I'm writing this to save other new users from the time consuming research and expensive lessons I've learned about the Garmin 60C, and Garmin GPS in general.
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br /THE GOOD:
br /The Garmin 60C is a beautiful GPS. It is compact, fits nicely in the hand, has a clear color screen, has great battery life, is fast to acquire satellites, has a good antenna which works even in my truck, has clear button layout, has easy to navigate screens, and is intuitive despite its many many options. I love the basic machine.
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br /THE BAD:
br /It is difficult and frustrating to expand its use beyond how it arrives in the box.
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br /I *thought* GPS units were like friendly little computers that would connect to other devices, upload and download data, and otherwise be configurable however the user desired. They are not.
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br /For example, contrary to what others have said, the included basemap is practically useless. It mostly tells you where the major freeways are. When I'm in the woods, I have very little use for knowing where I-5 is.
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br /So, my first plan was to upload some detailed maps to it. After research, I really liked the TOPO series of maps. So I bought the TOPO for my state, and thought I'd upload whatever part of the state I wanted to the GPS. Uh-uh. Doesn't work that way. The ONLY map that will upload to the Garmin GPS is the Garmin series of maps. For those of you who know that already are probably chuckling at me. But I didn't know, and it made sense that you should be able to upload *any* geo-referenced map to your machine that you want. Why not? Garmin already got good money from me for the hardware. The software should be a choice, not a lock-in requirement. Okay, so another chunk of change to Garmin for their map-tax so I can upload maps to the 60C.
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br /And, as if that's not enough of a discouragement, you can't simply go buy, for example, the City Select map software and upload it to your machine. You have to call or visit Garmin to register your device and unlock your GPS. Let me restate that: If you go buy a brand new top-of-the-line Garmin GPS, and brand new full-price Garmin map software, you are not allowed to load the Garmin software on the Garmin GPS until you call or visit Garmin to get *permission* to use your items together. And every time you buy a new GPS, you have to call or visit Garmin again to unlock your new device. Want to upgrade your map the the newest version? Call Garmin again. Does that seem fair?
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br /Next, I wanted to connect the GPS to my laptop, to track in real-time my position on the laptop screen with a nice, big, color view of the map area. When I bought the 60C one of the selling points was the cool, simple, small USB connection. "New and Improved" I thought, over the slow serial connection. Those of you who know are probably chuckling again. The problem is the USB connection is a closed, secret, proprietary, locked connection by Garmin, that *only* allows the GPS unit to communicate with Garmin software. So, you can't use the software of your choice on your laptop and have the Garmin plot where you are. You have to use the alternate serial connection on the GPS device, which is bulkier, cumbersome, and requires the extra purchase of a serial to USB converter.
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br /Why is the Garmin so locked down? I mean, it's a basic consumer device! It's not some fancy military or airline pilot device. I understand that devices for very specific markets are usually expensive and locked. But this is just a commodity device. Like phones, palm pilots, laptops, ipods, and cameras, I should be able to upload and download whatever I want to the device once I've bought it.
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br /CONCLUSION:
br /I love the 60C. I hate being locked in to Garmin for every use of the 60C. Bad corporate policy. Five stars for the 60C, zero for the Garmin system.

This is one fun GPS. This is my 3rd Garmin GPS, and I've used many others. Except for the slightly larger size, it is significantly better in every way to the eTrex series, which are still fine GPS units.br brThe boot time is fast, and the aquisition time is fast. You can program just about every thing you could imagine on the GPSMAP 60C, yet in spite of the functionality, this is the easiest to use GPS Garmin has ever made. Several things that really make it easy to use are (a) simple, clear menus, (b) all buttons (except power) are on the front, and have large, clear, high-contrast text labels (no tiny molded icons to squint at). In map mode, the pan and zoom buttons are always available - you don't have to go into a pan mode, and map redraw is much faster than on the eTrex series, which is nice. (c) display is big and clear - in the dark or in the sun, (d) very effective use of color in menus, maps, and status screens. You can even select among different color screens. The Quad helix antenna seems to work very well - at least as well as my old GPS12, and noticably better than my eTrex Vista, which had trouble in the trees. The USB interface makes downloading maps very fast, and 56MB holds more maps than you'll hike in a summer. If Garmin ever comes out with higher-resolution maps, the 56MB will be really nice.pI was able to figure everything out without the manual, but then read the manual cover-to-cover last night. It is well written, well organized, and has good illustrations. The manual is just the right size - small enough to be friendly, but has all the detail you need to get the most out of the unit in easy-to-read fonts. pOn the downside, I found the buttons always getting accidently pressed when I had the unit in my daypack - I haven't found a keyboard lock-out mode for when I'm hiking and want the unit on for tracking (cell phones and ham radios often have this lockout feature). I don't use the belt clip, but the unit didn't come with the little plug that goes over the belt clip hole, yet the picture in the manual showed one. I noticed the demo unit at the local store also did not have this button. pThe two biggest enhancements Garmin could make at this point are (a) higher resolution topo maps for Mapsource, and (b) a way to have the Mapsource topo and road databases in the unit at the same time.

