Garmin 62st GPS

Has anyone used the Garmin 62st GPS with the City map feature? I am looking for a hand held GPS that will work like the vehicle models allowing you to search for addresses etc.

I have an oregon 550 which runs close to the same software. I also have City Nav maps for it. It will do turn by turn, etc like a car model but it doesn't speak. It just beeps and shows on screen what your next turn will be. It works but if you want full car options with speech, just get the one you want for your bike and then a cheap one for the car.

62 is just the next generation of the 60. should be able to everything the 60 can which includes routing to addresses. the 60 is a little slow on letting you know about upcoming turns, not sure if that has been addressed in the 62.

The 60 doesn't "speak" your turns though, Right?

john92 wrote:

The 60 doesn't "speak" your turns though, Right?

that is correct. it just beeps like most of the "outdoor sports" oriented units.

Thanks, I look at the other 60/62 models as well. What about the other manufactures such as Lowerence? I note that Cabela's carries this line as well as another one - name escapes me now. Is Garmen the one to get or are there other recommended names? Anyway to get a milspec unit?

The other one at cabelas might be delorme.

I haven't used anything but garmin, so I can't comment on other units. I don't know about other companies, but I know where to get free routable,topo, and hiking trail maps for garmin units.

Yes, that was it Delorme.

Hey, your avitar picture makes my day. I damn near spit coffee all over the key board when I opened your response the other day.

I have a Nuvi 500. It speaks the turns and evrything. It is water proof also. So it works pretty well on the bike mounted on a RAM mount and in the car. Has a decent battry so it can be used as a hand held for a couple of hours.

M1A Rifleman wrote:

Thanks, I look at the other 60/62 models as well. What about the other manufactures such as Lowerence? I note that Cabela's carries this line as well as another one - name escapes me now. Is Garmen the one to get or are there other recommended names? Anyway to get a milspec unit?

A Milspec one? You mean like the DAGR?



DAGR on the left, Garmin Rino 130 (since replaced by a 530 HCx) on the right. Unless you have a bunch of crypto gear and whatnot you need to connect to, I'll take the Garmin every time. My 530 HCx laid in the middle of an FSR being run over by traffic for two days and still worked when found...

I'd stick with Garmin. All the manufacturers use the same chips, most of the differences are in the interfaces. The big point with Garmin is everybody and their dog is writing software, maps, and utilities for Garmin GPS units. That counts for something.

The 530 is a good choice if you're outdoors with friends. The polling, texting, and radio ability is far handier than many would think. Living in the Rockies, I also appreciate the ability to pick up the government weather broadcasts. I prefer trail-oriented GPS units to vehicle oriented. Yep, the screen and controls are smaller, but when I stop the bike I stick the GPS in my shirt pocket and keep right on using it as I go walking.

If you want something tough and want to get really serious about it, you can always go the professional route:

http://www.trimble.com/junosd.shtml



Possibly my next low level GPS (don't laugh until you've seen an RTK setup). But for now, I'm quite happy with the Rino 530 HCx.

I have the 62S - be very careful of the screen - I cracked mine the first time I used it.
No joy from Garmin - just said that the military use them and have no problems - well good on those guys.......
I know of one other person that had the same thing happen very easily as well - I let my key ring fall on it - I even had a screen protector in place as well.

Also there's no waterproof power supply and it eats batteries.

Corkonian wrote:

I have the 62S - be very careful of the screen - I cracked mine the first time I used it.
No joy from Garmin - just said that the military use them and have no problems - well good on those guys.......
I know of one other person that had the same thing happen very easily as well - I let my key ring fall on it - I even had a screen protector in place as well.

Also there's no waterproof power supply and it eats batteries.

I have never seen nor used a 62S.

I do have a 530HCx that laid in the middle of a gravel road getting run over for two days by truck traffic before somebody found it. It still worked, which is how they got my contact info off the splash screen. The case was scarred up pretty good, but everything still worked. And, not to rub it in, but Garmin happily refurbished the case for free - looks like new.

So perhaps the 62S has a batch of defective screens, but I've seen the abuse my Garmin took and kept on going, and they are correct that a lot of us in the military have our own Garmins. Very rare to hear of somebody complaining their Garmin packed it in; when you do, it is usually because it got slammed in a hatch or something like that you wouldn't expect anything to survive (including your hand).

