I am looking to replace the 60csx as it is slowly dieing. I wanted to know if the sensitivity, ruggedness and other features that made the 60csx so good for off road had been carried over to the Montana. I am looking for input from those that had both and their take on it. I use my GPS exclusively off road, I dont use it to punch in an address and then have it guide me from point to point so that is not a feature I need. Mostly making tracks, running off tracks/way-points and ease of readability is what is drawing me to the Montana. I have read through the other threads regarding the Montana but did not come across one looking for a direct comparison between the two from real world experience.
There's no comparison because they are both from different gps eras. The 60/76C(S)X are really good at what they do but they were designed about 10 years ago. The Montana's really far better in many ways, but those ways may not be important to you. I sold my 60CSx and 76CSx to go to Oregon 550 units, and they were really good, but let down by a lousy power connector in the mini USB connector, and the 550's relatively smaller screen was a bit hard to see while riding. So I sold those when the Montana was released. But new gen Garmins are much better at map handling and track recording, and have wireless transfer between like units, so once you've used those features, you generally don't want to go back to the 60/76.
Still run both The Montana is really good & the screen is large & readable in most situations I also use them off-road most of the time The track size on the Montana is very useful but you'll need to figure out the storing & archiving of them If you'd do the changeover I don't think you'll be sorry, I know I'm not
I did the switch from a 60cx to a Montana 600 a couple of months ago. The Montana works pretty much as advertised. The big push for me was the brighter screen and indeed I can read the screen in virtually all lighting conditions now. It is nice having all the track memory I need. If you get one you, need to be really cautious about upgrading the firmware. It seems like about every other revision causes more problems than it fixes. I am about 4 revs behind and have no intention of upgrading until some feature comes along that I can't live without - like maybe not drawing a straight line between locations in the current track when you turn the unit off move to a new place and then turn it back on. I took the Montana on a very rugged ride in Utah last month with no problems. I also only use it for off hiway motorcycle riding. The Montana does not work as well with Mapsource as the 60. So I normally read and write to it from BaseCamp using files I created in Mapsource and transferring new files to Mapsource. The Montana has lots more "features" than the 60 and it takes a while to learn them especially as noted above about maintaining and archiving tracks. All in all it cost a little more than I would have liked to pay, but I am pretty happy with it.
I use my GPS like you - not needing house to house, mostly offroad. I like the Montana although I still keep the 60 in my camelbac with waypoints and tracks JIC. Only thing I learned about the Montana is next time I will leave the square battery home and just use AA's. On my last 10 day trip I ran that battery dead and had no way to charge it so I put it in my pocket until I got home - would not take a charge,seems this type battery doesn't like being left discharged - so an expensive lesson. Probably won't replace it as I see no good reason to tie up my GPS to recharge a battery. Other than that I really like my Montana
Most people just wire the mount into the bike's electrical system, so the square battery is the best solution. And many of us have a spare LiIon battery - Garmin never asks for them back if you need to send the gps in for a warranty claim. (My wife's 650 antenna broke) Speaking of warranty claims, Garmin would probably send you another since yours failed. Give 'em a call.
The Li-ion battery in mine gave me grief in that the unit kept rebooting while connected to the cradle I removed the battery & fitted AA's but in the middle of the night without the little torx tool it was a bit of a job I was trying to follow a track to a camp & the unit jus kept rebooting & when I disconnected the power lead the vibration would keep switching off, since then I just run with the AA's
Did you try the earplug in the battery compartment trick to stop the battery moving around? I have one earplug in my battery compartment but some people stuff a bunch in all the open spaces. Mine does not have any issues with just the one - it never turns off.
Thanks for all the reply's funny thing is I did the same thing on my 60CSX with the ear plug in the batt compartment to keep things from vibrating around and coming loose. Nice to I am not the only genius out there. :eek1
Isn't the one big difference between the two, is the Montana is touch screen? How does that work with gloves?
I unintentionally add a lot of waypoints. One doesn't realize how often you routinely wipe dust, water, and mud from the sceen until you have a touch screen.
Your question should be between the 78 and Montana. The Montana is great for Adv bike and car but I think the 78 will replace the old 60/76 and the hard core dirt rider gps of choice. I promote DS rides and the 78 is what my customers are switching to. I have only seen a couple of montanas.
I have the 60csx and it's been great. Very tough unit. Problem is, these eyes don't work like they used so, if I could find a 60CSX with a larger screen, I'd be sold. Is there such a unit?
The 60 series is a benchmark in handheld units. I've had both the 60csx and the montana so i'm not guessing. Real buttons are nice. They are tactile and you know when you press it even without looking. The touch screen requires your attention much more. The 60 is very small and compact. It works well off the bike too. If you were doing allot of off bike work with a gps, the 60 is hard to beat. What i do like about the montana is the way it generally works. It is fast. Easy to input, big screen, and the ability to load many maps at the same time makes this a deal maker. Wiping dust from the screen is a pain. Setting those damn pins is annoying, but those annoyances make the tradeoff worth every pennny. I'm sticking to the montana.
If you press the power button quickly, you can lock the screen so wiping it won't leave anything behind. Just sayin.
Good info. I will try this. But I usually do my wiping while I am riding. Not sure I am agile enough to find and hit the power button, but maybe it will come with practice. I have learned a good solution for unintended screen hits is to just keep hitting the "Back" icon until I get back to the main map page.
As long as you don't need to change things while you're riding, then keep the screen locked until you stop again. That way you can clean the screen without changing anything at all.