I took this unit with me to the desert during a standard deployment. It performed perfectly even during sand storms and the other ambient conditions that affect satellite signals. I found the unit to be extremely well made and resistant to damage from the usual factors involved in combat operations in a desert environment. I only received a minor scratch on the screen, but considering the circumstances of that day it did pretty good. I now use it in patrol car as I work the roads. It has helped immeasurably to find addresses on calls that haven't seen daylight in years. Great piece of gear. Would be a great tool for a driver traveling alone and to give authorities specific information concerning their location. GPS has almost become an essential piece of our lives, and we are better off for them.

I have had my unit about six weeks. I have used it hiking several times and it has been great. I used in the car for navigation and it has worked great. Everything I expected and more. The reception is great. It is easy to use if you just take a little time to familiarize yourself with it and read the manual. Battery life is great as long as you don't go into "navigate" mode. That, and the back light, suck the juice but without naviation on and no backlight I went on a 10 hour hike with tracking on and I still had 2 bars left in the battery meter. I use both the Garmin Mapsource TOPO (hiking and remote roads) and City Select and they are both great. You can get very detailed by using the detail options and zooming in or out to suit your needs. Fantastic unit.

I love my Garmin GPC60C. I struggled with my ETrex for a long time and I'm finally glad I got a decent mapping GPS. I picked this over the Magellan Meridian.pPros: Lightweight, excellent color, easy to see outdoors in daylight, VERY VERY fast, picks up satellites quickly. Mine shipped with a USB cable, so thats a plus. Software only supported Windows, so my Mac sits idle with this one. Has external satellite input, serial input with power, waterproof.pCons: Hey Garmin! Ever hear of expandability? Thats the only feature missing! Great GPS, but you blew it because it only has 56MB of data. Now granted, thats a LOT of memory, but if you're planning a cross-country trip, I'd like a little more please! I'm sure there was enough room in there to include a SD card slot -- Magellan does!pOther than the 56MB limitation, its a rock solid GPS. I highly recommend this GPS to anybody looking for a good mapping GPS.

I love my Garmin GPC60C. I struggled with my ETrex for a long time and I'm finally glad I got a decent mapping GPS. I picked this over the Magellan Meridian.Pros: Lightweight, excellent color, easy to see outdoors in daylight, VERY VERY fast, picks up satellites quickly. Mine shipped with a USB cable, so thats a plus. Software only supported Windows, so my Mac sits idle with this one. Has external satellite input, serial input with power, waterproof.Cons: Hey Garmin! Ever hear of expandability? Thats the only feature missing! Great GPS, but you blew it because it only has 56MB of data. Now granted, thats a LOT of memory, but if you're planning a cross-country trip, I'd like a little more please! I'm sure there was enough room in there to include a SD card slot -- Magellan does!Other than the 56MB limitation, its a rock solid GPS. I highly recommend this GPS to anybody looking for a good mapping GPS.

