Garmin Archives - Page 20 of 28

50 GPS message boards

October 16, 2006 By Rich Owings 3 Comments

Call them message boards, discussion groups, online forums, or some other combination of those terms — Connecting with other folks on the web, who are using your particular brand of GPS can be one of the quickest ways to get an answer on anything from basic noobie queries to perplexing technical questions. Especially helpful are groups that focus on particular brands and models of GPS.

A few caveats before the list of message boards…I’ve tried to screen out those groups dominated by spam. Also, some of these groups overlap, and they vary greatly in posting volume. Speaking of which, I have one tip for the many Yahoo groups below — you may want to choose to view messages on the web only, rather than by email, lest your inbox quickly become clogged. Finally, be sure to drill up and down through these websites. There were just too many forums to list them all, and there are other great message boards out there.

Filed Under: Best of the boards, FAQs, Garmin, Hardware, Lowrance, Magellan, Software, TomTom

Free Garmin Tour Guides

October 12, 2006 By Rich Owings Leave a Comment

Travel by GPS has released their first Tour Guides for compatible Garmin GPS devices. The initial releases feature Huntsville, AL, and Asheville, NC — my former home, billed here as the "Paris of the South." Okay, I am biased, but I often describe it to people as a very cosmopolitan city.

This is the first third-party application like this that I have seen. Doug Adomatis, the guy behind Travel by GPS, has been wanting an application like this for years. He notes that his is the first site to publish free Garmin tour guides in the GPI format. This format is "compiled from a special version of the GPS data (gpx) file which links audio (mp3) files and image (jpg) files." The MP3 files play as you approach an included point of interest (POI).

Filed Under: Garmin, Software

Garmin nuvi 660 review

September 26, 2006 By Rich Owings 60 Comments

Hands on with the Garmin nuvi 660

UPDATE: Though still available and supported, Garmin has discontinued the nuvi 660. For newer models, check out my Garmin nuvi comparison chart.

I finally broke down and purchased a Garmin nuvi 660 a couple of weeks ago,
and it has quickly become the favorite workhorse in my stable of GPS receivers.
The nuvi 660 is a joy to use.

Before we get into the details of my review, lets look at other models in the nuvi 600 series. The nuvi 670 is identical to the 660, except that it adds European maps as well. The nuvi 680 uses MSN Direct services, giving you access to weather, fuel prices and movie times, in addition to the 660’s live traffic.

Filed Under: Auto, Garmin, Garmin auto GPS, GPS Reviews, Hardware Tagged With: Garmin nuvi 660

How to load Garmin TOPO maps to your hard drive

September 18, 2006 By Rich Owings 52 Comments

Last month my wife and I took a mountain biking vacation in the Lake Tahoe area and, of course, we took our GPS receivers along for the ride! While I posted a trip report, complete with GPS tracklogs, I haven’t quite fessed up to one thing.

You see, I took my laptop along for managing waypoints, tracks and maps, but forgot to take my Garmin U.S. TOPO CD. I was incredibly disappointed, since my wife and I were both sporting handlebar GPS mounts so we could keep an eye on our progress and to help us keep on track. But I’m posting today to keep you from suffering a similar fate. And if nothing else, the method described below keeps you from having to load the CD every time you want to put a new topo map on your GPS.

Putting Garmin TOPO maps on your hard drive is incredibly simple, and it has to do with the installation. Create a folder on your hard drive and copy the contents of the CD’s to it, including the setup disc. Then navigate to that folder and run setup from your hard drive, and not the CD. That’s it!

Filed Under: FAQs, Garmin, Software

Free Garmin World Wide Basemap, Part II

August 31, 2006 By Rich Owings 4 Comments

Following a comment today, and further investigation when I got home, I’m going to retract what I said about the free Garmin World Wide Basemap, at least for the 60CSx. The transfer to my unit appears to have not worked, and I now believe that what I am seeing on the screen is nothing more than the 60CSx’s built-in Americas autoroute basemap.

I have no reason to believe that it would not work in a nuvi, and I have to wonder if it wouldn’t work for any Garmin mapping GPS, if you ran it through MapSource, which requires significant effort. We’re talking registry hacks or the use of GPS Map Manager as described in my book.

On the bright side, my existing basemap does seem to be intact! My apologies if I got your hopes up for something both free AND easy.

Filed Under: Garmin, Maps, Software

Free Garmin World-Wide Basemap

August 30, 2006 By Rich Owings 9 Comments

World_wide_base_map_1 UPDATE: Before you get too excited, read this.

As if my recent posts dissing the nuvi weren’t enough to earn me the enmity of Garmin, now I go and post this. I’ll never get a review unit now!

I saw this thread in the GpsPasSion nuvi forum the other day, showing how to get a World-Wide Garmin basemap for free. Now this isn’t from some file-sharing site; nope, this is straight from Garmin themselves. The page is actually set up to download the Garmin World Wide Basemap for iQue 3600 owners, but I beleive it will work for any Garmin GPS that can accomodate maps. I was able to easily get it on my 60CSx.

