Help with a Christmas Gift

[rdk45]

Folks.....I'm scheduled to get a new GPS for Christmas. I know very little about current handheld GPS units. My current unit is a Mio PDA with the GPS chip which I basically only use for recording my hikes. That unit is getting a little long-of-tooth and also has become unreliable at times. Thus, I'm supposed to pick out a new model for my Christmas gift.

 

I've looked about and it seems that Garmin has the most to offer and, according to my son and friends, the best reputation. I've narrowed it down to the Oregon 600, the GPSMAP 62 series or the GPSMAP 64 series.

 

What are the practical differences between the 62 series and the 64 series? And the 62, 62s and 62st? And the 64, 64s and 64st? Do they all come with basic maps which you need to supplement with add-on topos?

 

For my hikes I need at least 8 hours of battery life. I hike both in southern France and in the USA (Colorado and Wyoming), so I want good topo maps for both. Can I get and use maps from sources other than Garmin?

 

Not sure I need the tactile screen of the 600. What are the pros and cons?

 

Are any of these sensitive to being bounced around in my backpack, my belt holster or my hand?

 

Any other help and/or comments would be appreciated.

 

Thanks...RDK

[DavisonDave]

Folks.....I'm scheduled to get a new GPS for Christmas. I know very little about current handheld GPS units. My current unit is a Mio PDA with the GPS chip which I basically only use for recording my hikes. That unit is getting a little long-of-tooth and also has become unreliable at times. Thus, I'm supposed to pick out a new model for my Christmas gift.

 

I've looked about and it seems that Garmin has the most to offer and, according to my son and friends, the best reputation. I've narrowed it down to the Oregon 600, the GPSMAP 62 series or the GPSMAP 64 series.

 

What are the practical differences between the 62 series and the 64 series? And the 62, 62s and 62st? And the 64, 64s and 64st? Do they all come with basic maps which you need to supplement with add-on topos?

 

For my hikes I need at least 8 hours of battery life. I hike both in southern France and in the USA (Colorado and Wyoming), so I want good topo maps for both. Can I get and use maps from sources other than Garmin?

 

Not sure I need the tactile screen of the 600. What are the pros and cons?

 

Are any of these sensitive to being bounced around in my backpack, my belt holster or my hand?

 

Any other help and/or comments would be appreciated.

 

Thanks...RDK

 

The first thing I would decide is if I wanted touchscreen or not. I like buttons better but it's a personal choice.

 

I haven't used the Oregon so I can't comment.

 

I have a 64s that I use and like.

 

The 62 and 64 series are the same size, screen size, button layout etc. The 64 series is newer and has GLONASS. I wouldn't buy the 62 do to no sc card slot. The 62s and up plus the 64 series are all good units. Battery life won't be a problem on any of them. Some of the differences are things like compass, altimeter, camera etc, Some of them come with more memory and some with topo maps. I wouldn't worry about this as I would put in a sd card so no need for more memory and the topo maps are 100k so I would load better maps anyway.

 

I would look at the Garmin website and compare the different options to see which options I thought I would like to have and use. You can compare 4 at a time until you narrow it down to the one that's best for you.

 

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/cOnTheTrail-cHandheld-p1.html

 

You can get free maps from different websites. Below are links to two that I use for topo maps.

 

http://www.miscjunk.org/mj/mp_cotopo.html

 

http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/index.php

[Pacific NW]

Short answer: GPSMAP 64s. Just had a MSRP price drop to $299. The GPSMAP 62s is fine, but doesn't have the newer GLONASS satellite access. The Oregon 600 is a nice looking unit, but according to some needs additional firmware tweaking. The eTrex 20/30 units are slow to refresh/redraw the map screen.

 

If you don't need/want the electronic compass and barometric altimeter, you could go for the base model GPSMAP 64 (which has an SD card slot; the base model 62 doesn't). That just dropped to $250 MSRP.

[+GrayHawk613]

Either the 64s or the Oregon series. Or, if you want to spend more for a 4 inch touchscreen get a Montana.

[rdk45]

Folks.....Many thanks for the replies. I guess I should have said in my original note that I had visited several site and compared the units, but frankly, it was not immediately obvious the "practical" impact of more memory, touch screen vs buttons and some of the other differences.

 

If I understand correctly the "base map" is standard across the models I mentioned? I assume the that it covers the "world", but is VERY basic so that more detailed maps would be required for hiking.

 

I find it interesting that you all recommended the 64s and not the 64t which seems to come with higher resolution topo maps? Reasons??

 

OK, assuming that my Christmas "order" is the GPSMAP 62s, and that is now almost a certainty, am I better off to buy the Garmin topo maps or try to get some from the "non-Garmin" sites you mentioned? Is the quality, accuracy, resolution, etc the same?

 

Again, MANY thanks for your time and answers......RDK

 

ps.....I assume that it does not matter if it is ordered from the US, UK or France for the options and maps?

Edited December 7, 2014 by rdk45

[DavisonDave]

The topo maps that come with the 62/64 with t in the number are 100k maps standard topo maps in the US are 24k or 25k. I can't see spending the extra for low resolution maps I wouldn't use. Garmin 24k topo maps are good but I have found maps I like better on the sites I linked to for free. They are also updated more often then the Garmin maps.

 

The only thing I think the base map is good for is so that Garmin can say it comes with a map.

 

It shouldn't matter where you buy it. I would load all the maps on one card. but you could buy 2 sd cards and load one with US maps, caches, tracks etc. and the other with UK and France and switch them.

[rdk45]

Dave.....Thanks for the reply, now looking forward to a new toy at Christmas....RDK

[+GrayHawk613]

Dave.....Thanks for the reply, now looking forward to a new toy at Christmas....RDK

 

Remember: Even though the 62s is cheaper it doesn't have the 3-axis electric compass.