Garmin has a very hard-to-beat product with the GPSMAP 60C. I've owned 13 different GPS units from Garmin and Magellen and this one is the best I've had. This handheld, waterproof unit does all of the things found in the much more expensive units such as autorouting, providing the user with audible turn-by-turn directions. You can also customize the display to suit your taste of color, etc. The color screen is absoultely superior and its high resolution makes it very easy to see in any condition. Easy interface with a PC allows you to upload a varity of topographical, city, and marine map products for use anywhere on the planet. I've traveled over 2,000 miles with my GPSMAP 60C with an average accuaracy of 7 feet. Reception is excellent and fast. It's rugged which means you can take it out in the weather without fear of damaging the unit- I take it kayaking regularly. There are so many features with this unit that it can suit just about anyone's requirements for a recreational handheld GPS. You will NOT be disappointed with this gem. This is leading-edge GPS at it's best, all in the palm of your hand. Stop thinking about it and get this one!
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This is my first GPS, which I am using for Kayak navigation, and road trips (not the primary use, but why not?).
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br /The product is pretty intuitive, but the included map detail is poor, and outdated for roads. Why not include better data for this price? The BlueCharts which I bought from Garmin are excellent and very detailed.
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br /The only problems that I have found so far are:
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br /1. I often lose satellite coverage.
br /2. The unit is not calibrated properly to the map, so it shows me paddling on dry land when I am in the center of a channel (about 50 feet off to the Southwest, always).
br /3. Highway maps show things like exits that don't exist, and exits that have been renamed with the old name. I think that a road atlas would serve someone better.
br /4. Public boat launches are not noted.
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br /For me, I love being able to find out how far and fast I went in a boat + have a backup instrument navigation system in case of heavy fog.

This unit is perfect for Geocaching. I own it and prefer it to other units that I have tried. Other reviews will tell you about the great display, fast satellite acquisition, and battery life - these are all strong assets for the unit.
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br /However, there are additional features that I feel need to be pointed out. The GPSMap 60C comes packaged with a USB cable AND free software (trip and waypoint manager). BE WARNED, these features are ONLY PC compatible. That's right, the unit refuses to share its information with Macs - perhaps third party software can remedy this problem, but I was unsuccessful.
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br /Since I also have a PC, you should know that the USB cable and software is useful for more than just downloading maps. With the USB cable, you can update the firmware on your unit to the most current version available directly for download FREE from Garmin's website. The updated firmware will fix a plethora of problems - but will mainly quicken satellite acquisition AND improve the WAAS signal acquisition (greater accuracy down to 3 meters).
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br /The trips and waypoints manager is very handy for active geocachers. Typing in coordinates and names of waypoints gets tedious fast! With the waypoint manager, you can enter all of your waypoints on your PC and then download them to your GSPMAP 60C. Transfer takes less than 1 second! (Computer connectivity is not a feature of MOST of the Magellan units that I considered).
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br /Another GPS-friendly feature is the ability to specify certain waypoints as geocaches. This is more than just choosing a different waypoint symbol (there are plenty of those too). When using the unit's navigation menu, after you have found the cache, you have the ability to select "Found" off of the navigation page. Doing so will change the geocache icon into a 'geocache found' icon (an opened treasure chest) on your map. The unit will then ask you if you would like to start navigating towards the next-nearest cache that you have entered. Lastly, when you choose to search for the next cache (from the "Find" menu - which has its own button on the unit), already found caches would not clutter up your list of options.
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br /The color screen isn't just a sales trick. You can create waypoints and tracks of DIFFERRENT colors! This is especially important when displaying multiple tracks at the same time, multiply this if the tracks overlap at all.
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br /While the unit is rugged, feel free to additionally protect the front display by putting on a PDA screen protector (such as those made by Fellowes).
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br /The last feature worth mentioning is the number of buttons on the unit. Useful for not just geocachers, these buttons are easy shortcuts for many of your common tasks so that you don't have to navigate menu through submenu and page by page. The power button, if pressed quickly and not held down, will adjust the level of backlighting in a snap.
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br /Accessory antennas and car-power adapters are available, but I haven't yet encountered the need for them.

Second Garmin I have owned, by far the best of the units I've sampled over the last few years. Good display, battery life seems to live up to the manufacturers promise (and runs fine on rechargeables), routing s/w very easy to use, and driving with it on the dash (you will need the mount or you won't be able to see it, and it isn't flat-backed) worked well. Automatic routing is great, and quick (few seconds to create a route). Reception with the fancy aerial seems better than patch antenna machines.
br /Download of maps (50mb worth) took a minute or two via USB connection. Auto kit (cig lighter charger, beanbag mount (these work very well) and US map CDs) is a bargain. Some people have commented that the unit is big, but it fits OK in a pocket, and has a little belt clip that seems to work well. I don't think it's too heavy personally either.
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br /I find the main menu slightly perplexing (I prefer a list to a 2d grid of icons), and had some trouble getting automatic routes to transfer to the PC
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br /On the downside, I think the install of the included s/w and mapsource data if you buy it on to a PC is poor, and the explanations of what's going on look like they done by an engineer rather than a regular human being. I also don't see why creating a route makes the unit insist on turning on the GPS or going to 'demo mode'. Last downer: you can't upgrade the memory in the unit. I assume this is some kind of garmin marketing angle, as the Quest has tons more RAM, but 56mb holds quite a lot (Manhattan, the Bronx, Long Island, some of NJ, Boston, DC, San Fran and Vegas fitted OK on mine).
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br /Net I think the 60c is the best allrounder on the market, and unit and auto kit can be had for the same price as the quest (mini-Quest review: more RAM, small and cute, much less rugged, older interface, badly designed mount (feels like you'll break something when you want to take it out of the mount), internal rechargeables so you can't fit your own AA's (big downer, I think) though batt life is meant to be better).