Most of Garmin's handhelds are waterproof to IPX7 specifications, including the 62S. Putting a waterproof port into it for plugging in a power supply has several issues. First, the vast majority of handheld users aren't carrying a power source with them - they're on foot and have no interest in a waterproof power point. Second, making a power port waterproof creates another potential failure point and increases the cost to meet a desire of a very small number of users.

Garmin says the device will run 20 hours on 2 AA batteries. Again, I don't own one, but my other Garmins have a battery life pretty close to what Garmin says they will - depends on how much you use backlighting and all the other functions available, of course. Anything like 20 hours on 2 AA's seems pretty good to me, especially considering the weight of a spare pair of batteries.

The smart thing is to simply do what the rest of us do - have your handheld GPS in it's mount while you're riding, and spare rechargeables with you. Switch out as required AND no cable to get caught in a branch or ripped out of the GPS in a crash. If you have a power outlet that you wanted to run the GPS off, instead just charge another set of batteries as you travel. Swap out as required. Easy-peasy.

I sold my 67csx about a month ago and regret it. However I've been on the lookout for something better. Has anyone seen this live or used it? http://trailtech.net/voyager.html Seems like a great addition for easy navigation but I wonder how it does with the on street vs off road.

router.exe wrote:

john92 wrote:

The 60 doesn't "speak" your turns though, Right?

that is correct. it just beeps like most of the "outdoor sports" oriented units.

Can you hear the beeps with the engine going and helmet on?

soggytire wrote:

I sold my 67csx about a month ago and regret it. However I've been on the lookout for something better. Has anyone seen this live or used it? http://trailtech.net/voyager.html Seems like a great addition for easy navigation but I wonder how it does with the on street vs off road.

I took a brief 30 second look at the description, and the following is based on that.

First, it is not a true mapping GPS. You can load GPX files (i.e. somebody else's linear tracks and waypoints, but not maps), and that's it. They claim this is okay, because REAL enduro riders find topo maps pretty much useless. Well, that's one way to dismiss your shortcomings, I guess...

Personally, for a WR250R and the kind of rambling most of us do on these bikes, I think a handheld Garmin is pretty damned hard to beat. The beauty of it is they are specifically designed for backroads/offroads travel. They're tough, pretty waterproof, and when you get off the bike it takes all of about five seconds to take the GPS off and stick it in your shirt pocket so you can use it footborne away from the bike. I've looked at the Zumos and whatnot... if I was riding a big supertanker and doing a lot of slab or riding in big cities, I might favour something like that.

Maybe.

But probably not.

You can get a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx for about $230; if you can make use of the radio and polling functions, a 530 HCx is about $400. $230 for a GPS as capable as the 60 CSx is pretty damned tough to beat.

I wouldn't worry about the beeping and squawking GPS units - it is going to be tough to hear on a bike anyways, unless you go the earbuds route. At the same time, when a direction change is coming up, the whole screen will change and show you big screen pointers anyways. Pretty tough to miss.

Jäger wrote:

I have never seen nor used a 62S.

I do have a 530HCx that laid in the middle of a gravel road getting run over for two days by truck traffic before somebody found it. It still worked, which is how they got my contact info off the splash screen. The case was scarred up pretty good, but everything still worked. And, not to rub it in, but Garmin happily refurbished the case for free - looks like new.

So perhaps the 62S has a batch of defective screens, but I've seen the abuse my Garmin took and kept on going, and they are correct that a lot of us in the military have our own Garmins. Very rare to hear of somebody complaining their Garmin packed it in; when you do, it is usually because it got slammed in a hatch or something like that you wouldn't expect anything to survive (including your hand).

I'll take you're word for it on the toughness of the 530HCX because you've owned one - so take my word for the weak points of the 62s. It's not a fair comparison anyway - totally different design and I very much doubt they share much in the way of components. We see it all the time from car and bike manufacturers - they can all produce their share of turkeys.
I hate when companies resort to 'the military use it' to sell you on a product - it's poor marketing and even worse when it's given as a defense when a customer calls with an issue.

Jäger wrote:

Most of Garmin's handhelds are waterproof to IPX7 specifications, including the 62S. Putting a waterproof port into it for plugging in a power supply has several issues. First, the vast majority of handheld users aren't carrying a power source with them - they're on foot and have no interest in a waterproof power point. Second, making a power port waterproof creates another potential failure point and increases the cost to meet a desire of a very small number of users.

