If you are technically savvy, you can download google earth overlays using a $5 program. Using google earth, you can draw just about anything on your map and use it as a background. Beats the heck out of the backroads maps.

[Sitkaspruce]

Check out LeBarons, they have the 60 on for $199

http://www.lebaron.ca/pdffiles/web_spec/garmin_gpsmap_60cx_web.pdf

Good little GPS for in the bush.

Cheers

SS

[evhunter]

Well, it looks like anything Garmin!! I really like my Colorado, now replaced by the Oregon.

[Shooter]

I just picked up the 60CsX from Costco a couple weeks ago for $199. Been messing with it a bit and seems like a great unit for what I want it to do. Also I found that Online the Backroad map for my region is $69. I know you can get all of BC for $150 but right now all I need is Region 1.

[Stresd]

Costco online has the 60CSX for $199 plus tax delivered to your door by UPS, delivery included. Check out the reviews as it is still rated better than the Oregon in most facets. And at least you can see the screen of the 60 in daylight which I could not on my Oregon.

[mudNblood]

I have the Garmin GPS map 60Cx. A couple years old now, but it's as rugged as hell and spent over 3000km on the handlebar of my quad in every weather condition. Another consideration is batteries, make sure you can pop in a couple fresh AA's and not rely on a rechargeable.

[Singleshotneeded]

I have the Garmin 60CSX, it's great, durable, and readable in the sun. One key thing to remember is that the Garmin touch screen(Oregon) freezes up at -10 or -15C, something like that, and becomes unuseable. The models with button controls like the 60CSX aren't vulnerable to cold, so if you're going to be using your gps in temps well below zero then you'll want to get a button controlled model...and use lithium batteries.

[Davey Crockett]

I have the Garmin 60CSX, it's great, durable, and readable in the sun. One key thing to remember is that the Garmin touch screen(Oregon) freezes up at -10 or -15C, something like that, and becomes unuseable. The models with button controls like the 60CSX aren't vulnerable to cold, so if you're going to be using your gps in temps well below zero then you'll want to get a button controlled model...and use lithium batteries.

I have the Oregon and have used it in -20c and haven't had that screen problem. Maybe it was because I leave it in my pocket or pack while I'm hunting. Could be a problem on the handle bars on a quad.

[Ciskman]

We use Garmin Rino's at work. Very cool with the radio and polling option...mind you took it up near Pink Mountain a couple years ago and the radio only worked to around 1 km...GPS was flawless though

[Stresd]

I have the Oregon and have used it in -20c and haven't had that screen problem. Maybe it was because I leave it in my pocket or pack while I'm hunting. Could be a problem on the handle bars on a quad.

On a normal sunny day it is really difficult to see the screen on the Oregon. Not just me. Check the reviews as that is one of the biggest complaints with that model. That and a few other issues with the one i had is why I went back to the old reliable 60csx. When they work the bugs out the oregon will be great.

[mudNblood]

We use Garmin Rino's at work. Very cool with the radio and polling option...mind you took it up near Pink Mountain a couple years ago and the radio only worked to around 1 km...GPS was flawless though
Bought three rhinos: all three junk, radios wouldn't recieve from 50 feet away. Called tech support and reset them, still junk. Exchanged for three new ones still junk. GPS portion was awsome. Returned the rhinos and got the GPS Map 60 cx. very satisfied with just the GPS but the Rhino would have been better if the radio/polling had worked, especially hunting in groups or with kids.

[Yak]

I got an Oregon 450 for xmas. Havent used it much in the field yet, so far so good.

Im a huge fan of not only the maps but also the built in altimeter and other features. Ive ordered the bluechart maps to use for jigging for halibut and am uploading some satalite imagery on it for my trek to everest base camp.

You really cant go wrong with Garmin in my opinion

Yak

[Piperdown]

Does the garmin 60cx come with a 12 volt adapter

[Jagermeister]

Does the garmin 60cx come with a 12 volt adapterNot to my knowledge.

They go considerable distance on regular alkaline batteries. Not recommended to use lithium. Rechargable NiMH work fine. If you are concerned about power you could buy the little 12v converter from CT, usually they can be had for $9 to $12 on special periodically and recharge the NiMH. I use one to charge camera batteries as well as the NiMH when I am on the go.