I honestly love this GPS - despite its limitations. It's great for Geocaching, Auto-Routing from Address to Address, and getting you un-lost. Un-like it's predecessors, the satellite reception is great, and rarely loses satellite contact. It even works in certain parts of the house! The drawbacks are flawed computer communication (works intermittently, the Garmin driver keeps going corrupt, so I have to keep re-installing). The maps are useful, but expensive and memory hogs, making it tough to utilize this unit's fullest potential on a long road tour. Non-upgradeable memory kinds sucks, but it's workable. The worst - as mentioned by another reviewer, the USB socket is tight. So tight that the USB socket in mine pulled right out of the back of the unit the last time I interfaced it with the computer. Now, Garmin has the unit, and has agreed to repair or replace at no charge. All in all, I can't wait to get the unit back and continue using it's handy features!

I have used several GPS units in several different situations, but this is the first one that I've owned. The most striking component of the unit is the screen - it is very easy to use and I have no trouble reading it with a quick glance. The controls are easy to use (although are difficult with any gloves) and once you get used to the layout it is very easy to use. Luckily I have not yet tested the water-resistance of the unit, but the gaskets along the battery compartment seem to be very sturdy. The only thing that I can see to improve is the startup time to lock in on the signal. I can only compare to a few other models, the this unit seems to take its time locking on to the signals. The other side of this is that I have always been able to get a signal if I wait long enough even in the worst weather imaginable - not the same with some other units (but only outside, of course). A comment for anyone who is new at purchasing a GPS and unfamiliar with memory - I haven't ever felt limited by the memory, I've always had plenty of room for waypoints, tracks, and routes.

I just went from a Garmin GPS V and this unit is a huge improvement. The color display is easy to read both day and night and the increased internal memory is also a bonus. I just can't figure out why Garmin doesn't support removable memory cards. It would be nice to load up a 512M SD card instead of the meager 56M that this unit has for internal maps. Another plus is the light weight of the 60C. It feels much lighter than the GPS V and runs on only 2 AA batteries. It also comes with a handy removable belt clip. However, it has no car adapter or car mounting hardware. It also comes with no mapping software in the box. There in lies my chief complaint with Garmin. Thier maps suck! And thats being nice considering the amount of money you have to pay to buy and then unlock the various regions that you plan to use. The maps are very poor in thier detail and the updates don't seem to have any updates (at least to the roads here in the San Antonio area). Too many times I have been misdirected to roads that don't exist. Its not just the road though. There are businesses that have been here for three years and yet they are not listed in the database. Very frustrating to look for a Applebees to dine at and you get directed to the other side of the city and pass three Applesbees on the way there! This isn't an isolated incident either. It happens in Austin, Houston and Dallas. I'm going to California in a couple months and I am leary about using this unit to find my way or to find services. Overall, this is a great piece of hardware thats married to a horrible and expensive bit of software.

