GPSrChive Discussion Forum

Hello

I have a 65s that I have to charge every day when I need it (2200mAh batteries). The 67 is said to have a very good battery life.
But now I still have a few questions about the 67:

1. the Topo active card cannot be deactivated, what does this mean if I have a TOPOSwitzerland on the SD card?
Can you still somehow hide the Topo active or “put the toposwitzerland on top of it” because I would like to continue using the Swiss map.

2. Is the firmware on the 67 still being further developed or are the errors fixed? the last update was in September

3. Does anyone know whether a revised version (gpsmap 68 or whatever) will soon be released with a possibly replaceable battery?

Domi93CH wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2024 10:55 am Hello

I have a 65s that I have to charge every day when I need it (2200mAh batteries). The 67 is said to have a very good battery life.
But now I still have a few questions about the 67:

1. the Topo active card cannot be deactivated, what does this mean if I have a TOPOSwitzerland on the SD card?
Can you still somehow hide the Topo active or “put the toposwitzerland on top of it” because I would like to continue using the Swiss map.

You can disable the Topo Active maps but it works a bit differently on the 67: you have to deactivate the Topo Active map layer, instead of individual maps. So you can use the Topo Switzerland maps and have the Topo Active maps disabled at the same time.

Domi93CH wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2024 10:55 am 2. Is the firmware on the 67 still being further developed or are the errors fixed? the last update was in September

No one knows for sure but Garmi... But since it's a current device I expected some updates to come. Not that all issues will ever be fixed though...

Domi93CH wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2024 10:55 am 3. Does anyone know whether a revised version (gpsmap 68 or whatever) will soon be released with a possibly replaceable battery?

No one knows but Garmin, I guess. I am wondering though what Garmin's strategy will be for the handheld outdoor units because it's quite a niche market and there's more money to be made in the smart watch market. But we will see...

The screen size and display is worth it alone, all though the 67 still has plenty of wrinkles that need ironing out, the latest one is the ascent and descent values on a walk being well out, some posts on Facebook about it as well as here.

I don't see how much further they could go with a 68? As said above the handheld market is tiny these days, most want the smart watch that does everything where they haven't got to carry a handheld in one hand the whole walk or they want it on their smartphones. Though Garmin must do well out of the GPSMAP series or I guess they wouldn't carry on making them?? Plus the 67 does everything I can think a handheld needs to do, picks up all sats with multiband, I just fail to see what extra a 68 could offer extra..

As for having the GPSMAP Handheld in your hands all the time.

I use the belt holder clipped to my backpack to hold my GPSMAP Unit that way if I need to look on the screen I just snap it off the holder and check what I need to check and clip it back on the holder.
That way both my hands are free while I am hiking.

The battery life of the 67/67i is excellent, I dont know why anyone would want to go back to replacebale batteries. Yesterday I hiked for 6hrs 40mins and went from 99% to 92% battery. That's with backlight at 20%, InReach tracking at 10 mins, bluetooth to my phone, Ant+ to a Tempe sensor and a HR strap. I intend to use it for multiday hikes when I will carry a power bank but dont expect to be recharging it very often, if at all.

pedigree1 wrote: Thu Jan 04, 2024 11:38 am The battery life of the 67/67i is excellent, I dont know why anyone would want to go back to replacebale batteries. Yesterday I hiked for 6hrs 40mins and went from 99% to 92% battery. That's with backlight at 20%, InReach tracking at 10 mins, bluetooth to my phone, Ant+ to a Tempe sensor and a HR strap. I intend to use it for multiday hikes when I will carry a power bank but dont expect to be recharging it very often, if at all.

+1 with the Tempe Sensor and HR strap I always run them with all my Garmin Devices.

I was reminded of why I upgraded from a 66s (+InReach mini Mk 1) to the 67i. One of the battery terminals broke in the 66s, no doubt caused by frequent battery changes and metal fatigue. Garmin wanted more money to repair it than I was prepared to spend so I asked them for a trade in deal and they obliged with what I considered to be a good offer. One more thing to consider when weighing up removable vs internal battery.

I now also have a GPSMAP 67 and am very happy with it. I took it with me on a trip on Sunday and after 5 hours (multiband, multi GNSS, WiFi off, Bluetooth off) the energy saving mode was set to 2 minutes. the battery dropped from 98% to 93%. So a very good result with the 65s, I would have to charge it every day if I used it two days in a row.

pedigree1 wrote: Sat Jan 06, 2024 11:59 am I was reminded of why I upgraded from a 66s (+InReach mini Mk 1) to the 67i. One of the battery terminals broke in the 66s, no doubt caused by frequent battery changes and metal fatigue. Garmin wanted more money to repair it than I was prepared to spend so I asked them for a trade in deal and they obliged with what I considered to be a good offer. One more thing to consider when weighing up removable vs internal battery.

Never had this issue on my 65s, I had my 65 two years and used it pretty much daily in that time so went through a lot of AA's and the terminals were spot on after that time. I only returned it to Garmin for an exchange because the toggle button finish started to wear off and then sold it brand new because I got the 67.