Getting over SiRFstar III
The most common handheld GPS question I get these days is about chipsets. People agonize about buying a unit without the SiRFstar III chip, partly because GPS enthusiasts like me have long sung its praises. So it’s time to set the record straight, or at the very least give you my opinion on the newer chipsets being used in current GPS receivers.
First some background — up until couple of years ago, the SiRFstar III chipset was the gold standard for GPS receivers. Before this chip, reception in mountainous terrain and in other challenging conditions was often hit or miss. Manufacturers had to use the SiRFstar III or risk being ignored by the market. Then a patent dispute with Broadcom was settled, and not in SiRF’s favor either. Manufacturers began looking for high-sensitivity chipset alternatives, usually turning to MediaTek or STMicroelectronics.
But are these new chips as good as the SiRF III? My take is basically yes. All high-sensitivity chipsets can pull in weaker satellite signals, which means shorter time to first fix and an improved ability to hold the satellite lock in difficult environments, but this can also result in more multipath reception errors. The firmware for these new chipsets was far from mature when first introduced; it is much more difficult to fine tune firmware for high-sensitivity chipsets. IMHO, with succeeding generations of firmware, units with the new chipsets are now nearly as good as SiRFstar III models, with some of the remaining minor differences coming from the lack of a quad-helix antenna on most new models.
I still use my 60CSx for comparison testing, but lately the differences have been quite small and often difficult to discern. YMMV, but I’ll take the new interfaces and capabilities over earlier-generation models any day.
I answer variations of that question probably ten times a week in much the same way. Well said.
Magellan’s in-house receiver was king of the hill in the first part of the decade. SirfStar III measurably topped it and the buzz around it made it the market darling by the middle of the decade. There was so much hype around it that the ‘everything else is crap’ mindset stuck around even after MT3318 (MTK v1), MT3328//MT3329 (MTK v2), STA5620/Cartesio reached parity with SS III.
An interesting artifact of this is that in ‘05 and ‘06, companies loudly boasted of their use of of the SS III product while many are more quiet now. When Sirf had their legal problem and were facing court orders to stop importing their product into the U.S., companies often silently replaced the SS III with these competing parts. Garmin is probably the highest profile example of this, with a number of Nuvi and the 60Cx and 76Cx getting midlife slipstream replacements. So we have a couple of years worth of product collateral, web sites, and salesman training saying these products are SS III while the ones rolling off the lines since ‘08 or so have different chips. (Walmart.com and Newegg.com both show the 60csx as having Sirf parts this morning, for example.) Garmin is now much more quiet about what’s actually used in the products, presumably to help them roll with future vendor changes.
Thanks Robert. Always good to hear from you. I halfway expected to get a lot of grief over this post, so I appreciate the validation! Getting variations of the question ten times a week is what prompted the post. Now I can just give folks the link.
I came to the party too late to comment on SiRFstar, but I can say that the track logs on my Garmin Oregon have dramatically improved over the 9 months I’ve owned (and upgraded the firmware on) it.
There’s still an occasional disappointing hiccup, but in every case I’ve been right next to great vertical masses of rock where one would expect multipath errors.
I have a Garmin Street Pilot c580 that I purchased approx. 3 years ago and a Garmin Nuvi 760 that I purchased for my wife one year ago. My c580 has the SIRF III chipset and the satellite acquisition time is noticeably faster than the 760 unit. I am looking to replace the 760 due to this as well as due to the lack of responsiveness of the touch screen is awful. My c580 is fantastic.
What Garmin units would you recommend for me to consider and how can I tell what type of chipset is in the new unit I buy?
Thanks
How much do you want to spend and what features do you want? More recent nuvis have hot fix technology that will speed satellite lock. Here’s a good reference on chipsets: http://www.gpspassion.com/fr/articles.asp?id=259
Hi, Ive just purchased the Garmin 60 csx but it takes ages tracking satellites. Ive read that the first fix takes time but today it took 35 mins to get 4 satellites. Is this normal? also how can you tell which chipset is installed
If that was the first acquisition, it’s not unusual. Make sure you leave it on awhile after that, so that it can download ephemeris data.
To see which chipset you have, go to Main Menu > Setup > System > Menu > Software Version. If the GPS software version is 3.00s its SiRFstar III. If its 2.00m, its MTK.
I find all this information very interesting. I looked at my 60CSx information and it shows Software Version 3.90 and the GPS Software Version 2.90s I am assuming that the “s” in indicative of the SiRFstar III. I have had the unit, for a few years now and found it to perform quite well here in the eastern US where tree canopy can really reduce good tracking.
I cannot determine the chipset for my Garmin 60CSx. The directive above did not work (Main Menu > Setup > System > Menu > Software Version. Please help me determine the software version (4.0 is current, I think per Garmin) and the chip set version. Thank you.
When you go to that screen, you don’t see Software verison, GPS SW version and Unit ID?
Cabela’s has a 2008 Garmin 60csx in a combo package that is $140 less than a 2010 model 60csx? Is there a significant difference between the two?
Doubt it. That’s a good deal, BTW. Keep in mind though, that the successor to the 60 series (the 62 series) is due to be announced any day now.
Do you have any info on the new 62 series (as in, a better feature set over the 60)? When’s the launch date?
Its probably going to have nearly the same feature set and interface as the 78 series…
http://gpstracklog.com/2010/05/hands-on-with-the-garmin-gpsmap-78s.html
Rumor has it in stores in July.
Is the bundle package available online at Cabela’s? I think the difference between the bundle package and the standalone 60CSx is that it comes preloaded with a topo map and a carrying case.
Yes, it is available there.
I called Cabela’s customer service and the difference is that the 60csx in the bundle is a 2008 model and the stand-alone (higher cost) model is a 2010 version for what that’s worth. Problem is there is an 8-9 week back-order on the bundl — so if you want it now — you gotta pay!!
Rich,
My gpsmap 60csx reads:
Software version: 4.00
GPS SW version: 2.90s
That would mean I have a Sirfstart III chipset, correct?
Yes, that’s correct.