First off, let me apologize for the lateness of the review. I purchased this item in Feb 2004. I already had owned 1 Garmin GPS, the Vista, and was looking for something a little nicer for Geocaching. The 60C and CS hit the street with color hi-vis screens and over double the memory (Vista has 24mb) and it was a shoo-in. Take all that along with the auto-routing feature and this product rocks.
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br /After 2 years of EXTENSIVE use this is the skinny on this product - IT IS AWESOME. Because the screen is slightly larger than the Vista, it is MUCH more readable. This is probably because of the sun readable display and differences in internal software (larger fonts). It has a geocaching mode which is actually very fun to use. You can select it and it shows the closest cache to your location (you must upload the waypoints first but there is many ways to do it en masse). Once you find the geocache it lets you change its status to found with a time, post a note about the find or hike etc. then select the next closest un-found cache and keep going. It no kidding will give 30 hours of use (as long as the backlight is not used) which is fantastic compared to ALL GPS units that are currently available.
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br /About the auto routing feature - the basemap is limited. It has only large highways and state roads alond with cities, states and other large boundaries in CONUS. This is still pretty darn handy (it beats keeping an atlas in your car). Remember, when GPS came out it gave only a Lat/Long or other grid coordinate, so to have a moving map display is still very handy. The best way to use the auto routing features is to use the Garmin map software Mapsource. The 2 that most recently work are City-Select v6 and v7. However, unknown to most people is that Metroguide V4 is compatible routable software (you can probably find a dirt cheap version on multiple sites - it also had no UNLOCK codes needed). Only in the later versions did you need to have City-Select to route to the 60C. With this software, this is a true navigation device. Originally I bought this for geocaching and some road trip type routing. With good routable maps you can not only do a search in your area for the closest chinese restaurant, but you can enter an address and it will take you right to their door. This feature has been immesuarably helpful as I am an active real estate investor. The time that this unit has saved me so I didn't have to use a map in the car made a direct impact on my bottom line. It is also incredibly helpful in unfamiliar cities. When navigating to a destination, it is even so helpful as to give commands like "stay right on I-10" when approaching confusing interchanges.
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br /The ONLY reason I checked 4 stars instead of 5 is that the map draw is sometimes slow when you have the detailed maps loaded. Also since it is color, the display is not Night Vision Goggle compatible (I am a helo pilot for the USMC - If you are interested in a good NVG usable unit which works well in the air, use the non color version of the Vista.) As a last note why i am reviewing NOW is my unit was stolen out of my luggage on a recent trip and i will get a 60CX to replace it. Having expandable memory and a newer processor for faster draw and aquisition times are irresistable (however, I am not looking forward to the drop of battery time from 30 hours to 20 in the CX)
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br /Semper Fidelis,
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br /Tattoo

HI purchased the Garmin 60C to replace my old Garmin GPS3+. Thought the newer unit would be more accurate for geocaching. Actually do not really see much better results. My wife's Etrex reads about the same at cache sites. I DO however love the 60C's features and maping. It is so much easier to use than the 3+ and the geocaching features are useful. The maping capabilities are great with City Select, but worthless with the basemap. The color display is nice, but really not necessary. Too bad Garmin cannot include a good map program with this unit and forces one to spend $100+ more. A good map program should be included considering what this unit sells for. A great easy to use unit.

I bought this product in December 2004 mainly to use for snowmobiling. I have used this product snowmobiling in the Arrowhead of Minnesota, and the U.P of Michigan. I have ridden thru multiple national forests, using the "tracking" option, and this device has yet to lose a signal; all while being placed inside my upper, inside pocket of my coat! The display is fantastic and the processor is real time. It's unbelievable how well this unit works. I also purchased the TOPO map to run on this unit and cannot believe the detail of these maps. If you are an outdoorsman, this is the unit and software you need to buy. Works great in the car as well...

I should begin by saying this is the first GPS I have bought, so in my criticisms, I am not comparing it to other GPS units (which may be worse).pFirst of all, it seems to be quite a good portable unit. It locates the satellites quite quickly, gives position + estimated error in 1 no-nonsense screen. Also seems quite robust - it went for quite a tumble down a 10m cliff face, ending up in a deep pool of water - and all worked ok afterwards :-) (phew!).brThe hardware seems great - however the software has some usability bugs that should be fixed.pTaking it along on a long 4wd trip in Australia in May 2004, here is a list of my gripes/criticisms:p1) The auto route navigation is pretty poor. A few times it came up with some crazy routes to get from A to B ... via Z!!p2) Also with the auto route navigation: When zooming in, the purple route marking doesnt correlate with the road its trying to mark. The more you zoom in, the worse it gets. Zoomed into a city streetmap, its completely unusable as the route marking is not even visible on the screen - or if it is, its impossible to work out what streets it is marking. Until this bug is fixed, I certainly would not buy this for auto navigation.p2) The way that route recalculation grabs focus from *whatever* you happen to be doing at the time is a major pain. You may be in the middle of a tedious "Find" operation only to have all of your effort dashed as it snatches you back to your route map and loses whatever you had typed. Grrr! pThere are a number of other usability issues - and being a software developer, they stand out to me. The software needs a bit of work before I would give it 4 stars.