The map that comes with the Garmins is very basic, detail virtually non-existant. You have to load some map program into it to achieve the greatest benefit from your GPS unless you are using hard copy maps. Then you can reference the long/lat or UTM coordinates from the GPS to the map. This is old school way of using a GPS like when GPS was first available and had no map of any kind installed.

The question then arises, which mapping program? Garmin has TOPO Canada ver.4 and there are the Backroad Series as well. The choice is yours and it depends on how much money you want to shell out. My recommendation is to go with TOPO Canada, it has less detail, but you get huge coverage when you buy it and I can testify that the support from Garmin is outstanding. Garmin does not give support to The Backroad series, although that mapping program can be loaded to Garmin units. Have a problem with Backroad maps and you have to seek support from them and I cannot speak to how good or bad that support is.

Someone on a post either on this thread or another one said that he bought the Region 1 Backroad micro card. Using a 1GB card in the 60CSX will allow you to hold way more than just Region 1.

I should explain a little about the mapping progam. I use TOPO Canada ver2 and these maps are the same as the topo maps that you would buy singularly from a map shop or the government, they are numbered the same. I have TOPO loaded into my computor, from the computor I download the maps I want to use to the card. When I have been out and about, on my return, I transfer tracks, routes, waypoints and maps to and from computor to GPS. When transferring tracks and waypoints, I can give them specific names to keep the tracks seperate from each other. I think that it is essentail to be able to upload your trips to the computor rather than suck up space on the GPS.

One other thing I should mention. You can transfer your waypoints and tracks from the 60CSX directly to Google Earth. You can then view and save these tracks to look at some other time. I can do the same with the GPSMap 76C as well and you probably would be able to do this with a variety of devices from different manufacturers.

[the stump]

I went through this last Fall as well with which GPS to buy and I think you will find the majority of people go with the garmin 60 csx - especially at the prices they are selling for right now.

[Slinky Pickle]

Does the garmin 60cx come with a 12 volt adapter

It doesn't come with one but they are easy to get. I picked up a quad mount and 12vdc adapter for mine at www.gpscity.ca (http://www.gpscity.ca)

http://www.gpscity.ca/ram-mount-gpsmap-60c-series-stainless-steel-u-bolt-mount.html

http://www.gpscity.ca/garmin-cigarette-lighter-adapter.html

As many others have said, you can't go wrong with a Garmin.

[Buck]

Not recommended to use lithium


Is that a recommendation from Garmin? i was really hoping to use those to cut down on weight in my pack

[tonywtc]

get a garmin for sure, thats what I use and I am happy with it, also happy with my backroads mapset that is just for garmin.

[Piperdown]

Thanks guys buying on tomorrow after prawning :)

[Jagermeister]

Not recommended to use lithium


Is that a recommendation from Garmin? i was really hoping to use those to cut down on weight in my packYes, that is the recommendation from Garmin. I too was thinking lithium would be the way to go because of their longivity.
I have been running rechargeables in both the Garmin GPSMap 76C and the 60CSX. Both of these GPS's are pretty miserly in their battery consumption. Just make sure that you have selected the correct battery type on the SETUP/SYSTEM pages. For some reason that I cannot explain, it seems to make a difference in battery life.
I always carry extra double AAs just incase. For hiking extended periods, one would have to calculate how many hours a day that the GPS will be used times the number of days in the hike.
You could conserve some power by shutting the GPS of when stopping for extended periods of time such as when one is sitting and spotting game.

[Singleshotneeded]

Davey Crocket, Yes, the reason your Oregon is working at -20C is that you're keeping it in a pocket next to you and it's staying a lot warmer than -20C...if you had it clipped to the outside of your jacket or to the bars of a quad your display would've frozen up. Buck, I've used nothing but Lithium batteries in my Garmin 60CSX for the past two years without any problems...I haven't seen anything written against it from Garmin. The Energizer Ultimate Lithiums last eight times longer than alkalines and sub-zero temps doesn't bother them! Walmart has had the best prices on those that I've seen, but a battery store might do better. I know my tactical gun flashlight uses CR123A's, and they were $13 EACH at Walmart, insane, and I got them for $3 each at Interstate Batteries in Kelowna, which is where the cops buy them.

