Garmin Rino 610 any reviews?

610/655

Ran 610 and 655 side by side last year. 610 ate through a set of batteries before the day was over if using the GMRS radio at all. The "ping" feature works intermittently and you have to be fairly close together. The radios seem to work better than the "ping". Radios have maybe .5 to .75 mile range in the mountains/woods. Usefulness really seemed to boil down to the users having a clear understanding of how they work and a strong desire to use them consistently. They don't work best if you just turn them on and go.. Otherwise, the 610 is just missing a few features. the mapping works the same on both for the most part. I'm sure the picky discriminating user would know more about the differences between the two, but for the average user it doesn't amount to much. I have 2 655's and like them. Pick them up on Ebay for about $430ish. They are tough and Garmin stands behind them so buy with a fair amount of confidence. Go with the Lion battery. I crashed two of them uploading a map and Garmin replaced both and included new batteries. DO NOT UPLOAD A BAD MAP TO THE UNITS!!!! There is no way to remove a bad map from the units and they WILL lock up and become useless.

I chose the 650 over the 610, here's why

The 650 has barametic altimeter and compass, the 610 does not. The 650 comes with rechargeable battery standard. The 650 is able to broadcast 5watts over GMRS, compared to 2watts. Those were my main reasons, I didn't find the additional memory and photo capability of the 655T valuable to me. I've loaded some free maps from gpsfiledepot.com and also converted some pdf trail maps and uploaded them to the device. I picked up my 650 on amazon for about $350. I also got the PTT earbud & mic, which I will post a review for. I will be using the cheapo bike mount kit from garmin, with nylon ties on to my semi-rigid mountain strap on an M8.

Truth be told i really debated the usefulness of the radio/tracking at all, and for that matter, the Montana has a larger screen for less money (I think).

Garmin Rino 650 update, w/ PTT mic

Reviewing the Garmin 650 further:
I had a battery go bad, wouldn't take a charge. Garmin replaced it no questions asked.

The most fun for your dollar is if everyone in your group gets radios with ear pieces and either voice activated or push to talk mics. Your average motorola or cobra 2-ways operate on the same band as the Rinos, so everyone can communicate. Its a lot easier to just ask where are you guys than to take a glove off and try to find them on your map.

Custom maps are very cool but take moderate computer skills I would say. You can overlay your pdf trail map, or even load service road maps from the forest service or various websites.