I have used a Garmin Vista in the past and was pleased with it. The larger color screen on the 60c is much easier to read. I used it on a two week trip hiking in Montana and only rarely could I not get a signal, and then only for short distances in thick woods. One set of alkaline batteries lasted for three and a half days of about 7-8 hours per day continuous usage. The claimed battery life of 30 hours seems to be about right.
br / Great unit that can download/upload in either fast USB or serial mode. Its extra buttons compared to the Vista series makes it a bit easier to use.

I was almost set on buying the Garmin 276C, but I felt may have been a little big for my vehice, and I didn't need to have a voice speaking to me, a beep is find with a message on a displau, so I opted for the Garmin 60C. Im so please and saved $300. The 56MB of map is enough to get by with, Im able to easily able to put in a large metropolitan area like Chicago and surrounding suburbs, and wrap up to Milwaukee, out to Madison, and around the lake with the latest City Select Auto Routing software. The nice thing about this unit is it takes the older Garmin cables so if your coming from a Garmin V or II or II+, your cables will work. The screen is wonderful, easy to read even with the backlight off, 30 hours of battery life, I have not tested this but I can tell it last a while with backlight off, reception is very good, no problems in the car has option for external mounting, I have seen already accuracy estimated at 6 feet with WAAS, 7 to 12 feet while being used in car on dashboard. Manysystem screens to navigate through may be confusing at first, but you can find what screens you like and change the order or set up. The City Select software has very accurate maps, but I find the POI (point of interest) is out of date and the addressing of streets are set in a way to estimate the POI location, and sometimes it puts a place at the wrong end of a street, not bad if your using it in an unfamilar place, but if you pay to much attension to stuff in your home town you may be disappointed in finding places that no longer exist. The auto routing works well, you can set audible beeps, my only complaint would be to adjust the volume. if you have a radio going in the car you may not hear the audible beep, Ive chosen the tones that seem to be tuned for my hearing, the visual glance will let you know when to be expecting that beep, its great. the ways it has instructed me to get to destination have been more then satisfactory. This GPS is great for geocaching, fast USB data transfers. So if you needed to change your maps for a trip, probably takes 2 minutes or 3 to swap out your maps. No biggie with the fast USB. The automotive bracket you can get as an accessory, I think was not well designed, but you just have to make sure you snap the bottom of the unit into it and I was then satisfied (user error). Having played with Garmins $800-$1200 automotive auto-routing, this does basically what does do in a smaller package and offers you great battery life and can use normal GPS off road features that you lack in some of the automotive GPS's, And this is a great buy, if you know your gonna use only in a car and not take it on outdoor adventures.

This is a great piece of hardware. I agree that the mapsource software is a bit weak, but we are reviewing the unit itself... so... 5 stars!pPros: Unit is small but retains the same size screen as other units. Nice display. Good menus. 56mb of internal storage is enough for almost any application. As far as mounting hardware, most sites have temporary or permanent mounts available for cars and boats.pCons: Thank god Garmin tech support is so good because the manuals for the unit and the software are terrible. I agree that the software needs better updating. Roads at some subdivisions that have been around for over two years are missing, but on the plus side, Garmin is the only company that offers detailed mapping of inland lakes with Fishing Hot Spots. I also can't figure out why Garmin did not go to removable storage chips as Magellan does. (Although 56mb is pretty good)pOverall, the combination of the GPS 60 (great) and Mapsource software (not so good but best out there) is the best GPS system out. Just remember that it takes additional investment in software after you buy the GPS. It just seems like neither company (Garmin or Magellan) wants to bring it all together with better software and more versatile hardware.

Just a warning regarding the 'waterproofness' of the GPSMAP 60C. I was using the back-track function (otherwise excellent) to retreat from a lighting storm in the French Alps when after about five minutes in moderate rain the screen fogged up. Shortly thereafter the device failed leaving me to find my way back by looking carefully for tracks in the snow! Garmin support in Taiwan was reasonably good with the device being repaired and returned to me in Australia within one month.

