"Lose yourself in the new Garmin Montana 600's array of navigation features"

The Loving Outdoors Lowdown

Navigation behemoth Garmin asserts its GPS dominance with the release of its new device, ‘Montana’. Taking its name from America’s mountainous ‘Treasure State’ the Garmin Montana has been built to stand up to the rigors of some of the world’s most extreme terrain and embodies the all American philosophy that ‘bigger is better’. For a hand-held GPS, the Montana certainly is big, but in a market where space efficiency and compactness are paramount, Garmin have made great use of the addition space cramming in a huge number of features and enhancements.

The most immediately obvious of these is the screen size. Measuring a whopping 4 inches diagonally across, Montana’s touch screen can display information more clearly than any other GPS on the market and is both sunlight readable and glove friendly.

The Montana also resolves the battery-life issues that have been a consistent issue for GPS users by incorporating a rechargeable back-up power supply. Although, like the Oregon and GPSMAP 62, the Montana uses AA batteries as its main power supply- giving 22hrs power- the rechargeable add-on gives a further 16hrs once the Duracell bunny’s cymbals fall silent- a total of 38hrs.

Another great thing about the Montana is its versatility. Whether you’re on foot, in a car, motorcycling or even in a boat, Montana has the technology to navigate to your destination with total reliability. Hotfix technology, so successfully employed with the Oregon and GPSMAP 62, makes another appearance with the Montana to give it a satellite connection you can rely on.

The Montana’s mapping capabilities are second to none. Not only is it compatible with the extensive range of Garmin maps already available but also comes with ‘Birdseye’ technology which is a nifty bit of software enabling you to scan paper maps and then overlay them onto Google maps to create your own raster maps. The Montana 650T has the added bonus of a topographic European base map.

The Montana’s huge 3GB memory allows you to store an unprecedented 4000 waypoints and as many geo-tagged images as you’re ever likely to need- users of the 650 and 650T will also be able to take their own geo-tag photos using the 5 megapixel camera built into the device. Geo-tags can be uploaded to Garmin Base Camp online to share with other adventurers who can use your geo-tags when creating their own routes- it’s great for geo-caching too.

Check out this fantastic video review of the Garmin Montana 600 Handheld GPS

What You Get

• Garmin Montana 600 Handheld GPS

• Lithium-ion battery pack

• USB cable

• AC charger

• Quick start manuals

• Owner's manual on disk

• 12 Months Manufacturer's Warranty

What Garmin Say

Now there’s one handheld GPS for three very different activities. Whether you're on foot, on the road or on water, the new Montana 600 from Garmin will guide you wherever you go. With a vast 4” sunlight-readable touchscreen that offers crystal clear enhanced colours, dual orientation display and high sensitivity HotFix® positioning to track your location, it’s easy to see where you are at all times. Both durable and waterproof, Montana 600 is built to withstand the elements.

Navigate with Ease

The Montana has key features for the outdoors such as a 3-axis tilt-compensated compass which shows your heading even when you’re standing still, without holding it level. It also has a barometric altimeter which tracks changes in pressure to pinpoint your precise altitude, and you can even use it to plot barometric pressure over time, which can help you keep an eye on changing weather conditions.

Go Anywhere

With an array of compatible mounts, Montana 600 is designed for use on boats, as a handheld, off-roading or in your car. Use the auto mount with City Navigator NT® or Garmin GB Discoverer™ maps for spoken, turn-by-turn driving directions. Wherever you think you might take Montana, it has the mapping and mounts to get you there.

Go everywhere

iMapping options include the City Navigator maps for use in the car, BlueChart® g2 preloaded cards for a great day on the water, Garmin GB Discoverer™ which provides Ordnance Survey mapping on your handheld and BirdsEye™ Select that lets you download customised sections of premium raster-based maps to your device and integrate them with your maps. Montana is also compatible with Custom Maps which transforms paper and electronic maps into downloadable maps for your device.

Share Wirelessly

With Montana 600 you can share your waypoints, tracks, routes and geocaches wirelessly with other compatible Garmin GPS users. So now your friends can also enjoy your favourite hike or cache – simply press “Send” to transfer your information to other units.

Keep in charge

Montana 600 features a one-of-a-kind dual battery system. You’ll have the option of using the rechargeable lithium-ion pack or traditional AA alkaline batteries – whichever suits you best.

Try Geocaching

Montana 600 supports geocaching GPX files to download geocaches and details straight to your unit. Visit OpenCaching.com to start your geocaching adventure. Montana 600 stores and displays key information, such as location, terrain, difficulty, hints and descriptions, which means no more manually entering coordinates and paper print outs! Simply upload the GPX file to your unit and start hunting for caches.

The Montana is the ultimate take-anywhere navigator for the serious adventurer.

The Techie Bit

Physical & Performance:

• Unit dimensions, WxHxD: 2.9" x 5.7" x 1.4" (7.48 x 14.42 x 3.64 cm)

• Display Size, WxH: 2"W x 3.5"H (5.06 x 8.93 cm); 4" diag (10.2 cm)

• Display resolution, WxH: 272 x 480 pixels

• Display type: bright, transflective 65k colour TFT, dual-orientation touchscreen; sunlight readable

• Weight: 10.2 oz (289 g) with included lithium-ion battery pack; 11.7 oz (333 g) with 3 AA batteries (not included)

• Battery: rechargeable lithium-ion (included) or 3 AA batteries (not included); NiMH or Lithium recommended

• Battery life: up to 16 hours (lithium-ion); up to 22 hours (AA batteries)

• Waterproof: yes (IPX7)

• Floats: no

• High-sensitivity receiver: yes

• Interface: high-speed USB and NMEA 0183 compatible

Maps & Memory:

• Basemap: yes

• Ability to add maps: yes

• Built-in memory: 3.0 GB

• Accepts data cards: microSD™ card (not included)

• Waypoints/favorites/locations: 4000

• Routes: 200

• Track log: 10,000 points, 200 saved tracks

Features:

• Automatic routing (turn by turn routing on roads): yes (with optional mapping for detailed roads)

• Electronic compass: yes (tilt-compensated, 3-axis)

• Touchscreen: yes

• Barometric altimeter: yes

• Camera: no

• Geocaching-friendly: yes (paperless)

• Custom maps compatible: yes

• Photo navigation (navigate to geotagged photos): yes

• Outdoor GPS games: no (Wherigo only)

• Hunt/fish calendar: yes

• Sun and moon information: yes

• Tide tables: yes

• Area calculation: yes

• Custom POIs (ability to add additional points of interest): yes

• Unit-to-unit transfer (shares data wirelessly with similar units): yes

• Picture viewer: yes

• Garmin Connect™ compatible (online community where you analyze, categorize and share data): yes