Thinkin' of getting a GPS

[Mister G]

Dear all,

Im thinking of getting a mapping GPS and I’ve narrowed it down to a Garmin 60cs or a 76cs (mainly because of the colour screen, routing and memory size).

I’m researching the idea and was wondering if anyone can help with a few questions that I can't seem to get an answer to.

Firstly, I'm a Mac user, so I accept that I cannot use the Garmin software to upload any Mapsource maps that I might get eg Cityselect so I was wondering typically how much memory a Cityselect map of say - France - takes up?Citysecelct comes on CD so I assume that it could contain as much as 620mb of data - i.e. way more than either of these handhelds can contain.
I'm trying to gauge it as if I can get a lot of countries/data on the GPS (56mb and 112mb for the 60 and 76 respectively) in one go then I can just ask a PC using mate once in a while if I'm going off for a long trip -otherwise I'm going to have to get a pc laptop and take it with me!

Secondly, does anyone know where I can get some examples of the level of detail of the provided basemaps?- Because of the problems above I might just have to rely on the basemap for rough navigation but Garmin's website won't illustrate the basemaps ( I assume because they are pretty cr#p) perhaps someone knows a sight with some zoomable demo's?

Thirdly- power. Obviously I would like to avail myself of the jack socket in the side of the bike ( an '02 1150 GS ) to power the GPS while in transit and go to batteries when I get go walking. Is this possible , and if so which combination of leads do I need. I assume it will involve a car cigarette lighter somewhere along the line and modifying a bicycle mounting bracket.

For the record I'm steering clear fo the 26-- series Garmin's that are usually fitted to BMW's as the two models I'm looking at much more portable for walking and general recreational use.
I think if I get one I'll use GPSW as they actually have a showroom and are just south of London.
Does anyone know of any other ‘shops’ in the south east that I should consider?

Thanks guys

 

[Jon]

Dear all,

Im thinking of getting a mapping GPS and I’ve narrowed it down to a Garmin 60cs or a 76cs (mainly because of the colour screen, routing and memory size).

I’m researching the idea and was wondering if anyone can help with a few questions that I can't seem to get an answer to.

Firstly, I'm a Mac user, so I accept that I cannot use the Garmin software to upload any Mapsource maps that I might get eg Cityselect so I was wondering typically how much memory a Cityselect map of say - France - takes up?

France, with route calculation, 226mb, without 155.2mb

Citysecelct comes on CD so I assume that it could contain as much as 620mb of data - i.e. way more than either of these handhelds can contain.

try 1415.8mb with routing and 922.3mb without

I'm trying to gauge it as if I can get a lot of countries/data on the GPS (56mb and 112mb for the 60 and 76 respectively) in one go then I can just ask a PC using mate once in a while if I'm going off for a long trip -otherwise I'm going to have to get a pc laptop and take it with me!

You can select the areas you know you're going to be in, or say just the roads and surrounding area you know you'll be in, which will reduce the mapset size.

For example, you could have Paris & your destination in as much detail as possible, but only worldmap/basemap for the inbetween bit, which will only show major roads. It all depends what you want/need detail wise. You'll probably end up "wanting" (but not really needing) it all once you see the detail you can have

However, not all countries are covered to the same detail. eg The UK is covered down to street level everywhere, but Spain isn't that great at the moment, and so is subsequently 54mb with routing, 36.4mb without.

This won't stop you necessarilly, unless you're looking for "Plaza de la inglés" . However, not all cities are that well covered, which can make it fun as you can have a waypoint with a distance to go, but no map to relate to. A few ever decreasing circles as you work out which streets go where and you soon end up at you destination.

Hint; When this happens, you're normally looking for a hotel, so revert to Mk1 eyeball every now and then, and look at signposts

Secondly, does anyone know where I can get some examples of the level of detail of the provided basemaps?- Because of the problems above I might just have to rely on the basemap for rough navigation but Garmin's website won't illustrate the basemaps ( I assume because they are pretty cr#p) perhaps someone knows a sight with some zoomable demo's?

Use their version of Worldmap - it's roughly the same. Click here and select Worldmap under Mapsource viewer

Thirdly- power. Obviously I would like to avail myself of the jack socket in the side of the bike ( an '02 1150 GS ) to power the GPS while in transit and go to batteries when I get go walking. Is this possible , and if so which combination of leads do I need. I assume it will involve a car cigarette lighter somewhere along the line and modifying a bicycle mounting bracket.

You can buy a specific Garmin or generic power lead which can do this. Different people have then set up their own way - some hardwire to the battery with an in-line fuse, some wire it to behind the power socket you're talking about. You may want to do a search on the site about powering GPS to see which suits you best. A Garmin or RAM mount (or a combination of both) will enable you to mount it properly.

For the record I'm steering clear fo the 26-- series Garmin's that are usually fitted to BMW's as the two models I'm looking at much more portable for walking and general recreational use.
I think if I get one I'll use GPSW as they actually have a showroom and are just south of London.
Does anyone know of any other ‘shops’ in the south east that I should consider?

Talk to RAM-man on this site (also about mounts etc)...............

There are websites that are cheaper, but obviously you can't play with the unit first. I think GPSW will price-match whenever they can. Don't ask, don't get.

Richie & Gecko both have the 60cs I think, so should be able to help/advise on how they mounted & powered theirs on their bikes

Thanks guys

We aim to please

 

[Mister G]

Jon,

thank you very much. You've given me plenty to digest (mk.1 eyeball - true , so true)
I will go away and do the reserch your reply deserves. Just one question in the meantime If I may , I cannot seem to contact the other members you refer to for some reason. Can you suggest how or perhaps I should contact Fanum to find out how. Thank you once again for taking the time to answer my questions. With the memory sizes your talking about it looks like im going to have to get a little pc laptop for the topbox

regards,

g

 

[liamor]

Mister G

Isn't Life strange.

