Garmin GPSMAP 62S Handheld GPS Navigator

After reading many of the reviews here, I was expecting to have some issues with the 62s, but I went ahead and bought it because a friend had one and it passed his high standards. So far, I've only had one small problem with it. I got the 62s to replace my 60csx because I wanted a better device for geocaching. In that regard, it is a vast improvement over the 60csx. I used to have to take my smart phone with me and use both devices to find a cache. Now, the 62s has all the information I need. When I got the device, I plugged into my OS X computer and brought up Base Camp. It immediately told me there was a software update. I had to download an app from Garmin to do the update. After doing so, the upgrade was a breeze. I also uploaded a non-garmin map to it using Garmin Map Install without any issues. Some reviews complained of a difficult interface. After the 60csx, I found it easy to use. It only took me a few minutes to get comfortable with it. Full disclosure: I have 40+ years programming experience and was the go to guy to assemble toys at Christmas. The interface is more complex as there are more options. For regular use, you generally don't have to access them. A nice improvement is the ability to customize the interface. I dropped several screens from the standard rotation making it easier to get to the ones I want. The only problem I have with the interface appears to be a bug in paging. At the completion of a search for a geocache that I decide to cancel by selecting Stop, I can't navigate to another page. When I press Page, I see all the other pages and can select one. When I do, it just returns to the compass page. The way around the problem is to select the compass page first. After that, it works fine. My friends 62s doesn't do this. I also read about complaints about the case creaking. I don't have this problem with mine. This may have been something they fixed in production since the product came out. I also read complaints about the battery level indicator going from full charge to no charge quickly. I've only discharged it once. The device was at full charge when I started out on my last outing. I wasn't checking the charge as I went along until I got a message that the batteries were low and that the back light would be turned off. At that point, the charge was down to two bars. I continued to use it for about an hour until it got down to one bar. At that point, I put in new batteries. I'm guessing I could have used it for a while longer before they went completely dead. Overall, I didn't find the performance any better or worse than my 60csx. I use alkaline batteries and my usual practice is to always carry an extra set with me when I'm out with the device. There appears to be one drawback in comparison to the 60csx when using the device to feed coordinates to a camera. They still supply a cable to do that, but it plugs into the USB port. From the look of the cable, it would stick straight out of the device like any other USB cable so you have to leave the flap open. My concern is that it would get in the way and be subject to getting bent. The cable for the 60csx plugged into another socket and came out at a right angle to the device. Another disadvantage of the new cable is that the other end is just bare wires. You would have to solder on a connector of your choice. My solution was to buy another GPS that mounted on my camera hot shoe. Even with the 60csx, the cable between the Garmin and the camera was a pain. In use, the 62s seems to lock onto to satellites faster than the 60csx and is slightly more accurate in zeroing in on a cache. These are just my opinions; I haven't done any formal testing. With both devices, I had problems in heavy tree cover. Overall this device is a vast improvement over the 60csx for the purpose of geocaching. My only complaint is the problem with the page switching,which hopefully can be fixed.

