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Garmin
GPS Units, a user’s comparison By John Wimberly
So Santa was good to me this year, bringing me
a handheld gps that can be used, amongst other things, for my biking adventures
when the spring thaw finally arrives. No,
I haven’t tackled the winter snow riding, nor will I be anytime soon. It has nothing to do with the snow; it’s just bloody cold
out there these days. So instead of
recounting harrowing tails of near death experiences with drunken hunters
(possibly) and farmers (probably), I’l Garmin website suggested price: $428.56
US Amazon.com price: $218.94 US
This
handy little devil is the cousin of the Etrex legend, of which I know nothing
about, so this is the last I’ll mention it.
Just be aware that there are other options out there and some are less
expensive (you can get a gps unit for under $100.00). I’d recommend visiting www.garmin.com
for info on a variety of different models, but I’d price them out at www.amazon.com
before you buy. The Vista comes
with a digital compass, a barometric altimeter amongst other options and the
display screen is grayscale with a backlit screen. However, using the backlight
sucks batteries faster than a speeding biker!
The map that comes with this unit is rudimentary in that it shows major
highways and cities, but little else. Handy
for finding your way on the highways, but if you’re lost in the middle of
nowhere it won’t tell you much aside from the fact that Boston is somewhere
east of you. Garmin kinda gets you
there-they make you buy the upgrade map software, usually about $100.00 although
I’ve heard it rumored that you can get it for free somewhere out there on the
world wide weeb…bottom line on this unit is that with the map download you can
more than make out with this bad boy. It
has twenty hours of battery life (without the backlight) auto-route generation, off-route
recalculation, turn-by-turn directions with alert tones, and icon-driven menus
for finding points of interest. The
downside is that you may struggle at times to get satellite reception in dense
foliage and the screen is not in color, although it is very readable. Garmin website suggested price: $537.70
US
The map 60cs is one
badass gps, if there ever was such a thing. Packed with features like in-the-field gps games, color
screen with available backlight, more data fields than you know what to do with,
trip computers, elevation computers, altimeters, barometers, twenty hours of
battery life and satellite reception that’s tough to beat, this unit is for
the guy who likes his toys. It will
tell you when the sun is going to rise and set, when to hunt and fish, what time
the moon is going to rise and set and even when you should be stopping at the
local pub. Ok, that last part is
users discretion, but you get the point. The
basic map that comes standard when you buy the gps is very similar to the Etrex
Vista map, but with the topo East upgrade you can literally zoom in until you
see the barn you’re standing beside, then mark it as a waypoint (the map 60cs
has 56 mb of internal memory for storing map detail). Proximity alerts for anchor drag, off course, arrival and
proximity to waypoint are just a few of the features that make this gps unit
hours of fun to fool around with…and occasionally save your ass from your own
stupidity! (Ok, save my ass from my own stupidity). |
