This GPS receiver is packed with useful features. Firstly it comes built into a very robust rubberised casing that is also waterproof and really built for the rough and tumble of the outdoors. You get easy-to-use buttons and a very large screen that is very easy to read and it is also in colour. To help navigation there is a barometric altimeter for accurate height information and an electronic compass so you know which way to go before you move. Furthermore this unit can be loaded with Garmin Mapsource Topo Great Britain base map , which means you can see contour lines of the mountains, rather than simply walking over a grey space as most GPS receivers indicate. The unit can also be linked to a PC so that routes can be uploaded and downloaded with Garmin or other digital mapping software such as Anquet or Memory Map. This combination of features makes the GPS Map 60CS a really useful piece of kit as it provides virtually everything most hill-walkers will require and means you have one of the most advanced digital navigational systems available. But battery life is better in some other, simpler, units. Some other units have even more map datums. This could of course be important if you are heading for an obscure country. As discussed in Trail May 2006, Garmin MapSource Topo digital mapping still isn’t quite as detailed or as easy to use as the Memory-Map or Anquet mapping options, which means although this is better than no map at all, it isn’t as good as it could be. The GPS receiver has a huge price tag, so don’t lose it or drop it!