So I picked up a GPSmap 60 and never looked back. The ability to load custom maps of certain area’s was a very nice perk, but even the base map was very good for what I was doing.

As other reviewers have noted, it gets a good solid lock in the worst conditions (heavy tree cover, clouds, rain, and indoors) though sometimes the accuracy does degrade beyond what it would lead you to believe. As an example, with this unit I can get a four or five satellite lock, with an listed accuracy of under twenty feet, the reality is that the accuracy is closer to fifty or sixty feet…but at least I have a lock when most others don’t.

This is a very solid unit, it feels like it was made for use and abuse. And this is one area where I was slightly disappointed in the unit. It feels rugged, but it only handled about 2000 miles of vibration from being attached to the motorcycle handlebars before the contacts in the batter compartment had to be “adjusted” to remain in contact with the batteries.

Which brings up another point. I don’t even bother with rechargeable batteries in this beast anymore. It drains them quickly when compared with non-rechargeable batteries.

Over all I highly recommend this system, even over the color versions that are out. At this price its hard to beat in terms of quality and features.

I bought the Garmin GPSMAP 60 in October, 2005. It is my first GPS and I did a lot of research to decide what I neeeded and what features and capabilities were important to me. One capability that I decideed was important is good reception. The first unit I got did not live up to my expectations. Could not receive the satellites very well, so I exchenged it for another unit of the same model. This one is outstanding!

We had a heavily overcast day earlier this week in Atlanta, with a good deal of rain. I was amazed that even during the rain with fully overcast skies, I was able to pick up 9 satellites! As many as on a clear day!

Since this is my first GPS, I don’t have another model to compare it to. I can just say that it is working extremely well for me and I am very happy with it. The mapping screen is definitely worth having and gives enough additional information to make it worth the extra cost. The base map seems quite good as far as highways are concerned. As I get more into installing topo maps, I might wish for more memory, but so far I see no real need for that. This model will serve my needs quite nicely. I considered getting a system without mapping capability as a first unit, and I am glad that I chose to go with one with mapping.

It comes with the Mapsource PC software for Garmin. After you install it, you should go to the Garmin webswite and download any updates. The version of Mapsource that came with my GPSMAP 60 was over a year old, and did not have the ability to read GPX files, but the newest version does.

I tried to use my GPSMAP 60 with Microsoft Streets and Trips 2004, but found out that Streets and Trips requires an RS-232 serial input and the GPSMAP 60 comes with only a USB serial cable. Fortunately, the GPSMAP 60 has a plug for RS-232 Serial communication, so I can buy or build a cable to interface to Streets and Trips. This is a failing of Streets and Trips 2004 and not the Garmin. I don’t know if the 2006 version of Streets and Trips is up to date with USB capability or not.

Battery life is excellent and is to me an important feature. Minimize use of the backlight, because it uses lots of extra power. Battery life is rated at about 28 hours. Someo of the cheaper units have a much shorter battery life. I think the monochrome screen helps on battery life a lot. I find the monochrome screen easy to use, and I don’t miss color at all.

If you are considering this GPS receiver, you might want to download a copy of the User’s Manual in pdf from the Garmin website. It will show you all the features and capabilities of this unit. Couple those with the excelllent helix antenna and receiver sensitivity and you have a great GPS!

This is an excellent unit for those who want the ability of the gpsmap 60 color series but can’t stomach the high price tag. Basically, you need to think about what you want/need and how much that’s worth to you. I bought this unit because I didn’t mind the greyscale screen (color is nice, but not worth the price hike) and because I was content with 24 vs 56 MB of memory.

I will be using the unit for a little geocaching, driving around town, cycling, and the occasional long road trip. I won’t need more than 24 MB 99% of the time. On a long road trip, I will hook the unit up to my laptop and use the (free) voice navigation software available on the Garmin website.

The basemap is decent and has more large roads/highways than I would have expected. To me, a basemap was vital. I would not scrimp on that feature. One thing to keep in mind is that you will be needing to purchase extra mapping software if you want detailed maps… this can be quite expensive…

Of course, the most important thing to consider is reception. This unit does a phenomenal job. I have been biking in fairly dense tree cover and have always kept a full satellite lock. Remember, too, that the antenna on this unit is the exact same one on the more expensive units. The extra price does nothing to reception – a huge factor for me. If you want to add an external antenna, there is the ability to do this on any of the gpsmap 60 series.

There are numerous ways the unit can be configured display-wise and otherwise, and that’s a great feature. Batteries last a long time (although rechargeables would probably be most cost-effective).

The Garmin website and various GPSr forums are great resources to find out more about this and other units. Trust me, though, you won’t be disappointed with this unit.