For a long time I've been lurking on this site reading and learning. I use a 2610 and found this site to be really intereting and helpful.

I decided I would break my :silence" and ask a question. Not 10 minutes ago I posted a question asking what size CF card I would need to accomodate all of City Select Europe.

Having posted the question I was idly browsing surrounding threads when I found your post and Jon's reply. Amazing, he had answered my question before I had asked it! The power of the Internet!!

The reason I want to put all CCS Europe on one CF card is that I too am a Macintosh user. I use Microsoft Virtual PC 6.0 with Windows 2000 Pro on an Flat Panel iMac running OS-X 10.3.6. It works O.K. but it is so Sloooow at loading maps onto the CF card.

Waypoints and routes load fairly quickly.

I thought I might buy a 2.0 GB Card, set Mapsource to download all of Europe and go away for the weekend while it loads the Maps into the card.

If you need to use Mapsource on a Macintosh you could do worse that Virtual PC. with Win 2K Pro it costs about ST190.00 (I think). Cheaper than a Windoze laptop.

 

[Deleted account 250319001]

GPS 60CS
im so pleased with my garmin 60cs. the maps i have are great and show much detail. it does all i need and is fitted to my GS on the handle bar mount, i have the remote antena and power lead. it also clicks off and is ideal for use for hiking.
a really great bit of kit.

 

[Jon]

Jon,

thank you very much. You've given me plenty to digest (mk.1 eyeball - true , so true)
I will go away and do the reserch your reply deserves. Just one question in the meantime If I may , I cannot seem to contact the other members you refer to for some reason. Can you suggest how or perhaps I should contact Fanum to find out how. Thank you once again for taking the time to answer my questions. With the memory sizes your talking about it looks like im going to have to get a little pc laptop for the topbox

regards,

g

You need to be a site sponsor to be able to contact people.

Click on the sponsor tab at the top of the screen if you can see it, if not, click here and all will be explained, ie what you get etc. Well worth a tenner for a year imo.

If you call GPSW, and ask to speak to someone about RAM mounts, you may well end up talking to RAM-man...................., but I didn't tell you that (think his name's Steve, but preparing to be corrected)

Not everyone is on-line on the board everyday (yeah, right ), so give Gecko a few days to have a chance to see it. Failing that, more people who I don't know that have them, onahi2002 etc, may well post a reply for you.

If you want anymore info, & don't fancy a site search (a comfy chair and a large coffee/tinny helps) ask away.

Obviously we'll let the fact you haven't seen the light and appear to be riding a Fazer slide...................



Jon

 

[Jon]

Having posted the question I was idly browsing surrounding threads when I found your post and Jon's reply. Amazing, he had answered my question before I had asked it! The power of the Internet!!

Hi Liamor,

You may want to check your original post, City Navigator is slightly different to City Select, as more info I think, so is larger.

Anyway, Whatton there are some replies to it for you to read.



Jon

 

[Den]

Im toying with the idea of gettong a navman 620. They seem to have a better graphics than garmins .... opinions please?

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

Navman's are a bit 'plasticky' - i'd only use them in the car.

However - GPS units only seem to have a 4 year life expectancy at the moment - so it'll be outdated before it 'wears out'.

Don't know about waterproofness though ?

 

[Mister G]

Liamor – Interesting idea but the two handsets I’m looking at don’t take CF cards(a serious flaw in my opinion as the handsets have such little onboard memory) and from rooting around ive heard that while I can up/download routes and waypoints with the Virtual pc/mac combination ( using James associates software amongst others)– I can’t do so with Mapsource maps as the format is ‘bespoke’ Garmin and isn’t licenced for 3rd parties. I freely admit I could well be wrong here and it’s a serious problem that it’s difficult to take all the detail we need in one without the trouble of lugging a laptop around. I know Magellan use SD cards to ‘flash’ the maps to the handset but on the downside they don’t seem to offer routing on their top end colour handsets and their source maps (to the best of my knowledge) are not bought in from OS like Garmins’ are.

Jon- I’ll probably take you up on that one. Ive changed my profile to reflect the fact that the Fazer has gone (px’d at Wollaston for my current ’02 GS). Fazer was a great bike – just not the right bike. I checked out the comparison in detail between ‘world map’ and ‘city select europe’ – what a difference!
Oddly though, neither seem the least bit geared towards walkers , instead concentrating on roads etc. I guess that’s what the ‘Topo’ maps are all about (in conjunction with Mk.1 eyeball + Mk.1 OS map) but sadly unavailable in this part of the world nonetheless…….topo maps that is .

 

[Greg Masters]

Firstly, I'm a Mac user, .....

Need one say more?



It seems that you're trying to make provision for not being able to reload maps when you need. Isn't it simpler just to buy a PC - even a cheap one off eBay?

The only other point I'd make is, whichever GPS you finally opt for, hard wire it to the bike. Don't mess around with plugs and power sockets - you'll find that they are only something else to go wrong!

Greg

 

[Mister G]

Mac's an all that...

Getting a cheap PC off e-bay -think I covered that option in my original post (available from about £100 last time I looked). As for hardwiring , i'm no electrical engineer but i'll look around this forum for ideas if/when I get the thing.
Glad to see someone out there is happy with their one (60cs) that is. More research and a trip to GPSW in the new year for me I think

 

[Jon]

Re: Mac's an all that...

As for hardwiring , i'm no electrical engineer but i'll look around this forum for ideas if/when I get the thing.

Come along to an Ace Cafe meet and people'll show you how they've done theirs.