Garmin GPSMAP 62St Handheld GPS Navigator
Garmin GPSMAP 62St Handheld GPS Navigator
- Rugged, waterproof navigator with 2.6-inch, sunlight-readable, 65-K color TFT screen and 160 x 240 pixel resolution
- Three-axis, tilt-compensated electronic compass and barometric altimeter for precise bearing and altitude measurements
- 100k topographic data for the U.S. and worldwide basemap with shaded relief; add a wide array of topographic, marine and road maps
- Supports BirdsEye Satellite Imagery (subscription required) for integrating satellite images with your maps
- Compatible with Custom Maps, free software that transforms paper and electronic maps into downloadable maps for your device
The GPSMAP 62St handheld navigator features a 2.6-inch sunlight-readable screen, barometric altimeter, 3-axis tilt-compensated compass, photo navigation and preloaded 100K topo mapping. Rugged and waterproof, GPSMAP 62St has a built-in worldwide basemap with shaded relief, a battery life of up to 18 hours and connects wirelessly to compatible Garmin handhelds.The newly designed GPSMAP 62st handheld navigator features a 3-axis tilt-compensated compass, a barometric altimeter, preloaded 100K topo maps and supports Custom Maps, BirdsEye Satellite imagery (subscription required) and photo navigation. Rugged and waterproof, GPSMAP 62st employs a quad helix antenna for unparalleled reception, has a high-speed USB connection, a sleek new design and connects wirelessly to compatible Garmin handhelds. Rugged and waterproof, the GPSMAP 62St boasts a 3-axis tilt-compensated compass, a barometric altimeter, and plenty more. Worldwide basemap with shade
List Price: $ 549.99
Price: $ 466.00
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Dario
March 19, 2011Nice GPS and great features but it’s awfully expensive!,
This unit comes with a basic PC map and TOPO map installed and nothing else. Neither are accurate or worth having. It would have been courteous to offer customers a free map, City Navigator and TOPO, with the first time purchase of this unit. Nope, not from Garmin.
The only major gripe I have with this GPS is the extra costs associated with owning it. EVERYTHING costs extra money and lots of it. It can handle routable maps which is a bonus but they too cost a lot of money. City Navigator maps take up a lot of space and the 62ST on-board storage doesn’t have much free space to begin with. If you add imagery you will find yourself, like me, quickly out of space and buying extra Micro SD’s. Those are expensive! Garmin sells SD’s loaded with maps for nearly $100 or more, each. I have a few 16GB’s that host routeable maps and birdseye imagery for different areas of the Caribbean. This is what I need in order to have a functional GPS that works for me but the costs are adding up to disappointment. Paying $500 for a GPS that has 2 cheap maps installed that are nearly worthless doesn’t make this unit shine for a customer when they turn it on for the first time. It only shines when you throw more money at it. That’s the sad part. Expect to invest nearly $1,000 if you want this to be a perfect GPS. $100 16MB SD’s, $80 per Map, 1 year Birdseye subscription…. $$$$$$$$ A serious competitor offers a similar GPS that lists for more money but actually costs less in the end. Keep that in mind.
While using this GPS for a while now, it has been through hell. Dropped in a river, banged around, dropped from certain heights and even buried on accident. It still looks like new but the screen will scratch easily. The signal and Sat. speeds are fantastic and is what I like about it. It is ready to go in record time! This is a high performance GPS and it works in valleys like no other I’ve owned. I have not had any serious signal issues like others have had with different brands and older models. Overall I find the 62ST very dependable. I am happy with having the 62st but the justification is what I have a hard time with. If I had money to burn then maybe I’d be a little happier.
The BaseCamp software is really nice but it’s a major resource hog. Especially if you use the Birdseye subscription. It took me 9 days to select areas and build, then download, Birdseye maps that completely covers Puerto Rico. This task was incredibly hard and the imagery alone is over 8GB, hence the need for 16GB cards.
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|S. Drake
March 19, 2011Some initial problems; now mostly fixed!,
UPDATE September 7 2010. The issues resolved below are solved by release 2.50 of the 62st firmware. I have no trouble recommending this unit at this point!
I purchased the 62st recently and took it out for a 9 mile geocaching adventure. While I like the unit very much in general, it has one major problem. Like any hiking GPS, the 62st will record your track as you hike, letting you upload it to your computer when you return home. This is very useful for keeping track of your adventures. The accuracy of the 62st’s GPS, combined with its barometric altimeter, lets you accurately record your track for later use.
Sadly what I discovered is that on the 62st simply pressing buttons on the GPS interferes with the barometric altimeter. Pressing even a single button on the GPS can result in spikes in the recorded data of 30 feet or more! On my first test hike, my 62st GPS said that I had climbed more than 8000 vertical feet, while the other GPSes carried by my friends on the same hike recorded only 2000.
I did apples-to-apples comparison experiments of the Garmin 62st, Garmin 60csx and Delorme PN-40, and only the 62st exhibits this bug. Pressing buttons on the other GPSes does not interfere with the recorded track data.
I have been in contact with Garmin Support about this issue, but as of today there is no fix.
Until this issue is resolved sadly I cannot recommend the Garmin 62s or 62st. I hope for a fix soon!
UPDATE as of 8/12/2010: Today Garmin released a new set of beta firmware for the 62 series GPSes. In preliminary experiments, the new firmware seems to have significantly improved things with respect to the altimeter. I will do more testing this weekend, but the situation seems to be improving! I’ll report back early next week.
UPDATE as of 8/22/2010. The beta firmware has fixed the altitude issue. Some users have reported problems in updating to the beta, so I’d still suggest holding off on a purchase until Garmin releases a new “official” firmware release. I’ve taken the GPS out on several hikes totalling over 20 miles, and am quite impressed with it. I upgraded my review to three stars today, and will give it another star once a new firmware release is available.
UPDATE as of 9/7/2010. Garmin has now released firmware 2.50 for the 62st. If you update your unit to the new firmware level, I have no problem recommending it. My earlier problems are fixed.
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