GPS Garmin 2610/2620? Which one?

Hey guys/gals,
Looking to buy one, does anybody know the differences besides the harddive in the 2620? Maybe newer software in the 2620? If I got a 1gb chip for the 2610, it should be more reliable than the harddive in the 2620. Thanks in advance for your input.

This from a post on a Yahoo user group, which pretty much
was the same question by tfrazie:


I asked Garmin via Email the following:
I'm a current GPS III owner and will upgrade to either a 2610 or 2620
soon. With the newest firmware releases does the 2610 (with a 2 Gig
CF card) have the same functionality as the 2620. Specifically does
the 2610 now have these following "EXCLUSIVE" features from your 2620
website:

"The StreetPilot 2620 offers a number of new and EXCLUSIVE software
upgrades,including:

Multiple Destinations
Do you want to find the most efficient route for deliveries or sales
calls? Users can enter a series of destinations, and the StreetPilot
2620 will automatically sort them to provide an efficient route.

Road Segment and Area Avoidance
Would you like to avoid traffic tie-ups or roadwork? Users can
specify areas and road segments to avoid when calculating routes.

Find Nearest on Route
Are you running on empty? This time-saving feature allows users to
limit searches for gas stations, restaurants, etc., to upcoming
points near a route.

Adjustable Road Class Preference
How about taking the road less traveled? Users can adjust preferences
for major, medium, and minor road categories."


GARMINS response received today is:

"Thank you for contacting GARMIN International,

Those features were added to the STP2610 via a software update, so if
you purchase a 2gb card it will perform the same as the STP2620
would. Please let me know if you have any further questions.

With Best Regards,
Casey Lowe
GARMIN International
Product Support Specialist
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
800-800-1020
913-397-8200
913-397-0836 fax
http://www.garmin.com/

Check what map software comes with the 2620--If I read the blurbs correctly, the 2610 comes with the Map CD's (and software to run on a PC) whereas the 2620 only comes with the maps preloaded in the GPS itself and, possibly, no PC maps/software.

If this is true--check with Garmin (or your dealer) if you can somehow use the 2620 maps on your PC and load them (as a second license) on another GPS (such as the GPS 60cx/76/cx). Perhaps they will ship you the disks (and the licenses) if you ask.

Personally, I find using the PC at home very handy for trip planning. And, having a second license for another Garmin GPS is nice (Garmin gives you two routing GPS licenses with each keyed map purchase). And, if you get a map update, you only have to purchase one for every two GPS's updated.

From what I have read--a 2gig CF card unit (26100 should have identical capabilities with respect to the 2620 with the hard drive--Plus, reviews when they tested the 2610 with both EEPROM and Disk based CF cards--found the EEPROM memory units to be much faster when accessing the map data. And, generally, EEPROM memory is going to be much more reliable than the disk based system (heat and vibrations in a car are very tough on disk drives).

Personally, I would get the 2610 and purchase the additional large CF card(s) for storage. And install the map on my PC and eventually get a second small hand held GPS (such as the 60c) and use the PC to load the routable maps on it too.

-Bill

[ QUOTE ]
BB said:
Personally, I would get the 2610 and purchase the additional large CF card(s) for storage. And install the map on my PC and eventually get a second small hand held GPS (such as the 60c) and use the PC to load the routable maps on it too.
-Bill

[/ QUOTE ]

Did you have both? I was considering the 60C to either replace or augment my 2610. I'm still inclined to wait until they put in expansion memory capability, but I'd like to know if there are any other advantages or disadvantages aside from the memory and portability aspects.
From a user standpoint, how do they compare overall?

I only have the SPIII from Garmin which uses the same Map and PC software as the 26xx families (I also have an older GPS and I used to really navigate a private plane with VOR and dead reckoning--before I got married and had kids a couple decades ago)...

Regarding the other 60cx etc. units, I only have been reading about them on www.gpsinformation.net and the news group like news:sci.geo.satellite-nav

The SPIII and 26xx families have voice prompts while the others, at best, just beep. Supposedly, the best Garmin/NavTeq map software (City Navigator for the US) can only be purchased with the Garmin SPIII and 26xx units. The other software (City Select?) available as a separate CDROM is not supposed to give detailed turn instruction quite as nice as the CN (I have seen lots of hand waving, but no hard information from anyone, including when I asked Garmin directly).