My first GPS. It was pretty expensive and had lots of nice features (ability to save many tracks). The software is very US-centric.
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br /It worked very well on the flat and in unwooded conditions. However don't use one of these things to navigate in the bush (use a compass). The technology is just not there to cope with either valleys or an overhead canopy. It was handy to confrm where I was when I found a clearing on top of a hill. Finally although the battery life is better than most it is still abysmal.
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br /In summary these things are still a toy for a tramper rather than an essential tool.

TENDS TO LOSE SATELLITE RECEPTION FOR NO APPARANT REASON. Can be in open country with no overstory and lose reception intermittently. My older garmin 12 does much better. the maps available through garmin are out of date and don't show national forest trails that have been in place for 20 plus years, this was disappointing. I have other co-workers who have had the same problems with the reception. Other than that, the screens are very easy to work through and the color display is very nice.

I purchased two of these units the first one worked OK. The second one has a problem. In a side by side comparison the signal qualities of the two units vary. I checked there accuracy and tracking with OziExplorer moving map software. The first unit tracks pretty good, but the second units position is off a large percentage of the time and sometimes as much as 400 meters. I sent the faulty unit to Garmin to be repaired. They sent it back with a description of the problem and that it had been fixed. I checked the unit out and it is the same as when I sent it to them. Now I'm stuck with a dud.

Looking for a great Automobile and Hiking GPS - look no further - this is the one.
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br /Awesome unit but you will need the additional Garmin supplied Maps like City Select.
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br /The software registration and unlocking process is a bit on the painful side but only needs to be done once.
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br /I would definetly buy this unit again.

This is probably my 4th handheld GPS. I also own a bluetooth GPS for the PC. I use the GARMIN in my car sometimes, but mainly on my kayak trips.
br /Before this I had a Magellan Sportrak color. It was stolen and replaced with this unit after I tried a friend's Garmin.
br /I use this GPS frequently and it is hands-down my favorite. It doesn't do the same job a GPS meant for a car does, but for the outdoors it is great.
br /I have downloaded maps onto it (it appears to only like Garmin maps) and everything was easy.
br /The display is bright and clear even in open sunlight on the water, something I could not say for the Magellan.
br /I highly recommend this model for hiking, biking, and kayaking.

This GPS is a pretty good deal for the money. From an operational standpoint, it works well. It is apparent though, this is really all about being portable, the screen is too small for good marine or car use. For my use, mostly marine, I set a lot of waypoints and scrolling on this tiny of a screen is just lame. Not any fault of the unit I know, just something to think about.

We bought this a few months ago as a late Christmas present. I absolutely love it. After lots of research felt this would be the best investment. We intially bought this to go geocaching, but soon found it to be as useful for trip navigation, as well. I was a little nervous because with all the functions, I felt I would not be able to fully utilize the unit. I was wrong, this unit is powerful, compact and a snap to use. Combine this with City Select V7 and you have all the tools and functions of a thousand dollar navigation system for a third of the price. 56K is more than enough space to store TONS of maps.
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br /BOTTOM LINE:
br /You can't go wrong with this unit!!!!!!!!

Screen is readable in bright sun when mounted on my boat even!

Garmin has always been #1 in the GPS market. The other guys, have one or
br /two models and pack them with features like "picture viewing", that's
br /right now how is that needed in a GPS? Are you going to the photomat or something?
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br /This unit is excellent. I've used it hiking and riding my ATV. This unit
br /just has everything an amature hiker/explorer could want. It's easy to
br /use, just take a few minutes and go through the menus. It's great easy
br /icons with text describing each one, and the screen is nice and easy to
br /see. And having the feautre of backtracking where you tell the unit to
br /take you back the way you came and you can see it clearly on the map
br /displayed on the screen is fantastic.
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br /Overall excellent purchase, and I enjoy it everytime I use it.

I have been using this item nearly everyday for the past two months. It is a nice unit but has a few flaws. When walking with it and having it set to "track up" (point the direction you are going instead of always pointing north on the map) it doesn't always have you tracked up. I have had the unit turn off on me a few time for no reason and just little hick-ups a few times. Other then all that I wish I had purchased an upgraded model with larger internal memory as I like to have all the geocaches in my area on there (i can put 1000 on there right now)

If your using a 64 bit OS you will not be able to download maps to unit until Garmin provides driver support. Other then this it's a great product!

I bought this GPS to take to Iraq with me for when I get over there. I have used it several times for our training and it has been the best tool that I bought for this deployment.

i really like this unit but I have no idea on how to download maps to it or update it. I constantly am using it but like I said I have no main maps of any citys. I only have major high ways and well that is the problem. I would like to be able to see everything not just guess on streets when I am out and about geocaching.

