Pros: Fantastic display, sensitivity and accuracy. Truly useable in a car and hiking.
Cons: To be honest, not much. Buy one - it's great!
The Bottom Line: It looks really good and works extremely well. Be careful when you are driving: the screen is so pretty, you just can't help staring!!
I have been road testing a 60c and compared it to other non-colour models such as the Etrex, Etrex Vista, and the Garmin map76S. The result was, I had to buy one for myself.
It looks a bit like a big mobile phone so I don't feel too daft walking around towns with it. You can always pretend that it's one of those PDA/mobile phones that everyone wants nowadays. Beware - it is pretty. It does attract interest once the screen has been seen. I got plenty of admiring looks from people around the Eiffel Tower and it wasn't anything to do with me - they fell for the unit!
I found my hotel in Paris using it and no-one batted an eyelid. (One guy thought I was James Bond in a lift though!) Actually, I was surprised that it worked in a city like that since buildings can easily mask out the satellites. Once it gets a lock, it does its best to hang on, even when there are tall buildings around. Don't expect a miracle though.
There are two versions of the 60C. The basic unit is exactly the same as the CS except that the CS includes a Barometer and an electronic compass. Everything else is the same.
The screens include a compass screen which has a pointer, a map page with lovely colour maps, a highway page which gives a 3D image of your route fading into the distance, a route calculator that gives all sorts of information on your travels, and even games. You do look a bit daft wandering around a field playing these games. They are based on Navigation so you need a field to wander around in!! (I had to disguise myself with a hat, but it was a bit of fun with kids) There is also a calendar, hunting times, sunset and sunrise times - it goes on. Plenty to play around with.
The 60C is worth the money. I found this unit to be more sensitive than all of the other units that I have, although the Map 76S was close. The result of having more satellite locks is that the receiver is more accurate. Having WAAS enabled makes it even more deadly accurate. While using it in open country, here in England, I was extremely impressed with the pageful of locks that it showed on the compass screen. I must have had 12 locks which is really high.
I tested it in the car (With an attached aerial on the roof) and out in the field looking for a cache. (Under trees as well) It hasn't let me down once. In fact, when I was searching for a hidden cache, the unit told me that it was two feet away from where I was standing and guess what, it was!!! This is an accurate receiver. It had me hopping around in the bushes, thinking that I was walking on the cache!
As time has passed, I feel that I can trust it more so than other units that I have used. Having said this - take a map as well. Relying on a Sat Nav can be dangerous. If your batteries run out or there is a great big mountain in the way, then you have to resort to basic map reading. In order for these units to work, you must be able to see sky. I am able to lock on indoors occasionally (via the window) but for serious navigation - be careful.
Colour and screen brightness is terrific. I found it easy to read in the car and also easy to read with sunlight on the screen. Going from a basic 'black and white' unit with all of the roads the same shade of black really points out how poor this type of map is in a car because you are unable to differentiate between little roads and the big'uns. With that pretty little screen, you can't miss the big red roads in comparison to the little brown ones. It is a nice screen.
You can even configure what screens you want to have available and the colour of tracks. (Mine are blue so they really stand out from roads) Routes are purple. Roads are a combination of brown for small roads and red for big roads. It is a doddle to read.
Battery life is staggeringly good. I expected less than the map76S because it has a colour screen - got more time on the 60C. This is really surprising given the degree of brightness that the screen offers. I was starting to wonder whether it was charging from the sunlight, fresh air or something else!
Resist the temptation to polish the lovely shiny screen - I suspect that this could end up easily being scratched because it is fairly prominent and is plastic.
I have been using Metroguide software with it. It downloads 56 meg of map data - good size. I can keep most of England up to Birmingham on it. (The whole of Spain goes on!!) 1,000 waypoints, 10,000 points in tracks.
Autorouting does not work with Metroguide but road lock does so you get a really accurate picture in the car. If you are upgrading, at least it will read your old Metroguide maps which saves a bit of money on the City Select maps which are expensive. (but good)
I progressed to using City Select maps just to compare the software with the Metroguide maps. The difference here is that you can actually calculate routes ON THE UNIT ITSELF! (As well as on the computer)You can also download the routes to the unit from the computer. Calculating on the computer is very fast. It is of course slower on the 60C but what an advantage to be able to sit in your car, tell it where you want to go so that it calculates an efficient route and then tells you what direction to drive in.
Also, while you are driving, it warns you of an up and coming turn with a graphic drawn onto the map to make it absolutely clear which road to take. If you are using the compass screen, it automatically changes (If you configure it) to a close up of the map screen with your turning drawn. Suddenly, a little triangle appears in real time (That's the position of you or your car)and you can watch it move as you go into the turn. It can be lethal if your driving though so be careful.
The map quality is excellent and there is a lot of detail. So far I have tested the United Kingdom, USA, Spain and France. The maps are accurate on the whole. Some minor flaws but Garmin will update if you tell them.
Since autorouting is enabled on City Select, you can't get as many maps onto the unit but you get the choice - more maps and no autorouting or less maps with autorouting. Your choice depending on what you are going to do.
I used the unit in many remote areas of Spain and comparing Metroguide with City Select on the computer shows some major improvements to the Spanish maps. There is a lot more detail on the City Select. (Those little roads that Spain specialises in.)
Although there are lots more minor roads, Spain has even more minor roads that aren't there! However, if you drive along a route where there is no road, you can always record it on the device and it will draw it for, you which is quite useful. This drawn road will not be used in calculating routes though.
You need to make a choice over mapping software along with the unit since it is only as good as the maps that you install. There is a base map pre-installed but I wouldn't use it myself. Too inaccurate and not much detail. I think that you have to consider software along with a unit at this price.
With the UK City Select Europe, Garmin also include some nice car mounts. Not a windscreen mount with suckers, but a friction mount that will sit on the dashboard and hold the 60C safe along with a power cable to the cigarette lighter. You also have to unlock the software with a code and access Garmin's site in order to do this. They allow you to unlock for two units only. (Bit tight when you've bought it for yourself and you change your unit!!)
My personal preference is City Select. Feel free to email me if you want to ask anything about the software since it's too late after you've bought it and I have had the chance to test both in America, UK, France and Spain.
Don't forget to visit www.garmin.com for updates for the 60C. The software for the 60C has been updated quite frequently and it makes a difference which software your unit is running. I am currently using version 3.30
I would also buy a bag for it if you decide to get one. The 60C does not come with any type of bag. You get a lanyard and a belt clip that it attaches to but I prefer to cover it up so that the weather doesn't get to it and it doesn't attract too many eyes. I would also get a roof aerial for the car. They are not expensive and make it so much better in a car. Of course, if you are going to use it in a car, you will need something to hold it. Garmin make holders for this. Whatever you do, you must make sure that it is convenient to see and not in the way - you ARE driving and it is too tempting to stare like the insects in 'Bugs Life'.
This is a great unit and by far my favourite in my ever increasing collection. If you feel that this sort of money is worth it for a Sat Nav, buy it. Don't play around with loads of cheaper units and discover their failings - this is worth it. I wouldn't part with this machine but take into account that you WILL need software.
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