Customer Rating:      Summary: excellent package & function, difficult interface Comment: I purchased this 60Cx, my first GPS, 6 weeks ago. My principal use is to determine location when hiking. The performance of the 60Cx is excellent, the hi-gain antenna and sensitivity give multiple satellites under almost all conditions. This is true deep in tree-shaded canyons and inside my house. The device works best when the antenna is vertical or nearly vertical. I get good reception when the GPS is clipped on my belt. This critical characteristic gets 5 stars. Battery life with continuous operation, no screen back lighting, is a little disappointing at 12 hours using NiMh re-chargeables. Not a big deal, just bring plenty of spares.
Interface, or how easy is it to use: Not very! The small cursor control, a wheel with 4 arrows on it, is hard to use. Trying to move the cursor frequently results with the desired plus the unwanted adjacent movement. For example, using the up arrow frequently gives up plus left or right. I do have man size fingers and have to use my fingernail or a stylus to prevent this problem. Accessing menus, navigating and entering data ignores conventional wisdom, in favor of an awkward Garmin version. This aspect gets 2 stars.
Miscellaneous: The packaging, excluding the small cursor wheel, is excellent. Rubberized controls and gaskets on the battery door are probably adequate to protect the device from splashes of water and rain. The belt clip is magnificent. The GPS hangs pendulum style securely in its holder, which attaches to belt or pack. It is removed easily using the release button and is reinstalled with a reassuring click. The on board map that comes with the unit is a joke. Most users will want to purchase an additional map so figure an additional $80-$100 onto the purchase price. I purchased the 24K Topo Oregon / Washington map on micro SD and find it awesome. In conclusion, I would not recommend this GPS unconditionally to a friend. The difficult interface and expense of adding maps must be individually evaluated. Four stars for this aspect.
Customer Rating:      Summary: Terrible Product Comment: I purchased this unit for a motorcycle trip last fall. The first time I tried to use it, it would not navigate roads for the route I downloaded. After hours on line and on the phone with Garmin, they decided the unit was faulty and requested I return my unit in exchange for another. Because it took weeks to get the new unit, I went back to my trusty paper map for my trip. I tried using it a second time this summer for another motorcycle trip, and after unlocking my new unit, going through all the required steps, etc., it would not accept downloads of maps. UNBELIEVABLE! Back to the paper map again.
Now, Garmin is telling me they won't accept a return of the unit because they "...do not sell our units to the public..." and asked me to spend countless more hours sending them screen shots, exact error messages, unlock keys, serial numbers of the original and replacement unit...etc, etc. Have you ever of heard of anything more ridiculous than a manufacturer that won't accept a return of a faulty product because they don't sell to the public?
I'm going to return this unit to Amazon and probably get only 50% of my money back, and go buy one from another manufacturer that hopefully actually works.
Customer Rating:      Summary: amazing reciever Comment: This unit is an amazing GPS reciever, it will aquire sattelites even sitting indoors. This will replace my last garmin which was a very good entry level device, but would lose signal occasionally when under the canopy of trees while 4-wheeling. I would recomend this GPS handheld to anyone who hikes, offroads, hunts, geocaches, or just plain travels.
Customer Rating:      Summary: Cache on! Comment: You can't tell this isn't a brand new unit. It even has the warranty. It keeps a lock even in deep woods. The maps are a big help but wouldn't be necessary if people would give parking co-ordinates! My only complaint about this unit is that the SP card falls out when I change batteries.
Customer Rating:      Summary: Why i bought a second receiver. Comment: This is the second 60CX I have purchased, not because the first one was bad, but bought as a gift for my spouse and geocaching companion. With the introduction of the Garmin Colorado, this receiver has dropped significantly in price this year. The color screen is very visible in most lighting conditions. (direct sun is a issue). As with all GPS receivers, I recommend a mapping package to enhance the basemap (I use Garmin TOPO 2008). There are enough buttons on the face to make operation of the receiver easy to use. if there is one deficiency, it is Garmin's documentation is very minimal and some functions I had to learn by trial and error. However, there are several non-garmin websites that provide good tutorials on the features of this receiver. The geocaching feature allow you to load 1000 geocaches. However, all show up with a treasure chest icon. If you want to see actual geocaching container types, there is a add-in to load these as waypoints. This add-in also get you around the 1000 cache limit. Overall, if you are looking for a color receiver with great features for geocaching, this is the unit.
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