Author Topic: New Garmins (Read 1545 times)

daddywpb · « **on:** February 05, 2006, 02:26:26 AM »

Siskiyou,
Was wondering about your opinion of the Garmin 'X' units. Do you think it's worth trading up already to a 60CSX? My wife has offered to get me one, but I'm not sure I really need it. I haven't had the 60Cs for a year yet. I do not do a lot of traveling, so map sets are really not an issue. Is the new antenna worth the extra money? Are there more extras on the new units that I'm missing? We were at Bass Pro Shop yesterday and I was at the electronics counter asking about the 60CSX when someone wheeled a cart of them in behind the counter. They had just arrived. Next weekend is a big fishing sale there. The 76CSX will be on sale, but not the 60's.

Siskiyou · « **Reply #1 on:** February 05, 2006, 01:52:44 PM »

I daddywpb: Welcome back, I thought we might have lost you to FEMA.

think the big gain is in the new SiRFstarIII chipset. It is designed to work indoors, and under heavy canopy. It should provide more and faster satellite lock time in heavy cover as experienced by those who live and hunt in moist climates. That along with the ability to save unlimited mapsets make it very attractive. But that is of little value to you.

For you the only gain would be the faster and stronger chipset. If you are satisfied with your 60CS it may not be worth the outlay.

I have a similar dilemma. I find the new units with the SiRFstarIII chipset, and the micro SD cards very enticing. But I am getting good service out of my other units. I would have purchased a 60cx or 60csx two years ago when I bought my 76C if they had been on the market. My thought is that if you have a model that was introduced five or six years ago you will gain a lot.

The bottom line is I cannot justify it. Also my low cost Gilsson amplified antenna is great on the road.

A question comes up regarding buying now and being first on the block or waiting six months. At times I think it is wise to wait and let them shake out any bugs in the system. Garmin has already issued one software update dealing with compatibility with memory cards from different manufactures. We have seen the same type of problem each time Microsoft has upgraded its operating systems. The 60x and 76x series gps sure fit the mold for my dream gps.

P.S. There should be a big gain for those who navigate the cement canyons known as cities.

Siskiyou · « **Reply #2 on:** February 05, 2006, 04:54:57 PM »

:-D I am currently having a problem editing the above. So I will leave it be for now.

daddywpb · « **Reply #3 on:** February 10, 2006, 11:11:35 PM »

Siskiyou,
I'm resisting the "first on the block" thing for now. I have read a lot of reviews on various websites, and several problems have been mentioned already. I think you're absolutely right about letting Garmin get it de-bugged. I would guess that there will be a GPS with a GB of memory without SD cards in the near future. My 60CS works great, and changing a map set occasionally is no big deal. I did not get to play with the 60CSX at Bass Pro. There were too many people at the counter.
Some problems I have seen mentioned were - new icons that aren't as good as the old ones, problems with compatability of other manufacturers SD cards, accuracy that was less than I get consistantly with the CS, Garmin updates already to correct problems with the drop down menus.
I'm going to stick with what works.
By the way, insurance companies SUCK, and FEMA is the biggest waste of taxpayer dollars EVER! I wonder what will happen to South Florida's economy when home owners insurance is raised to the point where average income families can't pay it anymore? If I had banked the costs of windstorm insurance over the last five years, I could have had all my repairs done a couple times over.

victorcharlie · « **Reply #4 on:** February 11, 2006, 02:37:51 AM »

The life cycle of electronic products get shorter and shorter......you've only had your old unit about a year..........

I've had my legend a few years now.....for the most part it does most everthing I want it to do......when it dies.....I'll upgrade.....probably not until then.

Your experience with insurance companys would probably benefit all of us who think were covered. You speak of Wind storm coverage........

I, for one, would certainly appreciate any "lessons learned" by your unfortunate experience with the vultures......

I read my policy a few years ago and even sat down with a competing agent and went over it.......

I admit I'm no insurance expert and if your finding holes in your policy I'd like to know so I can fix mine!