[DavisonDave]

Dave.....Thanks for the reply, now looking forward to a new toy at Christmas....RDK

 

Remember: Even though the 62s is cheaper it doesn't have the 3-axis electric compass.

 

The 62s has the compass. The 62 and 64 don't but the s and above in both series do.

[+coachstahly]

 

The only thing I think the base map is good for is so that Garmin can say it comes with a map.

 

 

Truer words were never spoken.

[+GrayHawk613]

Oh.

[+BAMBOOZLE]

Folks.....Many thanks for the replies. I guess I should have said in my original note that I had visited several site and compared the units, but frankly, it was not immediately obvious the "practical" impact of more memory, touch screen vs buttons and some of the other differences.

 

If I understand correctly the "base map" is standard across the models I mentioned? I assume the that it covers the "world", but is VERY basic so that more detailed maps would be required for hiking.

 

I find it interesting that you all recommended the 64s and not the 64t which seems to come with higher resolution topo maps? Reasons??

 

OK, assuming that my Christmas "order" is the GPSMAP 62s, and that is now almost a certainty, am I better off to buy the Garmin topo maps or try to get some from the "non-Garmin" sites you mentioned? Is the quality, accuracy, resolution, etc the same?

 

Again, MANY thanks for your time and answers......RDK

 

ps.....I assume that it does not matter if it is ordered from the US, UK or France for the options and maps?

 

I think you will really like the 62S, I have 3.

Good advice given re the topo maps....I don't use topo but rarely go more than about 5 miles into the woods...the track back feature , however, has been VERY useful getting me home.

I think you'll want detail street maps and I use the Garmin City Nav on the micro SD card.

Edited December 11, 2014 by BAMBOOZLE

[+coachstahly]

I have bought the 24K topo maps from Garmin in the mSD form so I can swap them out from unit to unit. I have a 60CSx I started with and don't use much anymore other than to verify coordinates for a hide. My Montana gets the most use right now and the 24K maps are great. I also have a Monterra that has had some issues but is slowly working its way back into the rotation, although it's still a bit buggy. I will admit that I haven't connected to Wi-Fi to update to the most recent version recently. I downloaded the trail overlay from the gpsfiledepot site and have loved that choice. The higher detail is great and in areas I'm not familiar with, the routable maps (24K and in one situation an OSM tile set I downloaded) have been great!

[rdk45]

Folks.....Many thanks for all of the advise. Now I have to wait for Christmas......RDK

[+GrayHawk613]

I have bought the 24K topo maps from Garmin in the mSD form so I can swap them out from unit to unit. I have a 60CSx I started with and don't use much anymore other than to verify coordinates for a hide. My Montana gets the most use right now and the 24K maps are great. I also have a Monterra that has had some issues but is slowly working its way back into the rotation, although it's still a bit buggy. I will admit that I haven't connected to Wi-Fi to update to the most recent version recently. I downloaded the trail overlay from the gpsfiledepot site and have loved that choice. The higher detail is great and in areas I'm not familiar with, the routable maps (24K and in one situation an OSM tile set I downloaded) have been great!

 

I've wanted to download that overlay for some time. Can it show special trails like State Park trails? I'm very curios.

[+coachstahly]

As long as someone has provided the trails to the creator, it will be in there. I did two ECs over Thanksgiving in a state park here in IN and the trail overlays were on there. I've even had a few show up in smaller county operated parks. However, one state park I went to had no trails showing. That's in the minority though and it's been a great download.

[+GrayHawk613]

That's in the minority though and it's been a great download.

 

Thanks.

[rdk45]

Folks.....Whoopee, Christmas finally got here and I have my GPSMAP 64s. Now I have to get some maps. So I have questions...

 

1) The "present" came with an coupon for a topo map which I collected when I registered my unit with Garmin. It downloaded (slowly) and I thought I specified that it should go to the SD card, but it appears to have landed on the unit itself. Is there a way to move it from the unit to the SD card?

 

2) The next map I want is one for hiking in southwestern France. I've been reading this post on getting "free" maps for my Garmin Free Maps

 

There was some discussion in that thread about Garmin's attempt to stop "pirated" maps from being loaded, but it seemed like some folks were having problems....

 

Also I watched the tutorial video on the Garmin site about getting "free" maps. Unfortunately (for me) the programs he downloaded from the Garmin site were only for the MAC. I'm a Windows person...

 

So, my next question is where and how can I get a good hiking map for southwest France (ie Provence, similar to the maps Garmin sells for 250+ euros) for my Garmin GPSMAP 64S. Remember I'm a "babe in the woods" with this unit, so the more detail to better. Where to go? What programs do I need? What processing do the downloads need? And, how do I get them onto an SD card for use with my 64s?

 

Thanks.....RDK45

[rdk45]

Sussamb....Thanks for the VERY quick reply, I'm downloading the western Europe file as I write this.

 

Regarding the issue where my topo quad files from Garmin did not seem to go to my SD card, I'm not sure which file to move to the Garmin folder on the SD card? Here is a screen capture on the Garmin files on the unit. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2fJk-MZ8OGfNmRqcDU1U293cjQ/view?usp=sharing I have browsed the folders and most are empty. I assume then that the three files (D1529000A.*) are related to the downloaded topo? Do I move all with that name? If not which one(s)?

 

I see in the Garmin folder on the Start menu that I have these programs BaseCamp, BaseCamp2d, Garmin Express, MapInstall and WebUpdater. Do I need to get additional programs for processing and installing new maps?

 

Thanks again...RDK

Edited January 23, 2015 by rdk45