[Buck]

Now you guys got me confused.LOL I bought the energizer Lithiums from Zellers at Christmas for 5 bucks package of 4.I loaded up.

[Sunzuki]

I'm a big supporter of the Rino series as well.
They just make too much sense.

[kishman]

I think you'll be happy with whatever Garmin product you end up with. I'm currently using a Rhino 530 HCX, I've also owned the 60HCX, very happy with both.

[pnbrock]

i too have been using lithiums with no problems ,please post a link to this info.

[Jagermeister]

From what I found from Garmin. Lithium batteries will give greater than 1.5V values. The higher voltage will shut some units down. That is why they suggest not using them. This is stated in the manual for the particular GPS's.

[Singleshotneeded]

Yes, in the beginning of the Garmin 60csx owner's manual, page two, it says you can use alkaline or nickel metal hydride batteries. It doesn't say anything negative about lithium batteries, but I see where Jagermeister concluded that you shouldn't use lithium batteries, because only the two types were mentioned.
HOWEVER, on page 91 of the owner's manual, on the first page of the Appendix, right side of the page under Power, I'm reading just below battery life, "Alkaline batteries lose a significant amount of their capacity as the temperature decreases. USE LITHIUM BATTERIES WHEN OPERATING THE GPSMAP 60CSx IN BELOW-FREEZING CONDITIONS." That's straight from the Garmin owner's manual, and if they recommend them in the cold then they'll be fine anytime, and last a lot longer than alkalines. It's a good thing to have power in your gps when you're in the woods. That settles that debate.

[demlake]

Here's a couple of links to some info from Garmin on lithium and lithium ion batteries:

https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId={9604e8b0-1b50-11dc-eb67-000000000000} (https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId=%7B9604e8b0-1b50-11dc-eb67-000000000000%7D)

https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId={315d14c0-2110-11dd-7d03-000000000000} (https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId=%7B315d14c0-2110-11dd-7d03-000000000000%7D)

I'm still using my old Garmin 76, and it works fine within it's limitations.

I'm itching to move up to one of the ones with the cards/maps, but I haven't been able to get the old one to quit. Too damn reliable.

[Buck]

Yes, in the beginning of the Garmin 60csx owner's manual, page two, it says you can use alkaline or nickel metal hydride batteries. It doesn't say anything negative about lithium batteries, but I see where Jagermeister concluded that you shouldn't use lithium batteries, because only the two types were mentioned.
HOWEVER, on page 91 of the owner's manual, on the first page of the Appendix, right side of the page under Power, I'm reading just below battery life, "Alkaline batteries lose a significant amount of their capacity as the temperature decreases. USE LITHIUM BATTERIES WHEN OPERATING THE GPSMAP 60CSx IN BELOW-FREEZING CONDITIONS." That's straight from the Garmin owner's manual, and if they recommend them in the cold then they'll be fine anytime, and last a lot longer than alkalines. It's a good thing to have power in your gps when you're in the woods. That settles that debate.


The energizers are listed on the battery as 1.5 volt so they should be fine.Agreed

[sarg]

i have the energizer ultmate lithium in my 60cx gps and it works fine,

[Iron Sighted]

I haven't tried lithiums in my Garmin 60CSX, so I can't say how they affect it, but Jagermeister is correct, most lithiums have a higher voltage output when new than other types of batteries and it can cause the devices to malfunction.

I have seen it first hand with Tracker avalanche transceivers. After phoning the manufacturer to inquire about the faulty units, the first thing they asked was if it had lithium batteries in it. Turns out they did, and after replacing them with alkalines they functioned perfectly again.

Most devices that are not meant to be used with lithiums can be if the batteries are first discharged a bit. However most devices now are made to be compatible with lithiums so there is usually no issues.

To the OP, I can recommend the Garmin 60CSX, it works great and is much more reasonably priced that the Oregon models. Another added bonus is that they supposedly get better reception in dense woods and other typically poor reception areas than the newer models though their interface is not quite as nice.