Siskiyou · « **Reply #5 on:** February 11, 2006, 08:04:24 AM »

daddywpb:

"I would guess that there will be a GPS with a GB of memory without SD cards in the near future"

You can tell I have a sinus headache this morning. We have had unseasonable warm weather and some of the trees are budding out and the air is full of pollen. So the question came to mind how many megabits of memory are there in a GB (Graybeard). :lol:

You are right on regarding expanded fixed memory. The fastest developing market is cellphones. R&D that enhances cellphones will spinoff into handheld gps design. One company was designing a 6Gig chip for cellphones. The technology transfer to gps units should be fast. If the 6 Gig chip comes out I would bet we see it in gps units in 3 or 4 years.

FEMA highlights good ol boy political appointee process. A lot of good people in the emergency service community went South to help after the hurricanes. But the failure is/was in D.C. not with the ground pounders. In California the insurance industry abandon the earthquake insurance market and a State Earthquake Insurance Pool was created. It has not been tested and the insurance is pricy for what it covers. Insurance companines are betting you that they will not have to pay out. If a covered incident happens they are going to make it tough to collect. The industry has a long history of fraud. How about the American Insurance company that sold life insurance to the Jews in Europe before and during WWII. After the war they denied claims because the Nazi's did not issue death certificates. An extreme but true example.

Longawn · « **Reply #6 on:** February 11, 2006, 10:30:34 AM »

Sure hope you know more about GPS than insurance... The "American" company you referred to in your rant is in fact German. I've been in the business for nearly 30 years, and just get a little tired of this @%. Name an industry that has a totally spotless record; then research which is the most regulated. Let me guess, the next GPS tech issues will be US vs. Japanese cars, or perhaps the credit card companies.

I'll go ahead and ban myself at this point, and save you the effort.

Siskiyou · « **Reply #7 on:** February 11, 2006, 06:03:37 PM »

Longawn: Clearly I lead with my chin in regards to insurance by discussing it on this forum. But first to gps units. One major brand is owned by the French, others are manufactured in Asia. Some of the lastest chip developement is coming from India and Korea. A true stew.

First off you have done nothing in mind to get ban for. All you have done is expressed a strong opinion. You are correct one of the five primary European companies that sold life insurance to the Jews was German owned Allianz. Allianz now owns Fireman's Fund.

The Swiss Company WinterThur was another, apparently it has subsidaries in the United States. The Italian company Reunion Adriatice Di Sicurth (sp)and other Italian insurance companys sold policys and did not honor them. Yes, many honest people in the insurance industry has taken a bum rap, but my home State of California had a major scandal in recent years. The big insurance companies made large political contributions to then State Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush (R) re-election fund. In turn they low-ball claims as a result of the Northridge Earthquake. A more current drama involves a Oklahoma insurance commissioner. I think his trial has started.

Quackenbush packed up his family and left the State after resigning. One or more of his aids took the fall.

I get frustrated when bad things are said about hunters. What frustrates me is there are a few screw-ups out there. There bad deeds make it rough on the honest hunter. I am a big enough boy to understand the problem and correct it when I can.

So I believe that the insured such as daddywpb deserved to be heard. There are a lot of people that have been impacted by Hurricanes this year that are expressing their opinon. Then the folks in Texas got hit by Hurricanes and Wildfire. A costly year.

My experience with the insurance industry has been rather positive, but but you are correct it would be hard to find a spotless industry. But this is not the correct forum to discuss the pro's and con's of the insurance industry. Round The 'Ole Pot-Bellied Stove would be a more appropriate forum.

daddywpb · « **Reply #8 on:** February 12, 2006, 01:05:11 AM »

One last insurance note, I know this isn't the place for it. Our windstorm insurance here is issued by Citizens, a state run insurance pool created because none of the companies were going to write policies in South Florida anymore. You get it from Citizens, or you don't mortgage a house here. Their rates are ridculous and continue to climb. Enough.

