Garmin GPSMAP 62 Handheld GPS Worldwide

First a confession: I am a Garmin fan. I previously had a eTrex Legend and when I had problems, Garmin customer support was excellent. I did say in previous reviews that when I came to replace the eTex, I would probably buy another Garmin and, yes, I did.

Now a bit about this device.

From the top:

Startup is slower than my previous model (I guess it is all to do with loading up maps), but once started it seems to lock on immediately.

Maps, being raster rather than vector, can also be a bit slow to load, but once loaded, they are fine. You do get to see the real OS map on the screen (the screen shots with this device don't show this - maybe a copyright issue???), so it is very easy to pick out new routes "on the hoof" depending on your mood as you walk along.

It must also be said that this Garmin is for walking / cycling. You can use it in the car, but the route guidance is not that great and you would do better to buy a device meant for the car rather than this model (and for much less than this model).

Battery life is excellent.

Plotting a track is good, however I must say that I prefer the old "Track and Waypoint Manager" rather than the newer "Basecamp". Maybe that is because I am using the tracklogs OS mapping software which allows me to print off OS maps on A4, so I don;t need to see the OS maps via Basecamp.

I have loaded up KMZ files scanned from paper maps (for Greenland where is no Topo map available - just bought the paper maps and scanned in the areas I needed). These seem to be good, but I will know in a few weeks time when I try using them in Greenland (where the magnetic variation is over 30 degrees) - will be interesting to see how the electronic compass copes with this. I'll report back soon...

Niggles: Only one. When you're out walking, the track that you leave behind you on the screen is very, very hard to see if you've already put in a track to follow. The range of colours don't really let you choose one that stands out nor is there the option to make the track line thicker.

However, with this as the only niggle, I would consider it unfair to award anything other than the full five stars.

UPDATED AS PROMISED
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In my original review, I said that I would report back after having loaded my own maps (from scanned JPEGs) onto the device.

I am very please to say that that it all worked very well. I was able to verify how accurately the machine / my alignment of the maps was when I can to the crossroads of two farms tracks. The position shown on the screen was no more than 10 meters out from reality. This gave me significant confidence, particularly when I was on top of a very bleak mountain in a howling gale; I was pretty certain that both my Garmin and my map reading were good and I really did know where I was.

I have also thought, in the original review that I just assumed that people would know how to produce an appropriate KMZ file to load up. If you don't, then here are some basic steps:

- first by your paper map of the area you wish to scan
- now scan at a resolution of no more than 300 dpi sections or not much more than half a sheet of A4. If you scan much more or in higher resolution, the Garmin won't be able to use the resultant KMZ file
- now open up Google Earth (if you need to load it, just Google its download page and install; it's a pretty neat program)
- view the area of your trip on the screen at a reasonable resolution
- now add in an "overlay" - this is your JPEG. When it is on the screen, it won't be quite right, but fixing that is the next step
- make it semi-transparent by moving the slider control so that you can see both the scanned map and the Google landscape
- drag the JPEG so that the centre crosshairs are accurately aligned with the same feature on the Google image (you might need to chose something close, a crossroads is ideal, but a clear edge of a a lake, or a meandering river can all work nicely as well)
- now drag the corners of your image to stretch / compress the image until it exactly matches the ground, you might need to use the rotate control to get things perfectly aligned. It is worth taking your time over this. If you spend much less than 15 minute on this step, either you have been very lucky/skilled, or you haven't got it exactly right.
- now exit from the overlay mode and you will see the image listed in the top left listing of Google maps it will be highlighted (if not just click on it to highlight)
- save / export the resultant image; this is your kmz file
- finally, when the Garmin is connected, copy this into the custom maps folder.
- When you restart your Garmin, the map should be there in the correct position in the world!!!

If the map doesn't read in, then check that the map is enabled (through the setup menu on the Garmin). If it is, and you got an error when the Garmin started up, my best guess is that you've created a file that is too big. Either reduce the resolution or reduce the area of the scanned image.

Finally, I more than endorse my original view that this is worthy of the full five stars.

Very highly recommended!

POSTSCRIPT
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I'll put money where my mouth is...

I managed to lose the GPS in the Lake District (my own stupid fault - I drove off leaving it behind and it wasn't there when I returned) and guess what I replaced it with? Yes, exactly the same again. It is certainly the best option for me.

Finally, you may have considered a touchscreen rather than this one. I did. However, with my first one of these, I took a fall in Iceland and put a big scratch in the screen. Had it been a touchscreen, it would have been ruined. However, some serious work with some car chrome cleaner removed the scratch and it was as good as new again. I couldn't have done that to a a touchscreen.

Still highly recommended and, if I could, I would give it Six Stars!