I purchased the Garmin® handheld GPSMAP 62s navigator after weeks of research. First, let me state that I already own a 265wt GPS and enjoy it very much. I purchased the 62s unit because, being a nature and outdoor photographer, I wanted a handheld GPS unit that I could plan my shoot and/or mark my path and follow it back to my starting point. After losing my way a couple of time on deep forest photo shoots, I felt it was worth the investment. I agree with all the other reviewers how great this unit is. So, I won't repeat them. In my opinion, it is the standard, there is no better and Garmin® support is excellent. I have called them on at least three occasions. They are always friendly and helpful--what you'd expect from number one! That being said there are issues that one should be aware of. While you have great hardware and support, the learning curve is long. Out of the box you receive nothing but the 62s GPS, a USB cable that is too short [19" to be exact] and a "quick start manual." You're totally on your own for everything [Basecamp©, mapsource© and their use]. You must acquire and figure out how to use the new 62 series GPS yourself. The downloaded "Owner's manual" is almost useless. It's like a manual for your car! It tells you how to open the door, roll down the window, where the headlights are, etc. You look at it once, put it in the glove compartment and that's it. There are improvements in firmware from the 60 to the 62 series. I do like the 62s's menu structure. You can expand it or contract it, change the order as desired. It floats, in that when you press page or quit, the menu applets show up on the screen and move forward or reverse direction. The file structure is totally illogical. Many functions are NOT where you would think they are and you struggle again and again. For example, I use the tide chart along with sun rise/set data to plan shoots. First, tide data is not mentioned at all in the manual. I had to call support. It's under "find." And there is NO explanation of the file system explaining how/where to store files/maps, internal memory or external [SD] memory or how to upload or download a route or waypoints. The best source I have found is GPSFILEDEPOT at [...]. I added a 16gb microSD card and installed NA City Navigator maps and SE Topo maps. I also purchased the BirdEye® maps but think they are useless. For a given area, they require too much space. There is a limit of ~500mb that you can download from the server at one time. In summary, this is a great unit in spite of afore mention issues. You will either spend many hours searching the web for solutions or have a mentor that can assist in learning.

Previously I was using a Garmin 100. I was looking for a GPS which was more sensitive to receiving the satellite signals, but I was happy with readily accessible inform provided by my 100 which was simple to operate. The 62s has a maze of options, much more than I need. It was easy enough to create and save a track. In too many cases I've found the instruction manual to be poorly written (in at least one case, the instructions may be wrong for the 62s). Simple things such as battery level and distance travel for the current track require multiple steps. I still haven't figured out how to get basic data about a saved or archived track (for example, distance traveled). There is a basic map that comes with the 62 which is satisfactory for me, except that it is about half-mile off. Yesterday when I was kayaking on a river, the map showed me at least half-a-mile away sometimes on a highway. I'll keep working with the unit--surely with more experience I will be able to enjoy it. My 62 definitely receives the satellite signals well even inside my house. Yes, I regret buying the 62s.

I've used this GPS a number of time to keep records of routes i've taken and also help guide me when out in the mountains. And I rather like this GPS it's the first one i've ever owned and used, and within no time I figured out how to use most of the stuff on it. Now for starters the battery life on it is pretty good and I like how you can set it to the type of battery and adjust the setting to really max out the battery life. I had it running for a good 13 hours strait well I was out hiking and I maybe checked it every 5 minutes to check for where I was and when was the next turn or area, and when I got back I check the status for the battery not a single drop on the life bar, which means this can run for a few days without much worry on when the battery will die. But take note when storing it because for some reason I ended up with 2 dead lithium batterys after about 2 days of it being turned off and stored, This could have been caused by no sat signal thus it going into search mode similar to when cell phone have no signal and this can drain the batterys pretty quickly which might also apply the same to this GPS, or because when I put it away I may have put it against something which turned it back on or I may have accidentally hit the power button. Anyways when you store it my advice is to take out the batterys just in case. Now the GPS's ability to refresh the map as you move is good when moving as well as it's ability to accurately give you your location. The manual isn't much help, when it comes to understanding how to operate the GPS, instead go online and look for instructional videos or documents like I did for things like how to use the track related features. The GPS weighs very little when loaded with lithium batterys which I recommend being used if weight matters also because they are slightly better when dealing with cold temperatures. The screen is also very easy to see clearly in the number of varying light levels and even when light is reflecting off the screen. Now for the thing that really is the problem with this GPS and all nearly every other on out there, from what I could learn, are the maps you can buy they are extremely expensive and are just rip offs it seems of maps that are publicly available and/or are sold in paper form for like a dollar. Now if the maps were just like 20-30 dollars a set no complaints because they are extremely useful and for me needed because of the topo and road information. But over 100 dollars they cost and they only cover about 2-3 set states so you can't have have this and that state but instead this area of the US or that area and just hope the places you travel to are covered in one go. So if you can somehow get the maps for free don't turn the offer down.