I got to play with a 60CSX and a 76CSX at Bass Pro last night. I did notice changes in the look of the icons, but I wouldn't call it a big deal. The unit was not able to locate even one satellite in the store. I happened to have my 60CS on my belt, and it did locate a couple satellites, but not enough to navigate. There are pre loaded SD cards on the Garmin website, but they are very expensive. I'm not a big fan of those cards. I'm going to keep my CS and be happy about it.

Siskiyou,
Speaking of outdoor electronics, my wife (I love that woman) bought me a Cannon video camera for Christmas so she could "see what the hell I'm doing out there". It also takes digital pictures, stills while taking video and can record video clips to email on the aforementioned hated SD cards. With the 25x zoom, I should be able to clearly show her the animals that are too far away for me to shoot at.

Siskiyou · « **Reply #9 on:** February 12, 2006, 06:42:16 AM »

daddywpb: I wonder if the unit you tried in the store had been initializated? It would be wise for a store to take a display model outside and let it find itself before putting it on display. After a gps unit as been initialized for an area it does a better job. Out of the box new Garmin units think they are in Kansas. A display model that has not be properly initialize would have a tough time finding itself in a marginal environment.

Every few months I get into the City which has a big box electronics store. In fact I bought my first gps at this store. The sales people knew where the key was to get a new in the box unit for me. Otherwise they did not know a great deal about the individual units themselve. The last time I was in this store was back in early December. It is the first time I observed a true crowd around the GPS display. This store sells Garmin, Magellan, Cobra, and Lowrance gps units. I have yet to see any of them achieve a sattelite lock in the middle of this massive building. The do have some of the units running in a display mode. My wife and I keep track of each other with our cellphones when we shop big stores. She goes her direction and I go to areas of my interest. Our phones will not work in this store. They work in the Wal Marts and other large stores.

Some of my outdoor activities take me a few hundred miles from home. If I am on the road I will have my gps fired up. That way my gps knows where it is from the get go. When I take my boat fishing I fire up the gps/fishfinder while I am still in the parking lot getting the boat ready to launch, and making that last trip to the outhouse.

I recently read an article that transportation agencies have placed repeater systems in tunnels that allow emergency responders to use their radios effectively. In turn business has installed repeaters inside their building to allow cellphone use.

You should have a lot of rewarding time with your camera. I do not own a video camera. But I get a fair amount of exposer because of my grandkids martial art activities. A hunting partner has one and has captured deer and elk pictures out in the timber. I am rather impressed.

I am thinking about purchasing a trail camera and set it up to monitor my vehicle while I am in the woods. There has been a real problem with thiefs hiting parked vehicles for contents and gas.

A little side note. I have had no problems when travelling with airport security regarding my Garmin Legend. I fire it up and they check the battery compartment and let go. I was asked by a Southwest attendant about the unit. When I explained what it was there was not problem. The attendant was doing his job, and I was glad he asked.

Smile big at the sales people and ask if you can take their display unit outside for a :-) "Initialization" of the unit.

daddywpb · « **Reply #10 on:** February 13, 2006, 02:15:32 PM »

Never thought about the initialization process. Good point. The units in the store had not been taken outside, in fact I saw most of the display models being taken from the box, batteries installed and put in the case. I'm pretty sure a request to take one of them out of the store would be met with a blank stare.

Siskiyou · « **Reply #11 on:** June 12, 2006, 06:49:34 PM »

daddywpb: I waited about five months, and ordered today. The driving forces were the wife's approval, the $100 rebate on the 76Cx, and a pay check in the bank.

I started a new Topic on the purchase and I will do some follow-up post.

I am wondering what Garmin will be showing at the Big Electronics Show in August. I would not be surprised if the 76Cx and 76CSx are DOA next year. I like it because it floats. So is there enough demand in the marine market place to keep it alive? I would say the 60Cx and 60CSx has greater appeal to most ground pounders. But for fishing and river running the 76 Series gets the advantage.

I should note that Garmin has a number of software fixs on their website for these units. We expected that. Hopefully the early birds took the big hit for us. :lol: