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bartrod 8 years, 6 months ago.
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Anyone have a Garmin GPSMAP 64st? What do you like/dislike about it? My old DeLorme PN-60 is getting to the point where I’m ready to replace it. Since Garmin bought out DeLorme and discontinued the PN series, I’m looking for something else.
All opinions, comments, and useless drivel I post are mine alone and do not reflect the opinions of the WGA BOD.
When my 62s died, I opted for the 64s over some of the touchscreen models. The external bumpout antenna was a big reason. It gives better satellite reception. The 64 also offers wireless sharing with other compatible units which I don’t do a lot of but, some individuals that go in groups, like. An important advantage to me is that it keeps field notes that you can download to your computer when logging caches. I also like the clip on it…I can hang it from a belt loop, etc. when I’m biking or hiking so my hands are free. It’s a little on the pricey side but if you keep your eyes open, they go on sale occasionally.
Oconto...the birthplace of western civilization:)
Anyone have a Garmin GPSMAP 64st? What do you like/dislike about it? My old DeLorme PN-60 is getting to the point where I’m ready to replace it. Since Garmin bought out DeLorme and discontinued the PN series, I’m looking for something else.
I have one, and I love it! Actually, I have the Garmin GPSMAP64s. The main difference between the 64s and 64st is whether or not it includes a topographical map.
So far, I own or have owned a Garmin Dakota 20, Garmin Oregon 450, Garmin Oregon 650, Garmin GPSMAP 62s, and now the Garmin GPSMAP 64s. They get used a LOT. The Dakota and Oregon models are touchscreens, and the GPSMAP series are pushbutton models (which seem to last a bit longer and you don’t have to take your gloves off in Winter to use them).
The thing I like about the 62s & 64s the best, the #1 feature: accuracy. With the elongated antenna from the “bumped out” thumb, it gets the best possible reception. I talked with the Garmin engineers several years ago and they said all of their units are pretty accurate, but to a very minor extent the ones with the “thumb” (60CSX, 62, & 64) are technically superior. We currently have two Oregons (inherited one of them), and the 64s. The GPSMAP 62s was our main GPSr, but after over 7,000 cache finds in six years, the power button fell off. But it still worked! So now our main unit is the 64s.
The only negative I can think of with the 64s/st (which really isn’t a negative for me) is that since it’s a pushbutton model instead of a touchscreen model, it takes longer to type in text for field notes or spell search. The main positives (of which there are many) is pushbutton reliability/longevity, and signal accuracy. Oh, and with this unit, like most modern Garmin units, you can wirelessly send and receive waypoints to other Garmin units if you’re caching with others and one of you doesn’t have the cache loaded but the other person does.
I’ve put a free topo map on some of my GPS units, but I’ve never used them. Therefore getting the 64st ( includes topo map) wasn’t worth the extra charge compared to the 64s (no topo map). But if you actually value a topo map then getting the 64st is worth the extra money compared to the 64s. Or perhaps if the 64st is on sale and is the same price as the 64s.I just got a 64st in November. Love it!
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
-Henry David Thoreau
I have the 64S also and am very happy with it. I find it quite accurate, and liked the push buttons instead of the touchscreen, so I could still work the gps while wearing gloves.
~ **~ All posts are my opinion and do not in any way reflect the opinion of the WGA Board of Directors ~**~
Trekkin’ has loved his Map60csx, and when that finally died, he took over mine. Sadly, the city navigator can’t be loaded onto it and apparently isn’t supported by it, anyway. What we wonder is….does it allow for the general description being displayed? Size, hints, etc? It doesn’t happen too often, but now that my Oregon died, I took over his, and in the past, he’d take that with the info he wanted. There might be a couple occasions in the near future when that stuff would be nice for him to have. I had already signed up for a two day dulcimer workshop in Racine the same weekend of the campout, and while my off hours are more likely going to be birding the shoreline to try and get some life birds, I’m sure there’ll be a cache or two in the mix!
For as long as we’ve been caching (almost 11 years), we’ve burned through relatively few GPS units. We started with his Magellan Explorist, which he actually bought for other uses. When that conked out beyond repair, it was the Map60CSx. I had an Oregon 300 eventually, and also my own Map60CS, which the dog ate. When they replaced it, they upgraded to the 60CSx, which he now owns. I took his Oregon 450t when my 300 conked out last year. He had bought that on a good sale to deal with the lack of hints and stuff, but still clings to his Map60CSx. I will say that when we’re out together, he is always at the cache site before me, while I’m still circling around and trying to get a fix, so I can speak to the value of that external antenna!
No, we don’t have a smartphone, so that solution to his dilemma isn’t an option. Thanks for asking about this, Jim! I didn’t realize Garmin had acquired DeLorme.
Haha. Don’t sell yourself short, Birdin. The only reason Trekkin gets to so many caches first is because every time you get close you actually turn away from the cache (ooh look, there’s a bird!). Steve
Well, there’s probably a fair degree of truth in that observation, Steve. Birds are more interesting than a cache, anyway! 😉
Here’s something you might try, Jim. I bought a Garmin touchscreen model from Cabela’s in Green Bay, cached with it for a week, and then returned it when I wasn’t satisfied. They have a great return policy. I know you don’t have a Cabela’s near you…but maybe Gander Mountain? Check their return policy first.
Oconto...the birthplace of western civilization:)
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