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All purpose GPS

glwestcott

New member
My wife and I have GPS built in one car and love it. Rented a GPS to go with a rental car recently on a trip to Florida and found the portable one great. Now, we want to buy a portable unit to use with other vehicles, but would also like to use it for marine navigation. Anyone aware of a unit that can be used for streets in the car and on the bike as well as run with marine charts for our sailboat? I noted that Garmin and Magellan both have marine units that can do that, but they are rather large and neither appears as user friendly with pre-loaded street data as the newer car navigation units.

Any ideas, or do you think we just have to wait a bit longer?
 
Anyone aware of a unit that can be used for streets in the car and on the bike as well as run with marine charts for our sailboat?

The Garmin 60 Cx. The 76 Cx floats, but I never could figure out the logic to the button positioning at the top of the unit.

Anyway, the 60 Cx is used in my: car, bike, while on foot...everywhere.

The Pros

Battery power - no proprietary stuff...runs forever (more than 15 hours) on two AA batteries or a cigarette lighter outlet providing 8 to 36 volts, or the USB on your PC.

Memory - no proprietary stuff...takes cheap microSD cards...2 Gb runs well under $50

The Cons (for some users)

No voice commands during AutoRouting. It provides user selectable audio warnings for turns coming up, etc.
 
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+1 on the garmin 60 series.
Just bought the 60 Csx to use in my truck, on my bike and hiking.

So far I love it, I really have nothing bad to say about it.
 
The Garmin 60 Cx. The 76 Cx floats, but I never could figure out the logic to the button positioning at the top of the unit.

Anyway, the 60 Cx is used in my: car, bike, while on foot...everywhere.

The Pros.....snip
Thanks for the info here and on several other threads on the Garmin GPSMAP 60Cx, its official title. Last week I was asked by my Dean's Assistant what I wanted for a retirement gift that would be about $350. The 60Cx and a 2 gig memory card was about $349 from Amazon so it's on the way. I wanted a handheld with batteries since I have lots of rechargable ones. The new unit is replacing a GPS III+ so the bike is already hard wired for it. I just ordered a new cradle and will use the same Ram ball and arm that I used for the other unit. With the replacement I will have spare download cords, etc. It looks to be the perfect upgrade, for me that is. I don't want MP3, XM radio or a machine telling me where to go. :) I don't need a jpg viewer or the other "stuff" that comes with the Zumo.

A question for GlobalRider or anyone who knows: Will the "Roads and Recreation" CD's work with the 60Cx or do I have to buy the new maps from Garmin??? I have Rds & Rec for US and Europe.

Maybe I should just pop for the new maps. One reason I am upgrading is that 4 times in the last two years I have found myself on a dead end frontage road by following a downloaded route from my 1998 map set. It seems that sometimes the roads are moved. :)

Thanks again to GlobalRider, dvandkq, 32232, theLuz and others who have recommended this unit. :thumb

tb
 
I would recommend the Zumo. If you want all the features you can get the 550. If you want to save money and need fewer features you can get the 450. You can't go wrong with either one. Both are designed specifically for the motorcycle.

I've got the 550 and it works great. I use it on the R12R and in my car.

See https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=135

Easy :usa
 
My wife and I have GPS built in one car and love it. Rented a GPS to go with a rental car recently on a trip to Florida and found the portable one great. Now, we want to buy a portable unit to use with other vehicles, but would also like to use it for marine navigation. Anyone aware of a unit that can be used for streets in the car and on the bike as well as run with marine charts for our sailboat? I noted that Garmin and Magellan both have marine units that can do that, but they are rather large and neither appears as user friendly with pre-loaded street data as the newer car navigation units.

Any ideas, or do you think we just have to wait a bit longer?

The Garmin 276C is considered their marine unit and also works great on the bike and car. In fact mine came with a car kit where you power it with their 12V plug which happens to have a built in speaker on it. Works real good. I understand you can also hook up a depth finder to it so it gives you additional information. Garmin has charts for every pond, river, lake, or ocean that work with it. It's water proof and has the screen that actually looks better in bright sunlight.

Their new Zumo 550 model has newer and better technology, however I don't believe you can load the marine charts and use it with your boat. The good news is the 276C has been around awhile so the prices are much lower. Lastly, there is an identical model in size and appearance which is their 376C and this unit allows you to subscribe to satellite weather and XM radio. Could be handy on a boat.
 
A question for GlobalRider or anyone who knows: Will the "Roads and Recreation" CD's work with the 60Cx or do I have to buy the new maps from Garmin??? I have Rds & Rec for US and Europe.

A note on the map compatability list on the Garmin site. If you go to it and look up what maps are compatable with the Garmin 60Cx, Roads & Recreation Europe won't show up on the list (as being comaptable), yet that map package will work perfectly well in the 60 Cx. The reason why Garmin/MapSource lists it as being incompatable is that the 60 Cx is capable of AutoRouting and R&R Europe does no support that feature. So what, the maps still work and if you do want to navigate to a point, it'll still draw a "as-the-crow-flys" line to that point showing "heading" and "distance to".

Roads & Recreation map products are produced by MapSource and are used in Garmin products.

I have Roads & Recreation Europe, MetroGuide Canada V4, Topo Canada V2 and just bought City Navigator North America V8....they ALL work.


A few more items that I didn't mention. The 60 Cx has:

- the new SiRF III receiver. I usually pick up 6 or more satellites in my closed garage, in my basement, in my house and under heavy tree cover. And when you lose lock in a long tunnel as we do in Europe, upon exiting, it'll lock back on to those satellites in 4 or 5 seconds...I've timed it. This in a tunnel up to a few kilometers long.

- although the 60Cx has 20 on-board track logs, you can also store all your track logs onto the microSD card. It stores a file each day. 29 days of riding around in Europe last summer took up 6 Mb on my microSD card and provided "detailed" track logging. You need to upgrade the software version (easy), if it hasn't already been done.

- you can use NiMH batteries or Alkaline; software selectable. I have found the Panasonic NiMH units to work very well and the Panasonic charger operates on dual voltages. The plug also folds flat...they thought of motorcycle travellers! Hint, those same batteries fit into my Casio EX-Z110 6 Mp digital camera. And they can also be used in the AA Maglight flashlight. Component commonality (if that word exists)...I like to keep stuff I need to cart along to a minimum.

You'll be very impressed with the features of the 60 Cx. It does everything that I know of, except provide voice prompts.
 
+1 on the garmin 60 series.
Just bought the 60 Csx to use in my truck, on my bike and hiking.

So far I love it, I really have nothing bad to say about it.

+1 here for the Garmin 60C

I have a mount for the dash of my truck, a mount for the deck of my kayak, a mount for the motorcycle, and a lanyard to attach it to my backpack.

Three types of maps (marine charts, road maps, topo maps) in one waterproof, rugged and hand-held unit. How can you beat that?
 
Thanks for all you advice. I am going to get down to circuit city or somewhere near where I can take a look at the 60cx and fiddle around with it. Sounds like it might be the answer. I like the voice prompts in the car, but could live without them to get the functionality. Also like that you can use topo maps and carry it around as well as the fact that its waterproof and rugged.

What a great site this is! Advice, counsel, wisdom (at least as it applies to bike things) - don't get much better!
 
The 276C is the thing... Originally a nautical unit. I bought mine for my bike and LOVE it.

The newer model is the 376C which has satellite weather and satellite radio capability as well (for an access fee).

For nautical/road use, that would be my choice. I grew up sailing and getting weather alerts were always a concern for longer voyages.

P
 
A note on the map compatability list on the Garmin site. If you go to it and look up what maps are compatable with the Garmin 60Cx, Roads & Recreation Europe won't show up on the list (as being comaptable), yet that map package will work perfectly well in the 60 Cx. The reason why Garmin/MapSource lists it as being incompatable is that the 60 Cx is capable of AutoRouting and R&R Europe does no support that feature. So what, the maps still work and if you do want to navigate to a point, it'll still draw a "as-the-crow-flys" line to that point showing "heading" and "distance to"....snip

- the new SiRF III receiver. ...snip

You'll be very impressed with the features of the 60 Cx. It does everything that I know of, except provide voice prompts.
Thanks for the reply. Looks like I'll be using the old maps for city street detail. I don't need the AutoRouting for Europe, I need the street detail so I don't get lost walking the cities. In three trips to Europe since 2000, I have driven a total of two miles, in a friends Mercedes A class. Trains, busses, street cars, vaparettos in Venice, etc. My wife doesn't ride and I can't go to Europe without her. :) :)

The SiRF chipset was also a requirement for me to even consider a unit and the 60Cx has what I need. Got the Ram stuff already and am now waiting for the "surprise party" to get the unit. :brad

tb
 
We have a Garmin 376C. It is the marine unit that has XM radio and weather capabilities. We've used it on the bikes, in the car, and if we ever decide to put the boat back in the water again........ It'll also work as a backup in the plane.

