Product Description

The GPS 60 is completely waterproof, with up to 28 hours battery life using two AA batteries, this new product will target the marine and outdoor recreation markets. The GPS 60 is a low-cost solution for land or marine navigation designed to provide precise GPS positioning using correction data obtained from the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). The GPS 60 provides 1 MB of internal user memory, which is preloaded from the factory with worldwide cities. This 1 MB of memory can also be used for storing downloaded points of interest data from our MapSource Points of Interest CD-ROM. The GPS 60 provides separate serial and USB interfaces. Navigation instructions can be shared with repeaters, plotters and autopilots using NMEA protocols through the dedicated serial port. Includes: unit, USB interface cable, lanyard, belt clip, manual, quick start guide

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11079 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Garmin
• Model: 010-00322-00
• Dimensions: 7.10" h x 2.40" w x 1.30" l, 1.00 pounds

Features

• WAAS-Enabled, 12 Parallel-Channel GPS Receiver
• Non-Mapping Unit That Comes Factory Preloaded With A 1 Mb Marine Point
• Large, 4-Level, Grayscale Display With Bright, Backlit Led
• 28 Hours Of Battery Life
• Showcases Best Time For Hunting, Fishing & The Day'S Sunrise/Sunset Times

Amazon.com Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description Garmin's affordable GPS 60, a handheld, 12-parallel-channel GPS receiver, is perfect for land or marine navigation. The device is designed to provide precise GPS positioning using correction data obtained from the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). With its separate serial and USB interfaces, the device is convenient to hook up and use right out of the box.

Main menu with feature icons. View larger.

3-D navigation display. View larger.

The Garmin GPS 60 packs land and marine navigation into single device. View larger.

The GPS 60 is a non-mapping unit that comes factory preloaded with a 1 MB marine point database that includes world cities. This trusty handheld is compact and lightweight, with a user-friendly interface. It's reliable and as extra-precise as WAAS can make it. The unit also offers a dedicated geocaching mode, indoor/outdoor games, an alarm clock, sunrise/sunset and moon phase tables, optimal hunting and fishing times, and much more.

The device offers a high-contrast, four-level grayscale LCD (160 x 240 pixels) with backlighting for the display and the keypad. A large-numbers option provides easy viewing. You get 1,000 user waypoints with name and graphic symbol and 20 reversible routes; position formats include Lat/Lon, UTM, Loran TDs, Maidenhead, MGRS, and user grid. Memory is non-volatile for permanent user data storage, requiring no memory battery.

A handy trip computer provides an odometer, stopped time, moving average, overall average, total time, max speed, and more. The unit also comes with a 10,000-point automatic track log, and 20 saved tracks (500 points each) let you retrace your path in both directions. Other features include course and speed filtering; built-in celestial tables for best times to fish and hunt (plus sun and moon calculations); an alarm clock wake-up and stop watch; audible alarms for anchor drag, arrival, off-course, and proximity waypoint; and a geocaching navigation mode. Navigation instructions can be shared with repeaters, plotters, and autopilots using NMEA protocols through the serial port.

The GPS 60's rugged, fully gasketed case is waterproof to IEC 60529 IPX7 standards, meaning it's submersible in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes. The device derives up to 28 hours battery life using 2 AA batteries (not included).

What's in the Box
GPS 60 receiver, Worldwide City Point database, PC/USB interface cable, wrist strap, belt clip with button, quick-start guide, and owner's manual.

Customer Reviews

Functional & Practical, but basic
The GARMIN 60 GPS is a nice GPS that is "base" no-frills model. I was able to plug it in, load the software, and start entering waypoints within 5 minutes. The plug and play USB port worked without a hitch.

The unit itself is very accurate -- although it took me 5 minutes to realize that I didn't have to wait and watch it synch with satellites each time I turned it on. The Unit's GUI is somewhat counter-intuitive - with 9 buttons -- some of which you hit all the time, others which are never used.

Entering coordinates does not appear to be possible (except onto the GARMIN software on your computer and transferring to the GPS unit), but this method works reasonably well.

The screen is fine, but not overly large (you should have 20/20 vision) and is black and white -- no color. This is not a complaint as the screen is perfectly read-able.

Battery life was approx 4 hours on 2 AAs. The belt clip and attachable hand-leash were nothing special, but utilitarian.

INSTALL: A
EASE OF USE: A
GUI on GPS: B-
POWER/BATTERIES: C
SCREEN: B

Good upgrade over the eTrex
We had an eTrex, which my clumsiness sent to the bottom of a creek, never to be seen again. I like this unit a lot more than the eTrex:
- the screen is much sharper and easier to read
- the device's softwre is more sophisticated; you can store much more information about each waypoint
- the USB connection is really handy. Downloading waypoint information from the computer beats entering it by hand on the eTrex!
- this unit is easier to use
Don't expect much from its built-in basemap; it has dots for cities, and that's it (meaning it's basically useless, unless you have just arrived from another planet).

The biggest disadvantage to this unit is that Garmin has a proprietary interface, so it won't speak to mapping software which is expecting a standard NMEA serial-port interface. Fransom GpsGate handles the translation, though, and it's not particularly expensive.

Note: I am not affiliated with Fransom in any way.

Good solid unit
Nice unit, locks on fast and keeps the signal, it even worked inside my house. The base map that is loaded isn't much and only has some cities. The Garmin web sites indicate a "Marine Data Base" is loaded but I can't find it and we have a number of buoys near our house. It does have larger cities loaded. The Trip and Waypoint Manager software is pretty weak and I had problems getting it to load on my XP machine. Good crisp display and many options for the displays. I upgraded from an old Garmin and I would recommend this unit for a non-mapping use.