We bought the Garmin GPSMap 62S as a replacment/upgrade from the Garmin GPSMap 60CX and couldn't be happier. We use the 62S primarily for Geocaching and so far it fits that role exceptionally well. The big selling point for the 62S for us, and the whole 62 series for that matter, is the ability to perform paperless caching. With our previous unit, the 60CX, we still had to plan our caching activity and either print the caching information before leaving the house or stand out in the woods trying to access the web via a cell phone to look up the cache information. With the 62S we can load hundreds, if not thousands, of geocaches and have all the cache info right there in the GPS unit. No more piles of paper! Everything that used to require having paper and pencil with us for keeping track of cache info can now be done right in the 62S. We have not had the oportunity to use some of the features of the 62S, such as the ability to wirelessly transfer data to another GPS. But of the features we have used so far we have not found anything we didn't like. The 62S and the 62ST are basically identical with the exception that the 62S has 1.7 MB of built in memory which can be expanded with a micro SD card and no included maps other than the basic base map. While the 62ST has less built in onboard memory but includes the more detailed maps, such as City Navigator® North America NT, that must be purchased separatly for the 62S. The 62S will hold all the City Navigator® North America NT maps with plenty of room to spare for other data (i.e. tracks, geocaches, etc) with the built in 1.7 MB of memory. So far we have not needed to add any additional memory to the 62S through the use of a micro SD card. As far as sensitivity of the unit goes I find it is pretty comparable to the 60CX. One feature I noticed that seems to be missing from the 62S that was on the 60CX is the ring indicating location error around the arrow indicating the users current position. This ring was useful when geocaching as it gives the user an indication of position error. This feature doesn't seem to be present in the 62S, or at least I haven't yet figured out how to enable it. Overall, could not be happier with our purchase.

Update to my review after using this thing for a few months. I HATE this unit compared to the old 60CSx. I figured that using the tracks function may become less of a hassle after using it for a while, sorry, the software/OS is just plain junk compared to the older version. Sort of like trading in a Rolls Royce for a rickshaw, massive step backwards. I will say that removing the 500 point limitation has made following longer tracks a bit easier, not a bit enough change to recommend this unit, in fact when updating the review I dropped my rating from 3 to 2 stars. Bought this to replace a lost 60CSx, I use my GPS purely for recording and loading .gpx files of Jeep and mountain bike trails. I loved the old unit and figured this was just an updated version, sadly Garmin felt they had to mess with the perfectly functional OS on the 60 series probably to "improve" it. Tracks are now a large pain to start stop, instead of a simple on/off function on one screen you now have to dig through a menu on the "tracks" screen to turn recording on, and go back to "settings" and dig through a menu to turn recording off. Not a huge deal but seriously why mess with something simple that worked very well and make it a pain. My other complaint is with loading/unloading files, neither Mapsource or Base Camp will see all the loaded tracks, still working to figure out a workaround for this. I currently have to open the unit as a drive and drag the files to my desktop. Other than Garmin messing with a perfectly good OS to make it worse the unit seems to work OK. If you still have a 60 series don't "upgrade" if you have one that has buttons that have stopped working search Google for the fix, you might get lucky.

I have used many brands and models of GPS units. This unit, due in part to the new/upgraded model, is Garmin's premier handeld GPS navigator. It doesn't matter if you walking through the woods, downtown or on an unmarked trail, it will tell you where you are and where you need to go. Don't bother trying to get lost while you have this in hand. The features on this unit are plentyful and the readings accuate. In the past many of the units built in compasses were ok at best, the compass in this unit is accurate to withing a single degree. Almost every other unit I have had has been from poor to fair in the cover of tree canapies. This unit is as accurate as I have ever used. The geocaching features are good and make marking and commenting a breeze. Now gone are the days of having a map for every cache. I had the fortune of it getting me to a cache while driving down a road. Of course my son ran there faster but I was victorius on the find. My highlights Using lithium batteries gives me at least 14 hours of use. Ni-Cad about 10. The compass is accurate to within one degree. The compass while tilted very accurate. Relief maps are fairly accurate. Paperless geocaching is excellent. Accuracy in covered areas are excellent. Update frequency, mind blowing without draining the battery. If you are hunting, fishing on a boat or geocaching this is a must have.

