Whether Dad drives a vehicle with two wheels or four, we have some great Father’s Day gift ideas that won’t break the bank. The nüvi 1200 is one of our entry-level GPS devices that is ideal for the person who doesn’t need bells-and-whistles, but still wants a GPS navigator to help them find the nearest gas station or street address. It was recently reviewed by About.com and according to them, “I’ve used a number of Garmin GPS units in the past and they’ve always
been really solid machines. The nüvi 1200 is no exception. The nüvi
1200 is a solid bet for a basic GPS device.”

If Dad prefers the freedom of the open road, another great bang-for-your-buck is the zūmo 220. The zūmo 220 is affordable, compact and versatile. A recent PC Advisor review said, “The Garmin zūmo 220 is a GPS unit that’s full of features. You can use
it with both cars and motorcycles, and the inclusion of both mounts
means you won’t have to spend minutes fiddling to transfer the zūmo 220
between vehicles. The user interface is good and the unit can be used
without trouble whichever vehicle you’re using.”

One of our best just got better, just in time for summer adventures. Garmin today announced the GPSMAP 62 series of rugged outdoor
handheld devices, bringing a sleek updated look, new mapping options and
many technical innovations to a product line beloved by hunters, hikers
and geocachers of all
ages.

“The GPSMAP 60 series has been one of our most popular product lines,
and the new GPSMAP 62 series improves the form and functionality to make
a best-in-class device even better,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice
president of worldwide sales. “Whether you’ve been using Garmin for
years or are buying your first handheld, GPSMAP 62 is ideal as it
combines our new breakthroughs in outdoor recreation technology with the
comfortable feel of an old favorite.”

To help each user maximize the mapping potential of Garmin handhelds,
each model in the GPSMAP 62 series is compatible with Garmin’s
subscription-based BirdsEye Satellite
Imagery, the free online community at Garmin Connect as
well as Garmin’s

free Custom Maps utility for transferring paper or digital maps
onto a compatible handheld.

Boasting a 2.6” sunlight-readable color display, up to 20 hours of
battery life and a high-sensitivity GPS receiver and quad helix antenna
for unparalleled reception, the GPSMAP 62 series features three distinct
waterproof models to suit various activities and interests. The basic
GPSMAP 62 includes a built-in worldwide basemap with shaded relief. The
GPSMAP 62s adds a 3-axis tilt-compensated electronic compass and
wireless connectivity for sharing routes, tracks, waypoints and
geocaches between other compatible Garmin handhelds. GPSMAP 62s also
includes a barometric altimeter that tracks changes in pressure to
pinpoint your precise altitude. Users can also plot barometric pressure
over time, which can help keep an eye on changing weather conditions. In
addition to these key features, GPSMAP 62st includes preloaded 100K
topographic maps for the entire United States (or preloaded 50K
topographic mapping of Canada for the Canadian version). Coverage on
GPSMAP 62st includes major trails, urban and rural roads, interstates,
highways, coastlines, rivers and lakes as well as national, state and
local parks, forests and wilderness areas. In addition, you can search
for points of interest by name or proximity to your location and view
descriptive details for terrain contours, topo elevations, summits and
geographical points.

Geocachers can
help the environment and be more efficient by going paperless with the
GPSMAP 62 series, quickly downloading cache information directly to the
device. Each model stores and displays key information such as location,
terrain, difficulty, hints and description, so that you don’t have to
tote printouts with you. Learn more about geocaching, getting started
and going paperless at www.garmin.com/geocaching.

Subscribers to BirdsEye Satellite
Imagery can use BaseCamp software to quickly transfer
high-resolution satellite images to any Garmin GPSMAP 62 device and
seamlessly integrate those images into the handheld’s maps to get a true
representation of the surroundings. More details can be found at www.garmin.com/birdseyesatimagery.

Customizing maps for your Garmin outdoor handheld has never been easier.
Through a few simple steps, Garmin’s
Custom Maps can bring the details, labels and landmarks of your
existing paper or electronic map to a product in the GPSMAP 62 series,
or a compatible Garmin Oregon, Dakota or Colorado. Compatible with both
PC and Mac, this free utility complements the myriad of mapping products
already offered for Garmin devices, including City Navigator, NT for
turn-by-turn directions on city streets, Blue Chart g2, for marine
charting, and TOPO U.S. 24K and 100K map software for incredible terrain
detail (each sold separately). To walk through the steps, to find and
share maps and to join discussions about Garmin Custom Maps, visit www.garmin.com/CustomMaps.

Experiences will live on long after the activity has ended, thanks to Garmin
Connect (http://garminconnect.com), the
free-to-join online community of more than 20 million activities for
sharing, storing, analyzing and enjoying at garminconnect.com.
Outdoor and fitness enthusiasts alike can share activities on Facebook
and Twitter, export to Google Earth or relive the activity in table
view, calendar view or on a variety of maps including our new embedded
Google Earth view.

