Garmin V versus Garmin 60Csx - thoughts?
 

I am in the market for another GPS as the hard-wiring of my Etrek Vista is far too unreliable when used off-road. I intend to use the unit mainly for navigating between way-points offroad, and am unlikely to use any of the other features, like city maps, turn by turn navigation etc.

I have been comparing the discountinued Garmin V vs the 60Csx. I'm trying to work out the justification for paying several hundred £s more for the 60Csx, when the only major differences seems to be the memory (64mg card for 60 Csx v 19mg internal), slightly faster acquisition times for waypoints and the ability to hold a few more waypoints (1000 v 500).

As the unit will predominantly be used in the sahara, I also can't see that the extra memory of the 60Csx is that useful considering the mapping available for this region is basic at best.

Can anyone convince me that the 60Csx is that much of a better unit to warrant the additional cost?

cheers

If only use in the shara...
 

For only the shara you could continue with your etrex.. just pull it out of your tank bag, turn it on, pull out map check Lat & Long from teh gps and locate your self on map...

If your going to use it elsewhere .. then the 60Cx (dropping the s saves a few quid .. and looses the barometer and flux gate compass) would give you that memeory slot that takes a 2G byte card .. that is enough to take all of eastern europe city navigator .. very handy ..

I've crash tested a 60Cx (over 80 km/h in deep sand) .. cracked the screen in at least two places and it still worked for the next two weeks all the way home. Still worked then ..but the cracks were getting to me.

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Maping for the shara is poor ..but morocco is coverd by a free map (not from garmin but works on garmin maping gpses). Smellybikers wonderlust map does the rest .. as good as you'll get at the moment .. I've seen a rough try for Tunesia (sp?) but might be better waiting for the next try ..

Thanks Frank,

Unfortunately years of abuse of the old etrek have also shaken loose the battery connections, so that is no longer an option!

I also find that the most useful feature of a gps in the desert is using the arrow on the navigation function to constantly point you in the correct direction to the next waypoint, particularly if you have to navigate around obstacles (dune fields etc). I found it very frustrating when the GPS turned itself off and you'd have to manually check maps for the right direction on a long piste.

keep the opinions coming!

cheers

Hi Matt,

I'm in exactly the same situation. My trusty GPS V still does the business, but I do find that the 19 MB internal memory is a bit restrictive. I would love to have the possibility of the complete Eastern Europe city navigator on a card, which would be the main reason for me buying the 60Cx. It's a shame that the GPS V doesn't accept SD cards - it would be the perfect unit if it could.

I also like the fact that the GPS V's old-fashioned grey scale display can be read without the backlight on. Most of the modern Garmin's I've seen with colour display are almost unreadable without the backlight, unles anyone here can convince me otherwise.

For your use, i.e. the "Offroad" mode, just using the pointer, my view would be to stick with the GPS II/III/V.