But, with the 2nd Map data license that comes when purchasing a SPIII or 26xx, you can load the CN maps on the other Garmin GPS's...

The SPIII (and I assume the 26xx) are really only good for car navigation. The other GPS's will also support other types of compass/route/waypoint/configurable/etc. navigation displays that the car only models just won't do... (Plus the 26xx does not have any on-board batteries to support hiking and such).

The 60/76cx do not come with any map CD's--so you do have to add a US CS map to their price (aprox: $110) if you don't already have an SPIII or 26xx (or already purchased CS software earlier). And from what I have read, the 60cx/76cx are identical hardware and firmware just in different cases (and the 76cx contains 2x the map memory).

I would suggest that you set your price and functions that you need and see which meets your needs best... From a functional point of view, the SPIII and 26xx are very poor general purpose GPS systems. They are great car navigation systems. The others are OK car navigation systems (if they support autorouting maps... and with limited memory in some cases) but are very good hiking or marine or aircraft systems (depending on model)...

When I got my SPIII, the only other routing GPS was the GPS V. Now you have more choices. The 26xx (and possibly even the 60/76cx) route and redraw faster than the SPIII (the SPIII is slow--just sort of acceptable speed at best for me). However, when I used to travel on business trips, having on-board batteries was a life saver--Some of the rental cars did not have working 12 VDC power sockets. Something that the 26xx can't do (run on internal batteries).

I don't know why--but the GPS manufacturers seem to always split the functions and features I like across several models--instead of making a unit that incorporates a broad feature set that everyone likes.

I would also suggest that you look for models that support an external antenna... Can help reception in some cars/trucks, and if you really want to track your hikes, you can put the antenna on the top of your pack (or hat if you are really a nerd /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif ) while the GPS is kept in a pocket/pack protected from scrapes.

-Bill

Well, wingerr answer the question pretty well, so there isn't much more to say. Has that ever stopped me before? I think not.

The two units you speak of are the SAME except for the data storage. Many tests have been performed by folks who bought both, and they are functionally identical. And yes, you can download maps and updates to the 2620 just like you would with the 2610 - the only diff is that the HD model comes with the maps preloaded, so the three American drivers who do not have a personal computer can slap it on the dash and get rolling right away.

It just comes down to price and which type of storage you'd want.

I have the 2610 (had the SPIII previously and traded up to this) and I couldn't be more happy with this StreetPilot line. Don't leave home without it!

I recently upgraded from the SP3 to the SP2610. Fyi, the SP2620 does NOT come with the map CDs. It's really meant for people who don't want to use a PC with their GPS unit.

I chose the SP2610 + 2GB CF because it will be more reliable in the long run. Having a micro-hard-drive in an automobile isn't exactly the greatest idea considering the amount of vibration it will be subjected to.

Btw, I really like the improvement the SP2610 offers over the SP3. The route recalculation is sooo much faster. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Oops. I did forget the part about no map CDs.

The thing that I appreciate the most about the 2610 over the SP3 is the keyboard entry of words and numbers! That scrolling through th alphabet stuff was NOT my idea of a good time. But yes, the clock rate of this thing is about four times fater, and that shows up in the route calcs.

I thought as much. I'll be shopping for the 2610. Thanks for all the responses. I wonder when (not if) the HD fails in the 2620, it'll be accessable for the average user to replace... plus have to reload the maps.

I just bought a 2610 & the cheapest price on the net for a new one was $715.00 I went to Gander Mountain Sports here in Buffalo,NY & the sales rep. behind the fishing counter told Me to bring proof (printout) of the price & he will match that price. Not only did He match the price but He did not charge me any rip-off NY sales tax!!!
The only difference between the 10 & 20 is that the 20 has built in memory so I purchased a 1 gig CF card from Officemax for under $100.00 (on sale a couple weeks ago) & downloaded the whole east coast with some room left.
I like the 2610 because I can route a trip, make waypoints etc on My Computer & then transfer to the 2610!