The 60CSX had it! It was a big selling point for that unit or at least it's a big reason why people aren't 'upgrading' to the 62S.

Jäger wrote:

Garmin says the device will run 20 hours on 2 AA batteries. Again, I don't own one, but my other Garmins have a battery life pretty close to what Garmin says they will - depends on how much you use backlighting and all the other functions available, of course. Anything like 20 hours on 2 AA's seems pretty good to me, especially considering the weight of a spare pair of batteries.

The smart thing is to simply do what the rest of us do - have your handheld GPS in it's mount while you're riding, and spare rechargeables with you. Switch out as required AND no cable to get caught in a branch or ripped out of the GPS in a crash. If you have a power outlet that you wanted to run the GPS off, instead just charge another set of batteries as you travel. Swap out as required. Easy-peasy.

In sunny California you might get away with the backlight off but trust me in dull aul Ireland you'll need it at half brightness at the very least. It no good on a bike having to squint and strain to pick out the details - I prefer to be able to keep my eyes on the road as much as possible.
They don't last long at all - with full backlight and new batteries I've had the 'batteries not good enough for current mode' - or whatever it says - in around an hour I'd guess. I can be more scientific about that if anyone's interested.

I like Garmin products - their mapping is excellent over here for trail and road - in fact I wouldn't use anything else to be honest. I'm not out to bash them at all. I just really think this is a sub-standard unit - especially for a bike.
That screen issue has me worried - remember Apple had an issue with screens cracking on an iPod years ago - it turned out it was a fault with the design - a pressure point behind the screen caused it to crack easier than it should have. They didn't tell people that the military use iPod's so how can they not be super tough

I'm thinking of getting the following as a replacement - so much for my brand loyalty
http://www.satmap.com/
Uses the same source for trail maps here as Garmin - but I must find out about the power supply.

Corkonian wrote:

I'll take you're word for it on the toughness of the 530HCX because you've owned one - so take my word for the weak points of the 62s. It's not a fair comparison anyway - totally different design and I very much doubt they share much in the way of components.

No. I'll take your complaint under advisement, and that's about it..

Being a geomatics guy, I hang out on a lot of GPS/GIS related sites. And being a military guy at the same time, I also hang out at sites like Lightfighter. If the 62s was calving with any significant regularity, the problems would show up on at least some of those sites. Go ahead and check them out, or google "62s breaks" or something similar. Your woes are most visible by the absence of similar stories on the internet. To be fair, it is also a relatively new unit, but your problem is not reported elsewhere.

Quote :

I hate when companies resort to 'the military use it' to sell you on a product - it's poor marketing and even worse when it's given as a defense when a customer calls with an issue.

Then simply ignore it if it disturbs you so much. Garmins are indeed ubiquitous within the military, whose members are neither all issued DAGRs nor have any particular love for that unit if they did get one. They work. They survive the handling that the military gives their kit in the field. And the 62s is increasingly popular among today's technology-savvy young warfighters who love the fact that it permits them to load their own raster maps and orthophotos in the background to contour lines and similar line and point features. They aren't bitching about it breaking at the first dirty look - they love it.

"Used by the military" doesn't necessarily mean anything - we have lots of government purchased crap. But when the troops in droves are shelling out their own hard earned shekels for a personal GPS, obviously the word at least among the troops is that they are a good piece of kit. Incidentally, if you want to see a GPS the troops have tried and DON'T like, look at the Oregon and Colorado series...

Quote :

In sunny California you might get away with the backlight off but trust me in dull aul Ireland you'll need it at half brightness at the very least.

I wouldn't know anything about sunny California - I live in the middle of mountains like you will never find in Ireland. And being in the bottom of a deep valley bottom with clouds all the way down to the valley floor and the sun masked by a giant mountain gives you low light levels more than comparable to dull auld Ireland - or anyplace else.

I don't have any problems with how I use the backlighting - which I generally have cranked to 100% - nor, apparently (it's never become a topic of conversation) do the other Garmin users out there.

Your mileage, obviously, differs.

Quote :

They don't last long at all - with full backlight and new batteries I've had the 'batteries not good enough for current mode' - or whatever it says - in around an hour I'd guess. I can be more scientific about that if anyone's interested.

Somebody else already beat you to it in testing battery life. Allow me to quote from one testing review:
I tested battery life using freshly charged Sanyo Eneloop batteries with the backlight off, and left it sitting under light canopy, undisturbed until the unit shut down. The unit was set to collect trackpoints every 30 seconds. The tracklog and total time data field showed that the unit ran for 17 hours and 59 minutes, a couple hours shy of the rated battery life of up to 20 hours.

