Garmin GPS 60 Personal Navigation Unit

Other products by Garmin

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1.3 x 2.4 x 7.1 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002V4U30
• Item model number: GPS 60
• Batteries: 2 AA batteries required.
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,104 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 13, 2007

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Optimized for both land and marine navigation, Garmin's handheld GPSMap 60 includes a built-in Americas basemap with automatic routing capabilities. The 12-parallel-channel GPS receiver is designed to provide precise GPS positioning using correction data obtained from the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS).

Map page. View larger.

Compass page. View larger.

The Garmin GPSMap 60 packs GPS navigation into a compact, waterproof device.

The GPSMap 60 also features 24 MB of internal memory for detailed maps that you can load through a speedy USB interface, and it's fully compatible with Garmin MapSource products such as BlueChart, 24K Topo, and City Select, which provides detailed streets for turn-by-turn guidance. However, it is important to note that the GPSMap 60 does not provide voice notification.

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 GPSMap 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
GPSMAP 60 receiver, basemap (Americas Recreational), MapSource Trip & Waypoint Manager CD, PC/USB interface cable, wrist strap, belt clip with button, quick-start guide, and owner's manual.

Product Description

The GPSMAP 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 GPSMAP 60 has up to 24 MB’s of internal memory for detailed maps that can be transferred to the unit using the USB interface. The GPSMAP 60 also includes a built-in Americas basemap with automatic routing capabilities. The GPSMAP 60 is fully compatible with MapSource products like BlueChart, 24K Topo and City Select, which provides detailed streets for turn-by-turn guidance (there is no voice output). The GPSMAP 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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent GPSr, October 24, 2005

By	Neil Roosma (Wilmington, DE USA) - See all my reviews

I just can't help but research, research, research any "big" purchases I make. I get almost obsessive about it, to tell the truth. I knew nothing about GPS except that I once had one in a rental car I had and loved it. Had they not been over $1000, I would have bought one immediately. So, after many long nights of meticulous research, I ended up selecting the gpsmap 60.

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.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent GPS Unit!, January 20, 2006

By	M. L Strickland (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Unless I can gice an item an excellent rating, I do not take the time to write a review. This GPS receiver from Garmin is worth the effort!

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!

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Garmin GPSmap 60...better than I'd hoped, February 27, 2006

By	S. Casper - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Last year I did a motorcycle trip from Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Edwards Air Force Base in California. Along the way I planned stops at every NASA related site I could think of and in preparation for that trip I purchased a Garmin eTrex Legend. After a few days of playing around with it, it quickly became apparent that while the Legend is a nice little unit, it was woefully inadequate for my needs.

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.