I found good deal 710 dollars for 2610 brand new. I am considering buy one next week. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Ok, I'll bite, may I know where your seeing that deal on the 2610?
Thanks.

Has anyone tried the 2650? It seems the same as the 2620 but has dead reconing too. This would help a lot in big cities or heavily wooded area.

I really like my Streetpilot III, but would love a faster processor for recalculating the 100 mile trips.


Daniel

I'd wonder how effective it is for extended loss of GPS lock- it might be okay for a short term loss, but I would think it would drift substantially over time. The bean bag mount might not be suitable either, since it might get thrown off if it moves within the car.
I read that it recalibrates itself if you take a turn, and resets its bearings based on the intersection, so it might work pretty well, provided its map database is up to date. If you turn down some road unknown to it, I guess it'd get lost.
They won't even sell it to you for self installation, since they apparently feel it's a big deal to hook up to your speed sensor and reverse lights.
Problem for me would be that it ties you down to one car, so if you need to move from car to car with it, you'd lose that feature in the other cars.
What would have been much neater is if the inertial sensors were entirely self contained, like my Vericom timer, but that probably wouldn't be accurate enough.

A better solution than the 2600 series (if you have a laptop), is the 18USB.

Three reasons...
Price 129.... Speed (nearly instataneous)....and most importantly, screen size. Comes with City Select and En-Route Software. En-Route is a souped up version of the software used on the 2600 series, with more options than you couud possiblly use.

I have been using the 18USB side by side with my 2610, and have found no differences in City Navigator and City Select databases, even though I know otherwise.


If i could rewind the last 6 months, I would by the 18usb and the 72c, for less than the cost of the 2610, and have the best of both worlds

Jeff, Thanks for the info. I'm always traveling with a notebook. I am definitely going to seriously consider this. Any other pros/cons you want to add?

If considering a laptop setup, you might want to make sure the display is sufficiently visible in daylight conditions, if that's when you're typically driving, and also that you have sufficient space in the car to mount it in your line of sight. If you have to put it on the seat next to you, the voice prompting capability probably would be more helpful than I find it to be on the 2610.
Benefit of the smaller self contained GPS unit is that you can place it so that you can look at it and still keep track of the road conditions with your peripheral vision.

If you have a copilot, that 18USB seems like a pretty hot setup though; for the $125 price of admission, I'm tempted to get one just to try it out. I don't think I'd be happy with it as my only unit though, because I'm already trying to see if I could rewind my 2610 and downsize to a more portable 60C. It would have to be more of an event to bring my laptop along, and carry it with me after arrival. It's already more than I want to do with the 2610, since it's not exactly pocketable, and isn't all that interesting when away from the car.

The only "con" I can think of is battery life of your laptop. I have a centrino processor, and have no problems getting 6 hours. The easy way around this is a car adapter or inverter.

As mentioned earlier, you can get a 60c or 72c to compliment, and then have a protable unit for hiking or biking (or if you happen to rent a car with no cigarette lighter adapter)

While I like fancy gadgets, sometimes it's best to have a unit that does one thing well.

I've used a laptop with a GPS and found....
1) A hassle to put in the car, connect all the wires, boot the silly thing and start the application. Some laptops don't even have speakers amking voice prompts difficult.
2) Hard to work with while driving. My Streetpilot III sits directly in front of me. I can see where I am without looking away from the road. I can press the button for "recalculate" without being distracted.
3) The wife hates having to share space with a laptop, epsecially on a trip long enough to need a GPS.
4) A GPS that you leave in the car will always be there when you need it to find an exit, address or gas station. If you have to stop to set it up you'll probably not use it.

Ok, that's my 3 cents worth. Note that I do have a small hand-held GPS for when I want to walk or go out of town.

Daniel

As an authorized Garmin Dealer, currently I have a Garmin 2610 in my car. As that was the top of the line prior to the 2620, if I was to do it again I would get the 2620 without a second thought….

But since I have one (the 2610) and it works great, I'll keep it… But for the right price I'll part with it so I can upgrade /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Either way 2610 of 2620, they are very good, you wont be disapointed