I will note in passing that various functions in any GPS have different power demands. The compass function in most GPS units, for example, heavily sucks battery juice when enabled. The smart GPS user concerned with maximizing battery life conducts trials with various combinations of functions enabled to determine what is okay to constantly have running and what to enable only when they want to use it. Garmin - and every other GPS manufacturer including the professional unit manufacturers like Trimble - generally give battery life estimates under best case scenarios that don't have so many functions turned off that it becomes absurd. There is no way any manufacturer can predict how every user will choose to configure and use their GPS.

Incidentally, if you want to see every conceivable bitch and negative comment about any GPS, just check out the related wiki for that particular model, like this:
http://garmingpsmap.wikispaces.com/message/list/home#home?o=20&rid=1

You'll notice a rather significant absence of complaints about fragile units and horrible battery life out of line with Garmin specs.

Quote :

I'm not out to bash them at all. I just really think this is a sub-standard unit - especially for a bike.

You may well have a lemon. But when you go to the global user group visible on the internet, your problems are not reflected elsewhere. I have no idea how many of these units Garmin has sold, but it has probably been a few, and complaints such as yours are largely noticeable by their absence.

It isn't the unit I would choose for various reasons, but I don't see any recurring problems showing up in user groups that would suggest this model is unsuitable for use on a bike.

In your case, obviously, your best approach is to get another unit that you are happier with. The aftermarket insurance policies from Mack that extend your warranty by four years and include cracked or damaged screens go for about $30 for a $400 GPS. You might find those worthwhile as well. I always buy that warranty with my GPS units, even though I have never had to use one.

Corkonian wrote:

I'm thinking of getting the following as a replacement - so much for my brand loyalty
http://www.satmap.com/
Uses the same source for trail maps here as Garmin - but I must find out about the power supply.

Looks more like a comprehensive PDA than a GPS - but that may be exactly what some people like.

From what they say at their website, they most certainly don't use Garmin's map products. No great surprise, I don't know of a single GPS that uses a competitor's map format.

I notice that mapping for Ireland costs around 100 pounds. Their mapping for US states runs around 65 pounds per SD chip for each state. So... if I had this unit and rode back and forth over the Montana/Idaho border (not unusual), I'd have to dish out about 130 pounds for just those two states. That's pretty spendy when I can find free GARMIN mapping based on USGS quads if I really want it, and Garmin will sell me mapping for the entire US for about $75 US.

That's quite price difference.

This other unit may indeed be the best choice for your needs, but I see a few problems for a lot of other users.

Jäger - I like this forum so I was trying to help others avoid what in my experience and the experience of the one and only other person I know to have one is possibly a flawed design from garmin.
It's open to discussion so please don't take offense - after all I'm the one with the unit in my possession and you're not.
The battery life may well be OK with the backlight off - I was fairly clear that I think you need the light on for the bike - which means having to change batteries a bit too frequently for my liking.
And of course you can't risk powering it off the bike battery because there's no waterproof solution like with the 60csx.

The Satmap is more expensive but not by a whole pile for my situation here in Ireland. They use the exact same trail mapping for us as Garmin as it's licensed by osi.ie
I mailed them today about waterproof chargers -
'The only accessories we can recommend are the Portable Charger (http://www.satmap.co.uk/ukstore/product_info.php?cPath=34_37&products_id=3915) or the Solar Panel Bundle (http://www.satmap.co.uk/ukstore/product_info.php?cPath=34_37&products_id=3916). Both have a water-resistant seal on the charging end and are specially designed for the Active 10'


Just to help untwist your knickers
- I have nothing against the military US or other.
- I like California
- When I said 'you' it was a generalization


I'm still in single digit posts on this forum so don't want to appear the troll already so will leave it at that. - unless someone wants to know more about the unit.

Corkonian wrote:

Jäger - I like this forum so I was trying to help others avoid what in my experience and the experience of the one and only other person I know to have one is possibly a flawed design from garmin.
It's open to discussion so please don't take offense - after all I'm the one with the unit in my possession and you're not.