I have been useing this item since 2004 with my company and i decided to bye one for my own.

I had read quite a few of the online reviews for this GPSr and realized there wasn't much negative about it. I was right, and I think I made a good investment. Although this model has been updated with an expandable, this one I found new for under $300 and it does the trick for what I need.
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br /The unit performs flawlessly. I even can get a fairly good position - in my office with no windows! The quadrifilar helix antenna really is the key to this GPSr's ability to get fast, accurate fixes even under dense coverage. I don't live in an extremely dense urban area with tall buildings, so I cannot attest to its use in that environment. I have noticed (and read somewhere, if I recall) that the GPS receives best in the vertical position. On its side or holding screen up, the signal degrades. The helicoil antenna must be polarized to be held vertically.
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br /All in all, it's a great unit for the price, and still worth the purchase even though it is being outdated by newer models.

This Garmin hand-held gps unit has gotten me safely home countless times. I get lost a lot when I'm driving around and this GPS unit recalculates the directions for you if it senses that you have gone off course along the way. It remembers several "waypoints" for quick route calculations and it has tons of useful features like your mph or the amount of time left on your trip. You can also tag locations that you'd like to revisit. It's very easy to use and has a nice color display and offers several options for viewing your trip progress on a map or by road name, etc. The only reasons I gave it four out of five stars is that it has a small amount of memory so you can only load a few maps in at a time - not good for a road trip across country because you would have to keep changing the maps that are loaded into the unit. For example, I drove from PA to Boston and I could only get minimal detail between the two states because I could only load the map for the area in PA that I was leaving from and the area in Boston that I was arriving at. It also takes a while to get a reading from the satellites when you first start it up. It's even worse if the sky is blocked by many buildings-it could take upwards of 5 minutes. You can get the satellite reception from a clearing (like an intersection in a city) and once you've got it you won't lose it unless you go into a tunnel or something. It is great for short road trips and for taking on long walks and it's worth its price.

Recently purchased one for my father. After only a few hours with it, my observations:p1) It found the satellites MUCH quicker than I expected, especially in the car. I had read that this was a problem in other units, but the GPSMAP 60 found 6-10 sats in the car in less than a minute on an extremely cloudy day.p2) I'm glad I sprang for the unit with the new, full-color menus. Although not trivial to use (-0.25 stars), I figured things out with moderate ease for someone who knows nothing about GPS. In the store, I got nowhere with the older Magellan and Garmin units.p3) The display is very easy to read, and the backlight functions really well (I was using the unit at night). My only complaint was that I had to really dig through some menus to find the "leave light on until I turn it off" setting.p4) Accuracy seems to be tremendous. I used it on the way to the grocery store, and it tracked both direction and path smoothly. I suspect it's accurate within much more than 3m on average.p5) MEMORY!!! DARNIT, GAMIN, CAN YOU SAY SECURE DIGITAL!?!?!? (-0.75 stars!!!) THIS IS THE ONLY REASON I'D EVER CONSIDER THE MAGELLAN UNIT!!!

Bought one from Amazon, they sat on the order for a week before shipping a unit that arrived dead. Went through the return/replacement process and they sat on the order for over a week this time and the that one arrived dead with the exact same failure mode.
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br /The second one looked as if it had been opened before, accessory bag not sealed, manuals out of place, interior packaging worn. I believe the second one they sent was a return that was then resent to me. Bad news!!!
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br /I still had both and in hope of fixing on, I contacted Garmin who said they were indeed broken and offered to fix one and send it back. This would mean I'd have paid full price for what would then be a refurbished unit. Both of them returned.
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br /I needed the unit right away for a desert trip. Amazon's refund process made it such that they'd not refund all of the funds but hold them on account (those that were originally given to me as a gift certificate from my employer). Therefore I could not get the equipment for a local vendor.
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br /I opened one month nearly to the day dealing with slow order processing, bad units, and more.
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br /So, I'd not recommend the unit and I think Amazon may need to review their own practices to ensure what they have in inventory is new and likely operational, and that when a customer orders something, they put in the effort to ship it ASAP!!
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br /Without that, if you have to buy one, go to a local dealer, put that batteries in at that shop and have them prove it works before you leave with it. Since you can't so that here, don't buy it here.
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