I absolutely love this GPS. I've used a Garmin Oregon 300, Garmin Etrex and vista, Garmin gpsmap 60Csx and a Garmin Rino 530 and this GPS is better than all of them. The accuracy is great on this, usually around 9 ft regardless of whether or not I'm under tree cover or near large metal objects. The unit is also incredibly sensitive and does a good job measuring speed whether walking (slow pace to fast pace), biking, or driving in the car. The screen is very easy to see in direct, bright sunlight or at night. The paperless geocaching is amazing. So far, I have mostly used it for geocaching and it generally takes me directly to the cache. There is a menu bar that allows you to add shortcuts you easily jump to by using the quit and page keys, which makes switching from map to compass, to geocaches to elevation plot extremely easy, especially while riding a bicycle. I had trouble navigating the touch-screen oregon on my bike, and this gpsmap 62s is a breeze. The only issue I have had with this GPS was when I updated to the 2.70 software. It was loaded on, booted up then turned off after about 30 seconds to a minute. I reset the gps (by using the appropriate button combination, I don't remember what it is at the moment) and since I reset it, everything has worked perfectly. I took this unit hiking yesterday and it tracked my route/elevation very accurately. A lot of people have complained about this unit "squeaking". Yes, mine squeaks too. Only near the power button, and only on the side the power button is on. I guess this would be a personal preference, but the squeaking doesn't bother me at all. The gps still feels very rugged and tough. I took this out in the pouring rain and since the unit isn't broken, I'm assuming the waterproofing isn't comprised by the squeak. Also, I feel that the whole squeaking thing has been way over dramatized. To me it's not a big deal at all. I've only used the 60 csx once, but from what I've read about it, it seems that this gps is just as accurate (if not more so) than the 60 csx. If you're into geocaching, I would highly recommend this unit because you can utilize the paperless geocaching, which is incredibly convenient. Previously I had used my phone to view logs/hints, but there is no way I would have been geocaching in the rain if I had to lug my cell phone with me. All around amazing gps unit, especially if a little squeak doesn't bother you.

ottimo prodotto in una categoria in continua evoluzione, attenzione questo è il modello di punta senza cartografia precaricata (con un minimo di dimestichezza si trova facilmente online da scaricare anche la versione open source) e senza la fotocamera integrata. Secondo me è il miglior modello per chi non ama il touch screen (montana) e non vuole spendere centinaia di euro in piu per fotocamera e mappe precaricate. E' estremamente pratico e sembra robusto, ottimi i tasti grossi utilizzabili anche coi guanti, la durata delle batterie (comuni stilo) a me dura piu di tre giorni. A dire il vero utilizzandolo solo quando 'serve' potrebbero durare molto di piu. Prende egregiamente il segnale e in modo rapido. Non lo ho usato in auto come navigatore (credo che non sarebbe il massimo soprattutto con la cartografia open source) ma solo in trekking. Uniche pecche: -schermo che mi si è già un po rigato (immaginarsi il modello touch screen...) -funzioni 'avanzate' richiedono secondo me un po di studio sul manuale online, intuitive invece le funzioni base. Consigliato