The 62S is part of the 62 series of GPS receivers from Garmin. It was meant to replace the 60CSX series. The functions are largely the same as the 60CSX, for details of this click here:Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx Handheld

Rather than repeat the information, I'll just say the differences between the two.

PRICE
=====
First, the price. The 60CSX being "obsolete" now, is half the price of the 62S in the shops. Online it's a little cheaper. However I actually believe, given my experiences of both units, that the 62S should be CHEAPER!

BUILD QUALITY
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The build quality between the 2 units is also noticeably different. The 60CSX is made from a hard wearing, rubbery plastic, that can take a lot of knocks without much sign of wear, and feels solid and reliable in the hand. The 62S on the other hand is made from a lighter plastic material, which makes the unit feel like a cheap plastic toy in the hand. It also is plagued by problems such as a "squeak" when the side of the unit is squeezed or buttons are pressed. Finally, the material the screen is made from is also highly prone to scratching. Whereas my 60CSX survived years of abuse, getting dragged through all kinds of terrain without any significant scratches on the screen, my 62S survived less than a week before it had a large scratch running down the screen, making it hard to read the text. If you opt for this unit, get a screen protector!

DEVICE SOFTWARE
===============
And finally, how the unit handles. I honestly found the technical aspects of the 62S pretty similar to the 60CSX. Accuracy wise they are pretty much the same. If anything I found the 62S took a little longer to get a signal lock than the 60CSX. A pleasant upgrade is the text entry menu is easier to use on the 62 than the 60 series, with a better onscreen keyboard layout.

The 62S felt a little less responsive when I was using it, compared to the 60CSX. This I think is to do with the more flashy menus, with animated menu transitions etc. As I use these devices in my work, I just want a unit that does its job well, and quickly, and as such much prefer the 60CSX when it comes to the menus.

The 62S supports nicer colour maps, including satellite imagery. One thing to note regarding the satellite imagery is to preview/check the coverage of the areas you want before you fork over your money. I learnt the hard way a few years ago, and bought the "Birds eye satellite imagery" upgrade for a trip to the lake district. When I went to download the imagery, I found the entire lake district covered in cloud, making the maps pointless. I tried to get a refund, but Garmins customer support didn't want to know. In my humble opinion it was extremely poor to sell satellite imagery with such cloud cover, especially when it blankets the UK's most popular national park & walking destination!

AFTER SALES SUPPORT (GARMIN)
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My final note is regarding Garmins customer service. They don't really care that much about owners of their products. If, like me, you want to repair your scratched screen, they won't just replace the screen, they'll replace the whole unit, and charge you a premium for it. My troubles didn't end there, as the replacement unit they did send (yes, I was a fool and paid the premium!) was faulty, and will actually lose power if it is knocked (pretty shoddy I know!) for ages I thought I didn't know what was happening as I'd be out walking and then discover the unit had turned off, thinking it was dodgy batteries at first!

After finding out what was happening I contacted Garmin, who wouldn't do anything without proof of purchase. This was highly annoying, as the unit was a replacement SENT by Garmin (so no proof of purchase for it) AND it was actually listed on my Garmin account page as being in warranty still, so all the details were actually on their system, but they wouldn't help anyway, despite supplying a faulty product.

CONCLUSION
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My concluding remarks are that in all honesty the 60CSX is still better than it's successor, and cheaper too. The 62 series is still getting its kinks ironed out, and my experience with Garmins customer support has been such that I will no longer consider their products, both for personal or work use, as I require actual customer SUPPORT. I do hope you find this useful!

UPDATE!!! 29/04/2012
====================
I've now finally had Garmin concede the issue with my unit, and they have replaced it with a refurbished model. The previously mentioned issues regarding build quality appear to have been resolved, with the casing feeling slightly more robust and no squeak present. The unit certainly feels less like a plastic toy. Does this mean I prefer the unit to the 60 series? I'm afraid not. I still feel that the 62 series attempts to do too much for its hardware, with the user interface seeming a little bloated and slightly slow to respond (compared to the 60 series interface). I'd only consider the 62S if you can't get a 60CSX for cheap, or find the 62S for less money!

This is probably the best hiker's GPS presently on the market. It is rugged, waterproof and strongly made, with excellent push buttons to access all the features on the menue. The satellite reception is almost perfect, even under dense trees and rocky outcrops. Battery life with rechargeable AA cels is much better than older Garmin GPS. The screen is clear, better than other Garmin touch screen models, and can be read even in strong sunlight. The ONLY problem, and hence the four stars and not five, is the ability to download into it customs maps. The software limits this to 100 tiles and this for a moden GPS is not good enough. Competitors GPS do not have these limitations. However other features of the GPS are excellent. Almost 5 stars and I hope Garmin will soon resolve this maps issue to earn what would be then, not five, but SIX stars.!!Garmin GPSMAP 62s With Full GB 1:50k Map Bundle