It is an open discussion - which makes me free to disagree with you and point out what I feel are flaws in how you are presenting this. I don't have to be offended just because I take note of those flaws - like, for example, why nobody else in the internet is reporting similar flaws with this design. I think it is perfectly appropriate to point that anomoly out. And I haven't even bothered to ask you to explain why you seem to be the only guy we can find on the internet with that problem.

You're the ONE guy on the internet - as far as I can determine - who says this model is problematic. Does the fact that you have ONE of this model make you more persuasive than all the rest of the owners of this unit who are active in GPS forums and model-specific wikis who are not experiencing anything like what you say is a problem with these units? If you really want to spread the word on this model which you believe to be defective, perhaps you should at the very least also be posting in those forums, where many other users of your GPS model can be found?

For other people, perhaps you are more persuasive. For me, you are not; you are, so far, an anomoly. Incidentally, this is not a GPS intensive website, so it is hardly the place to look to for a group of subscribers particularly interested in GPS and various models.

On the other hand, perhaps we could use a GPS/mapping area in our little forum. Hmmmm... have to think about that...

Quote :

The battery life may well be OK with the backlight off - I was fairly clear that I think you need the light on for the bike - which means having to change batteries a bit too frequently for my liking.
And of course you can't risk powering it off the bike battery because there's no waterproof solution like with the 60csx.

I don't consider changing two AA batteries once a day too onerous. Given that others testing battery life in this unit are finding it lasts 17 hours while collecting data while under canopy (i.e. working to deal with multipath and attenuation, two battery killers), I suspect most people will find battery life is not an issue. Your mileage, obviously, differs.

Speaking only for myself, I have no problem whatsoever with a unit running on batteries while spares are in my pocket and/or the power lead is plugged into a charger instead, charging up another set of batteries. Of course, I've had the experience of catching and ripping a cord out of an RTK GPS unit up in Alaska, at a site only available by helicopter, with a replacement for the damage three days away. Cooling your jets in a camp, while paying a crew and helicopter standby pay for the three days you're also losing billable hours while awaiting replacement tends to make you appreciate not having cables plugged into units and exposed to yet another source of damage.

Of course, if I never went down and never went through brush that might catch and pull on exposed cables, I might prefer running my GPS off bike power instead of having to take 30 seconds to change out a set of AA batteries.

Quote :

The Satmap is more expensive but not by a whole pile for my situation here in Ireland. They use the exact same trail mapping for us as Garmin as it's licensed by osi.ie

No they don't.

They use the exact same ORIGINAL SOURCE for their mapping. If they used the same mapping, all you would have to do is buy Garmin's map products and load them on the Satmap unit, not Satmaps which costs far, far more.

That's no different than North America. In Canada, all companies use the national mapping done by Natural Resources Canada. In the United States, they use the national mapping done by the USGS.

Using those shapefiles, they then transpose it into their proprietary mapping products. But even though they come from the same source, you can't load Garmin maps onto a DeLorme unit, and you can't load DeLorme maps into a Garmin GPS.

Incidentally, if you're a real enthusiast, you can download that national spatial data and make your own, custom maps with as much or as little detail as you want. The Ibycus mapsets are a good example of that, and many prefer those mapsets because they are freely downloadable and in most cases more detailed. If you were so inclined to do the same custom maps for a Satmap, I have no idea whether you could do that or not.

Quote :

Just to help untwist your knickers
- I have nothing against the military US or other.
- I like California
- When I said 'you' it was a generalization

To the best of my knowledge, the only one with their knickers in a twist here is one user who is condemning one model of GPS in the face of thousands of other users who apparently don't have the problems he believes are routine on this model.

You might like California, but I don't. More important to me, and the point you brought up, I don't live there and I don't ride there.

Quote :

unless someone wants to know more about the unit.

The Wiki site devoted to this model of GPS, link given in a previous post, appears to be used by at least dozens of owners of these units. That appears to be an ideal location to both post complaints and ask questions about the unit, as you will get input from dozens of owners, not one.

Of course, one is also quite free to go to exclusively a single source for their information as well! I like this idea. Anything you need to know about the Obama administration, just ask me and I'll tell you all you need to know!

Wow you to are too much.


LOL

abchel wrote:

Wow you to are too much.


LOL

Thanks. And your contribution to the discussion is impressive.

combo wrote:

router.exe wrote:

john92 wrote:

The 60 doesn't "speak" your turns though, Right?

that is correct. it just beeps like most of the "outdoor sports" oriented units.

Can you hear the beeps with the engine going and helmet on?

definitely not.