I have to gloat a little. Up until about a year ago I worked for the automotive electronics part of Motorola - they made engine controlers, braking systems, telematics units (one of them is the OnStar unit), and, in relation to the telematics business they made their own GPS chipset. As a sort of internal consultant I did a lot of work with the telematics and GPS guys.

Well, it wasn't until recently that I found out that the GPS guys were sold to a company named ... SiRF. Cool, the chipset that is in the GPSMAP 60CSx that so impressed me is designed/made by people that I used to worked with. Its a small small world.

By the way, last Saturday I pulled out my old Garmin GPS III+ for the first time in a long time and turned it on (I was thinking of letting my son take it to Scout summer camp - but decided not to). While outside in a clear field it took no less than five loooong minutes to get a 3D lock. In the first minute it saw only one satellite straight overhead. Eventually it found four others with decent signal, but it took a long time. That just reaffirmed how amazing the SiRF GPS chipset is. Even when we went out to Glacier National Park and turned it on in a new location, the 60CSx took well under one minute to get a 3D lock. Amazing. AFter that the lock came in under 30 seconds.