When I got my GPSMAP 60CSx I went against what seemed at the time like the majority opinion on GPS forums and got the City Navigator NT maps on the MicroSD card. My reasoning was that I only use one GPS at a time and it does contain ALL the maps for North America.

Recently I've read that Garmin is changing the DVD software so that it can only be used on one unit, which makes the choice of DVD vs. the MicroSD kind of a mute point.

Not sure which is best, but I like using the MicroSD. When at Glacier NP I had both the City Navigator NT MicroSD card and another card that held the entire West National Parks 24K topos (they all fit on a single MicroSD even usign the DVD). It was easy to flip between them AND I was able to use the City Navigator NT card on the entire train ride from Milwaukee to West Glacier (since it has the entire continent on it).

One of the goofy things about working with MicroSD cards is the difficulty of labeling such as tiny card. I used a extra fine-tip sharpie and just used abbreviations.

By the way, my 60CSx DOES have a selection for lithium batteries. Its a bummer they don't have that for the Vista HCx, though it is overcomable.

Ken

Lithium batteries: When I discovered lithium AA's I called garmin to see if they were compatible with the GPS V. No problem at all. They just have a longer shelf life and runtime.

Not to veer to far off course, but how is the quality of the TEN ERGY rechargeable batteries.

Glock-A-Roo I've seen $230 up for the units but the problem is they are sold out everywhere I was looking. I ended up going down to the Bass Pro shop and bought it there, at least it's a legit Garmin dealer and it's registered now so if it breaks, I won't have any hassles.

Hmm. I think my 60CSx only has options for NiMH and alkaline. Maybe there is a flash update -- I'll have to check.

FWIW, both my GPS III+ and eTrex Vista have options for lithium cells.



That stinks.

While I haven't looked lately to see if it covers TENERGY batteries sepecifically, I consider this the authorative reference for NiMH batteries.

-john

RAS, the TEN ERGY's are alright but I had originally got the 750ma from these guys because they were the suppliers of the Steripens batteries. http://www.all-battery.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1014
I had bought a fast charger from them and extra batteries as well so I would have power for several days (for water purification) while recharging on solar, I carry a stainless steel (non vacuum jacket)32 oz bottle as a drinking bottle as well as a back up to boil water in the event all my batteries go dead. I'm planing on making a back up tube that hooks to the solar cells to run the steripen with no batteries, just sunlight in the event of 8 sets of batteries fail. I have noticed that when you are not using your adventure (steripen), take your batteries out of it. It has an internal drain that will drain them after a few days of not using it. You will get much longer use out of it if you take the batteries out after you refill all of your water for the day or time period. Next time I will get the 900ma batteries and the charger. http://www.all-battery.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=521
And here is some more annoying pictures:






And for pesticides the combi

I've been looking at those hand helds but I think I'll put one on my Christmas list though that limits the price to under $200.
Speaking of batteries I've standardized on Sanyo Eneloop because of the low self discharge I can leave gear sitting in my bob and have it ready to go.
I have a Maha charger after finding out a lot of chargers don't fully charge batteries and am converting from the cig lighter type of plugs to anderson power poles due to their smaller size and better connection.

Both garmins I've owned sucked in the woods they would not pickup satellite reception at all!

I'm talking about on the handlebars of my quad they would get get reception in the trees, or in the clouds in the clear to even tell me where I was at!! I was not impressed at all.

BTW: Where can I buy those roll-up solar panel things?

I got mine from a place called Solar World because they had the best price at $319. They are made by Powerfilm. I already owned a clamshell type of panel, but the panels are on the outside and I wanted something better so I searched the net and took the plunge. Says marine grade and actually looks like thick vinyl. It rolls up to 4 or 5 inches and the optional connectors made it seem versitile. Strong enough to power a 12v car fan bought at Wal-mart (for tent ventilation).

I had read somebody's blog about a kayak trip where it was used to charge his laptop. Smaller sizes are available and pics show them hanging from backpacks to charge batteries while hiking. Mine is the largest model and at 6 feet I may have overdone it on size, but it is light and could be slung on top of a tent to get better light.