Each device in the GPSMAP 62 series has a high-sensitivity GPS receiver
with HotFix, which automatically calculates and stores critical
satellite information and can use that information to quickly calculate a
position. The GPSMAP 62 series is made even more versatile through its
universal mounting system that is compatible with the same accessories
as Garmin’s Oregon, Dakota and Colorado products. Other key upgrades
include photo navigation and onboard memory for downloading maps. GPSMAP
62 and GPSMAP 62st models also feature high-speed USB for faster map
transfers with your computer, as well as a 3-axis tilt-compensated
electronic compass, which shows the user’s heading even when standing
still, without the need to hold it level. In addition to the preloaded
topographic details for the entire United States, GPSMAP 62st features
500 MB of available built-in memory. GPSMAP 62 and GPSMAP 62s are ready
to be customized to fit any user’s activity, thanks to 1.7 GB of onboard
memory.

Last week, we were lucky enough to fish the Gulf of Mexio off the coast of Galveston, Texas again. Since our last tripto the Gulf with pro angler Bill Platt, Garmin has rolled out some impressive new equipment, and it was time to see the new gear in action!

Equipped with the latest in marine electronics — including the new GPSMAP 7212 and 6212 — we headed out to find fish. With calm seas ahead of us and a trio of Yamaha 350′s behind us, Captain Bill lead us to one of his spots 50 or so miles offshore…

With the help of the GSD 22sounder’s powerful 1kW transducer, we were pleased to see this abundance of what turned out to be mostly red snapper. Having the ability to view separate, big images of your sonar and charts is helpful; once we located the fish, Bill – a pro on the kingfish circuit – used the plotter zoomed way in to figure out his drift for the ideal spot. And these new machines are fast – we’re talking blazing speed that delivered ultra-smooth panning and zooming with near real-time refresh rates!

 

We worked the area for several hours (as seen from our tracklog above), and pulled in tons of red snapper – many in the 20-pound class. Just like the last time we visited the Gulf, snapper season was closed, so back in the water they went. But hey – at least we have the pictures to prove it!

As Jake and I both near the “heavy load” weeks of marathon training, we occasionally trade stories of training trials and tribulations. Once in awhile there’s a triumph, but sometimes the good stories are as simple as “I made it 12 miles before my knee totally locked up” or “I logged a 50-mile week and only had to ice my foot twice a day!” While I can’t figure out how to make our fitness devices solve some of our woes, I at least use the comments section in Garmin Connect to note how I’m feeling during or after a particular workout. And since history bears repeating, going back and reviewing such notes helps me avoid some pitfalls like overtraining injuries.

My nemesis of late has been the weather. Late last summer, when I was training for a fall marathon and doing 4 a.m. “beat the heat” runs, I had a realization that sent chills up my spine: if I do qualify for Boston, training is going to be … let’s just say somewhere between mind-numbing and insane. And that was before I knew we were in for one of the snowiest, coldest, stinkiest winters on record. I will say such challenges have made me resourceful and maybe even a little more efficient. When my midweek run calls for 12 miles on a Tuesday, I shift into high-gear once I leave work. By the time I’ve picked up kids, delivered them home and changed clothes, I’m way past “warm up” stage and I’m motivated to get out the door and on with the workout.

Earlier this week, Jake told me he needed to log 18 miles on the treadmill. I thought to myself “I’d rather lick the mud from my trail shoes than do 18 on the treadmill.” But I didn’t tell Jake, because I thought he might hold me to one or the other. I didn’t doubt Jake had the fortitude to pull this off — he’s been known to hammer out 21 miles on that lonely race to nowhere. And this time he had a MacGyver-esque solution plan that called for 1 laptop, a couple of speakers, a trashcan and an inspiring movie. His get-up even provided entertainment for folks working out nearby in our TV-free fitness room. Got a boredom-buster or other fix that’s helped you survive setbacks or other insanities of training? We want to hear your comments.  

The same folks who crowned Garmin’s Oregon touchscreen handheld as the “All-Around Champ” in last year’s comprehensive GPS testing have more kudos for Oregon’s smaller sibling.

In Backpacker’s annual Gear Guide and Editor’s Choice Awards, Dakota 20 is listed among the best of the best in their A-Z outdoor essentials, as determined by their expert gear editors and everyman reader testers. Here’s what they had to say:

“When our Colorado tester lost his trail in deep snow, he tapped the color touchscreen and had instant (and dead-on) compass, altitude, and UTM vitals to cross-reference with his paper map. But the truly remarkable thing? This budget-minded, palm-size GPS is $100 cheaper than similar models. You can record routes and drop-and-drag GPS files onto the unit from your PC or Mac.”

To help get even more out of your Dakota, visit the interactive minisite, be sure to watch our tutorial videos and check out Garmin Connect’s online community of 20 million activities, Garmin Custom Maps’ free ability to transform paper maps into files on your device, and BirdsEye Satellite Imagery for your handheld.

The answer is a resounding YES — Garmin Connect loves Mac and PC users equally. This is true whether your device supports wireless uploads (such as Forerunner 310XT, Forerunner 405 or FR60) or uses a USB connection (Edge series, outdoor handhelds and Forerunner 205/305 models). For wireless devices, you’ll need the Mac version of Garmin ANT Agent. For USB devices, download the Mac version of Garmin Communicator Plug-in. Happy data logging to all of our Mac users out there!