Garmin GPSMAP 62S Review

Garmin GPSMAP 62S Review

Well, I’ve now been using the GPSMAP 62s for a full season.. I thought I would post a follow up review to my First Impressions Review, with the good points and point I feel could be improved upon with this device. 

I generally use a GPS for their basic functions, seeing where I am on a map or how to get to a place or waypoint, either by road or straight line.. I also collect the tracks from my trips for geotagging photos and keep records on my trips, and I use the GPS to look for nearby points of interest such as gas stations and restaurants on occasion.  Other than that, I don’t use (or need ) a bunch of the bells and whistles that come with the unit.  So instead of many paragraphs, here’s a quick list of my opinion of the good points and ones that can use improvement

Garmin GPSMAP 62s Good Points
- Profile configurations, can easily switch between automotive and recreational
- Ability to load and store different types of maps
- 'recalculate on road’ feature is very useful when tracking to a waypoint, to switch from straight line to rout along roadways
- Beeps are good for signaling turns when in automotive mode, although it would be good for it to be a bit louder
- The ability to attach the GPS to a variety of mounts is great
- Good shape for holding in hand
- Battery saving mode is great, so is battery life in general
- Screen modes highly configurable to display data you want in each view or mode
- 3 axis compass is very accurate and better than previous generations
- Slot for hand strap/lanyard is great (lost my previous Colorado 300 because it didn't have this)

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Garmin GPSMAP 62s Could Use Improvement
- Could be lighter, slimmer
- Processor is very slow, painful to do spell searches, and building the maps when zooming out is sometimes extremely slow
- Could use a waypoint management system to separate into folders.  Scrolling through many waypoints to find the one you want and spell searching are both painful
- Has many features that are not necessary and can be trimmed from the device – the share wirelessly, and GPS antenna connector features, among many software features are unnecessary in my opinion. 
- Mini USB connector should be switched to micro USB..  all phones have switched to micro now, so I wouldn’t need two car adapters
- Screen resolution very low, it would be nice for it to be significantly larger and higher resolution
- Instead of a rubber stopper type of water seal for the connectors at the back can be a more proper waterproof door, similar to newer waterproof cameras
- Plastic screen scratches somewhat easily
- Operating system layout is very complicated and needs a while to get used to remembering what you have to do to get what you want from the device
- I loathe Mapsource desktop software for loading maps, managing waypoints, tracks etc.  It feels like an outdated early 90s software.  The interface can be much more intuitive, slick and  much easier to use as well as more functional.  The search function is downright horrendous – you much exact match what you are looking for, or else you won’t find it
- Switch from AA to Lithium Ion battery source?  That is a tradeoff that would have pros and cons.

A note on screen protectors

The screen is lexan or some type of plastic, which can get scratched easily rubbing on branches, lying in the bottom of a canoe, or dropped while bike riding…   yeah I scratched the screen a bit by these things.  So I ordered a Protech screen protector.  The application is very simple, jut wet in soapy water, apply and squeegee off the excess water with the card provided – if you mess up you can peel it back off and reapply.  It is ultra clear and I don’t notice it’s on there at all – no bubbles, no fingerprints from the application.  It even hides some old scratches that are on there before application.  I would recommend these for sure.

This is much better than most screen protectors that once you begin to stick it on, you are at the point of no return and are more likely to have bubbles, fingerprints on them.  Some screen protectors affect the quality of viewing the screen, but the Protech is invisible.

Summary
All these things said, the GPSMAP 62s does what I need it to satisfactorily, like I said I only use certain basic functions.  I would recommend it, but it would be good to improve some things on it. 
In the end, I just want a  simple GPS unit that does basic functions, but does them very efficiently and well.  For my use, I just want a stripped down, lightweight GPS unit that has a fast processor, excellent battery life and large high resolution non-touch screen.  It would be nice if a company can make a unit like that, instead of spending effort adding functions such as cameras, sharing wirelessly, antenna jacks, touch screen and other things and other BS 'value added' things that just add weight and cost for features I don't want or need.
 If anyone can recommend a better unit than this that does these things I want, let me know!