It has the City Navigator NT (v8) installed. We also have the basic XM sat weather subscription, and it saved us from grief when we were hauling the R45 from CA to WA. No cell coverage to use the laptop with, and we had no clue that it was snowing on the pass. Thanks to Mr XM and Mr Garmin, we ended up taking the long way home, but trying to pull a trailer behind my Vibe in the snow over a mountain pass would have been ugly.

Pete (the better half) surprised me with a Zumo 550 Friday afternoon. Neat little thing! I don't have the XM sub yet, but will be getting it. It has most of the options that the 376C does, but its set up a bit differently. And its a tad bit finickier than the 376C is. But, it is bluetooth compatable. I've only used it for 515 miles, so I'm still trying to get used to it.

I know the 276C is not set up for XM. Personally, I would not own a GPS that didn't have that option.
 
.....Got the Ram stuff already and am now waiting for the "surprise party" to get the unit. :brad

tb
So... the "surprise party" is "scheduled" for Thursday at 10 AM. The unit is sitting on the Dean's Assistant's desk and has been there for a week. He allowed me to check the box to make sure it was the correct model, but I couldn't open the box to touch the GPS. Two more days to wait. At times like this, I hate formal procedures. :banghead :banghead

tb
 
Hi!, Tom! So you're actually gonna do it, for real. Good on you! Do you think you can show off your new toy at the GR3 in a couple weeks? We can celebrate with a cigar and some Scotch.
 
Got the Ram stuff already ....

Tom (Bullit7801)

Where did you order your Ram mounts from and what type did you go with? Does anyone have a picture they could post with the 60cx mounted on a bike?
 
Tom (Bullit7801)

Where did you order your Ram mounts from and what type did you go with? Does anyone have a picture they could post with the 60cx mounted on a bike?
Go to the RAM site and go thru their menu system for the GPS and it will show you the alternatives. Then check for a dealer. I ordered the cradle and an attachment for it with the ball in Aluminimun. I have the arm and the ball on the bike already from my GPS III+. I ordered from Cycle Gadgets. www.cyclegadgets.com

I can't get you a picture. They won't let me open the box until Thursday.:banghead

tb
 
Hi!, Tom! So you're actually gonna do it, for real. Good on you! Do you think you can show off your new toy at the GR3 in a couple weeks? We can celebrate with a cigar and some Scotch.
[Hijack]Hey Randy,

It looks like I won't make GRRR again this year. Remember Rosanne Rosanadana? "It's always something." My friends and wife are having a retirement party for me that Friday, the 18th. I had planned to do the GRRR, visit with my niece in Platteville, then visit my sister and mother in Minocqua. Too much of this retirement crap. My riding season is off to a slow start. But.....how do I tell my friends and SWMBO that they can't have a party. :dunno The worst part is that I have to choose the invite list, so who do I exclude and potentially offend? :dunno

All in all, I'd rather be in Wisconsin.
(W.C. Field's grave marker states "All in all, I'd rather be in Philladelphia.":laugh :laugh)

tb[\Hijack]
 
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Take a look at Lowrance. I have an i500c it's good for marine, auto and motorcycle. The unit is water proof and works well in the car and on the bike. On the bike I can plug the voice output into my intercom headsets or sound system, same for the car.

Cons - it's a big heavy unit, no batteries must be powered from vehicle. It does come with a power source to use at home so you can program your trips. Lowrance maintains a web site to get upgrades from however they make little or no effort to respond to email questions.

Pros - add ons are easy to get. Ram makes LT specific mounts. Easy to create routes using address book. Very good touch screen.
 
Take a look at Lowrance. I have an i500c it's good for marine, auto and motorcycle. The unit is water proof and works well in the car and on the bike. On the bike I can plug the voice output into my intercom headsets or sound system, same for the car.

Cons - it's a big heavy unit, no batteries must be powered from vehicle. It does come with a power source to use at home so you can program your trips. Lowrance maintains a web site to get upgrades from however they make little or no effort to respond to email questions.

Pros - add ons are easy to get. Ram makes LT specific mounts. Easy to create routes using address book. Very good touch screen.

I did some checks and it appears that marine navigation isn't available on that unit, but is on the new iWay 600C. Do you have the 500 and have you used it for marine mapping. If so, what type of charts does it use? Pricewise, it is available much cheaper than the newer 600 unit.
 
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