単独登山をする方は、必携だと思います。 カシミール3Dとの相性が、非常に良いです。 【良い点】 ・単三乾電池２本で動作します。 コンビニさえあれば、いつでも補充できますね。 ・最高使用時間２４ｈというのも、安心。 ・旧ＧＰＳですと、水平に持ち運んでログを集積しないと精度が 上がりませんでしたが、GPSmap62sは、斜めに持ち歩いても大丈夫だそうです。 ・登山中は、手が汚いです。でも、GPSmap62sにスリップケース装着すれば、 本体は全く汚れません。 ・遭難や迷子の確率が、確実に下がります。 【注意すべき点】 ・ショップによって、ショップオリジナルの日本語マニュアルを、 付けてくれたり付けてくれなかったりします。 ・地図は、付いていません。 マイクロＳＤに地図を落として、装着します。 噂では、日本語地図は、日本語GARMINでしか活用できないそうです。 ・マイクロＳＤの地図は、別のモールで買いました。。。 【私の使い方】 ＰＣ用に、「改訂新版 カシミール3D入門編」と「改訂新版 カシミール3D GPS応用編」を購入し、 地図を結合する事を、強くおすすめします。 地図の結合の方法は、下記です。 １．「改訂新版 カシミール3D GPS応用編」をインストール ２．「改訂新版 カシミール3D入門編」の地図フォルダを、１．で生成された同じフォルダに上書き。 ３．その後、「改訂新版 カシミール3D GPS応用編」にある２．で上書いたフォルダに、 もう一度、対象のフォルダだけ上書き。 こうすると、関東甲信越〜沖縄までの、1/25,000 がＰＣ上に網羅されます。 登山に1/25,000 が必要なのは、周知の事実。 国土地理院では、ＧＰＳ連携しないし、、、 やはり、カシミールはすばらしいです。 以下、私の愛用カシミール＆GPSmap62sフロー。 ・カシミールでWay_Pointを、とにかくたくさん作る。 ・Way_Pointを連続クリックしてカシミールの断面図を作り、ペース配分を検討する。 ・PC→GPS へ、Way_Pointをインターフェイス。 ・登山する。 ・GPSログのカレントデータを、PCへ。 ・一眼のフォトも、カシミールに足してみる。 ・なぜに登山にこんなに時間がかかったのか、反省する。 ・ヤマレコにあげる。 …、単独登山は反省の嵐です。 でも、このフローを踏まないと、遭難して、もっと反省する事になると思います。 楽しい空の旅を。 ジェットエンジンではなく自分の足で。 改訂新版 カシミール3D入門編 改訂新版 カシミール3D GPS応用編

i bought this for walking , cycling , and to use on motorbike (so needed to be waterproof and in car) , an all round gps ... i love it ... its not just where am i , which way do i need to go , it's a trip computer , altimeter , if you buy the heart rate monitor and cadence sensor , it's a training aid . you will need to buy a micro sd map card to get the most out of it , i bought garmin gb discoverer north england and midlands from go outdoors at sheffield , cos they had it on offer ... i wasted £20 quid buying a tiny square of birdseye select 1;25k scale map , dint really need it , cos 1;50k is pretty good too ... it has different modes , automotive , recreational , geocaching etc , all customisable , is nice to use , but not something you can just pick up and already now how everything on it works , but having said that , you don't really need instructions either... like a mobile phone , first day or so , you set it up and mess with it until you got it how you want it. the gps system on the road in automotive mode , will work like a normal car sat nav , but with beeps instead of voices (with map sd card) ... off road , it doesn't calculate your route , how could it really , footpaths , tracks in woods , all the right of way stuff they'd have to keep checking to not get sued... it guides you by an arrow ,your at point "a" and it'll pointin a straight line to point "b" and you use the maps on the screen to make your own route to your destination,just follow to paths that go in a similar or same direction as the arrow , all you need... the best thing for me about the gps map 62s , is the geocaching feature , i didn't even know what it was until i bought this , now i'm hooked ... also shows how accurate the gps map 62s is , even in heavy woods with thick snow clouds above , love it.

On me l'a volé, j'ai racheté le même sans aucune hésitation : ça veut tout dire ! Il est excellent. Captation rapide des satellites même en sous-bois et par ciel couvert (utilisé en toute fiabilité en forêt amazonienne), très bonne ergonomie des menus, touches agréables, écran clair... Outre ses caractéristiques techniques, j'apprécie particulièrement le mousqueton (livré avec) qui permet de le garder à la ceinture ou attaché à la bretelle du sac à dos, sans aucun risque de le perdre ce qui était ma hantise avec mon premier GPS. Au fait : possédant également un modèle d'une grande marque concurrente (je ne la cite pas mais on l'aura reconnue !), je recommande ce Garmin fortement !

Bueno, resistente, y fácil de usar. Se enciende rápidamente y la resolución de las imágenes satélites esta muy bien. Y junto con el software es muy útil para planificar sus rutas.