Okay, before you go off and download it, here are a few caveats:

Read the full thread at GpsPasSion before doing anything.
I’m not guaranteeing anything here. You could erase your existing basemap. You may want to change the name of this one before transferring it to your GPS, but I’m not sure that will prevent erasure of the original. (Should have tried that myself!)
This is version 3.01, and it bears a date of April 7, 2004.
It does not appear to be the same product as Garmin’s WorldMap product, which has more detail, at least in some areas. But as you can see in the screen capture, it ain’t bad.

Filed Under: Garmin, Maps, Software

Garmin StreetPilot c530 review

August 24, 2006 By Rich Owings 2 Comments

Garmin_c530_1 UPDATE: Most of the several generations old StreetPilot series, including this model, has been discontinued. For a more current recommendation, check out our Auto GPS buyers guide or go straight to our Garmin nuvi comparison chart.

The Garmin StreetPilot c530 offers pre-loaded maps of North America, Garmin Lock™ anti-theft protection and the SiRFstar III chipset. You can also add an optional FM TMC traffic receiver. Step up to the c550 for an integrated traffic receiver, MP3 capabilities, Bluetooth wireless and a unit that calls out upcoming street names.

Additional options include live traffic information, the Garmin Language Guide™ and Garmin Travel Guide™.

Filed Under: Auto, Garmin, Garmin auto GPS, GPS Reviews, Hardware

SiRFstar III reception under dense canopy

August 7, 2006 By Rich Owings 14 Comments

Img_0769_1
UPDATE: Here’s my 2010 take on SiRFstar III, which is rarely available these days.

My wife and I went on our weekly mountain bike ride today, and of course we took our GPS receivers along for the ride! I was kind of excited about it; we were going to ride a trail in dense redwoods that I had never been able to map due to poor satellite reception. But today I had my Garmin 60CSx along, which has the SiRFstar III chipset on board.

Now when I say dense, I do mean dense. Redwoods are actually a low biodiversity plant community; very little grows on the forest floor due to their dense shade. I’ve heard it said that native Americans here didn’t like the redwoods — that they are downright spooky. More likely it was just the lack of game and edible plants, but you get the idea.

Manly_gulch The trail we rode, Manly Gulch, is as challenging as it sounds — narrow and technical, with steep dropoffs. The photo at left is of me coming around a tight curve between two redwoods. The trail section pictured is a narrow perched run set between a cut redwood stump on the upper side and a retaining wall on the lower side.

But to make a long story short, the 60CSx and SiRFstar III performed admirably, as can be seen in the map posted at right. I’ve seen my 60CSx get a lock inside, and I knew it had greatly improved reception over the 60CS, but it was still nice to see it all work so well where it counts.

Filed Under: Garmin, Hardware, Trip report (TR)

Bike mounts for Garmin 60 series

July 24, 2006 By Rich Owings 4 Comments

I’m happy to say that my wife and I are both getting a new mountain bikes. Decommissioning of the old ones is nearly a decade overdue! The problem is, these days, most nice bikes come with 31.8 mm diameter handlebars, and I’m having a hard time finding a mount for my Garmin 60CSx that will fit.

In the past, I’ve used RAM mounts, and have been very happy with them, but that’s not a good option unless I switch out handlebars. So I emailed RAM, and they suggested this monster mount. Um, thanks guys, but I don’t really like the plumbing clamps.

Garmin_60_handlebar_adapter_1
It turns out that Garmin has a large diameter rail mount adapter (seen at left) for their mount. Unfortunately, Garmin mounts (for the 60 series) have a reputation for disengaging in rough terrain, sending that very expensive GPS flying. I don’t like that idea either.

The best solution I’ve seen was posted in this thread about Garmin 60CS bike mounts on Groundspeak:

"What I finally did, which doesn’t obscure the screen, is to take a wire tie, like the ones used for vegetables and string it through the lanyard strap hole on the 60CS and then to the space on the 60CS holder where the holder clips onto the mount on the bicycle handlebar. Tighten up the wire and twist it around itself to hold it in place. Tuck the ends under the 60CS and then click on the 60CS to the bike."

I’m not sure that would hold it in place if the mount broke, but that may be the solution I go with. I’ll try and remember to update this post once I’ve made a final decision and tested it out.

Technorati tags: GPS

Filed Under: Accessories, Best of the boards, Garmin

How Garmin came to dominate the GPS marketplace

July 20, 2006 By Rich Owings Leave a Comment

Earlier this week, in an article on Garmin GPS units being offered in Avis and Budget rental cars, the Kansas City Business Journal noted that:

"Garmin is the leading maker of portable navigation units for automobiles in the United States. In June, Garmin sold 58 percent of all portable navigation units domestically, ahead of TomTom NV (24 percent) and Magellan (7 percent), according to researcher NPD."

Just how did Garmin achieve this lofty position in the GPS marketplace? Sure they have wonderfully intuitive interfaces, a reputation for good customer service, a weak competitor in Magellan and a fumbling one in TomTom.

But I see another reason. Garmin has done an excellent job of developing niche markets. Let’s see how many I can list:

Filed Under: Garmin, The business of GPS