Taking The GPS Plunge w/ GPSMAP 62s- Have Many Questions

[DougPaul]

I think you can safely record the track with all GPSes, no matter what else they are doing. While I didn't explicitly measure it, I don't think recording the track consumes much power on either the 60CSx or the 62s.

Curiosity got the better of me, so I broke down and measured it. I set the recording interval to 1 per second and enabled recording the track to the microSD card with display to the screen (ie set up the worst case). I could detect no difference in the current draw of both of my 60CSx's and a 10 mA difference in the 62s (65 mA off, 75 mA on).

I suspect that most users use an effective recording interval much longer than 1 per second (I usually use "auto" "norm" myself), so presumably the current penalty in the 62s would be less than 10 mA.

Doug

 

[Paradox]

I purchased the 62 late last summer and find that I like the 60 a lot more. I purchased the 62 model with the camera and found that the camera is terrible in picture quality and severly drains the battery. If you move the camera icon into the page sequence, the battery life is no more than six hours even if you never use the camera or go to the camera page. If I take 15 pictures, the battery is gone in half an hour and warm up the unit. Without the backlight, the screen is very difficult for me to read unless in strong daylight. I spent months cursing at the backlight thinking that it was robbing the battery until I finally got the camera out of the page sequence. When I purchased the 62, the camera model was the same price as the non-camera model and thought "What's the harm?" I found out the hard way.

You cannot place a waypoint on the map using the curser with the 62. You can move the curser and then "GOTO" that location, but the only ways I can figure out to place a waypoint is 1.) Be there and place it where you are, 2.) With the Basecamp software, or 3.) As a "Project Waypoint" with the "SIGHT AND GO" feature in the compass menu. I never considered that the Compass Rose was robbing the batteries as I never have it in the page sequence and don't use it often. Thank You, Doug: it will be very important to keep that in mind, should I change my habits.

The "TRACKBACK" feature is worthless in the 62. It was easy to use in the 60 and was a beloved feature.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Sounds like the 62 is to Garmin what Vista was to Microsoft

Tim

 

[Kevin Rooney]

A flyer from Cabela's arrived today - they're selling the Garmin Rino 120 for $160. If memory serves, this is either the 60 or the 60CSx with a 2-way radio to boot. I think you can also transmit GPS coordinates between units.

If the 120 is a 60CSx with additional features, then $160 would be a good value.

I bought a Garmin Oregon 450t from REI a month or two ago when they had their big sale, but returned it. It has many good points, but I ran into navigational issues which either it didn't have (in comparison to the 60CSx) or I wasn't patient enough to figure out. In the end, however, it was the terrible battery life (6-7 hours) which tipped the scales.

 

[DougPaul]

A flyer from Cabela's arrived today - they're selling the Garmin Rino 120 for $160. If memory serves, this is either the 60 or the 60CSx with a 2-way radio to boot. I think you can also transmit GPS coordinates between units.

If the 120 is a 60CSx with additional features, then $160 would be a good value.

No the Rino 120 is significant step down from the 60CSx. Check the specs on the Garmin website.

I bought a Garmin Oregon 450t from REI a month or two ago when they had their big sale, but returned it. It has many good points, but I ran into navigational issues which either it didn't have (in comparison to the 60CSx) or I wasn't patient enough to figure out. In the end, however, it was the terrible battery life (6-7 hours) which tipped the scales.

While the 62s has several attractive features compared to the 60CSx (such as 4K map segments, profiles), it has enough deficiencies and "got'chas" that I am considering returning mine.

It looks to me like Garmin is dumbing down a number of its products. The automotive units, for instance, peaked a few years ago.* Similarly the latest versions of MapSource have gone downhill. IMO, their hiking GPSes peaked with the 60CSx/76CSx and appear to be on the way down--more gimmicks and reduced functionality for the serious backcountry navigator.

* BTW, the 60CS and 60CSx are good automotive navigators... The displays are a bit small, but otherwise quite good.

Overall, the 62s isn't a bad unit and I'd use one if I didn't have a 60CSx.

Doug

 

[DougPaul]

I purchased the 62 late last summer and find that I like the 60 a lot more. I purchased the 62 model with the camera and found that the camera is terrible in picture quality and severly drains the battery. If you move the camera icon into the page sequence, the battery life is no more than six hours even if you never use the camera or go to the camera page. If I take 15 pictures, the battery is gone in half an hour and warm up the unit. Without the backlight, the screen is very difficult for me to read unless in strong daylight. I spent months cursing at the backlight thinking that it was robbing the battery until I finally got the camera out of the page sequence. When I purchased the 62, the camera model was the same price as the non-camera model and thought "What's the harm?" I found out the hard way.

It is a lot easier (and safer) to find the causes of of excessive drain with a meter than by having one's batteries die prematurely...

BTW, there are some difficulties in measuring the current with a meter too--the GPS likes to shut down due to the increased power supply impedance when the meter is in the circuit... I simply cannot make the measurements with some of my meters.

You cannot place a waypoint on the map using the curser with the 62. You can move the curser and then "GOTO" that location, but the only ways I can figure out to place a waypoint is 1.) Be there and place it where you are, 2.) With the Basecamp software, or 3.) As a "Project Waypoint" with the "SIGHT AND GO" feature in the compass menu. I never considered that the Compass Rose was robbing the batteries as I never have it in the page sequence and don't use it often. Thank You, Doug: it will be very important to keep that in mind, should I change my habits.

The "TRACKBACK" feature is worthless in the 62. It was easy to use in the 60 and was a beloved feature.

More black marks against the 62 series. Unfortunately one can only discover such problems with a unit in one's hand... (One can often find some of these problems described in the better reviews.)

Doug

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I have the 76CSx (electrically identical to the 60CSx). I did a 6-hour bike ride followed by an 8-hour trip (all four Osceolas) and a 12-hour trip (Zealand Bonds) over the last 10 days and the rechargeable NiMH (Sanyo Eneloop, 2500 mAh) batteries lasted all 26 hours, although the low battery warning came on shortly before the suspension bridge. Auto, track recording mode for the whole time, no back lighting. If you can't find the 60CSx, this may work for you.

My biggest gripes are the 20 x 500 point track point limitation and MapSource (which isn't an issue with the GPS).

Tim

 

[DougPaul]

You cannot place a waypoint on the map using the curser with the 62. You can move the curser and then "GOTO" that location, but the only ways I can figure out to place a waypoint is 1.) Be there and place it where you are, 2.) With the Basecamp software, or 3.) As a "Project Waypoint" with the "SIGHT AND GO" feature in the compass menu.

I was thinking about this issue recently and tried it on my 62s...

I am able to place a waypoint using the cursor by:
1) (in the map display) move the cursor to the desired location
2) press the "enter" button and a waypoint description page comes up (name, location, etc)
3) press "menu"
4) click on "save as a waypoint" (press enter)
3) click on "OK"

IMO, unnecessarily complicated, but it seems to work. (BTW, the 60CSx also uses "mark" to save a waypoint at the current location and "enter" to save a waypoint at the cursor.)

One can also delete a waypoint by starting with "find" to select the waypoint. Also, IMO, unnecessarily complicated... (If you are not sure what to do next, press "menu"...)

Doug