Thinking of picking one up, not sure the precise model (700, 750 etc.). Anyone use one? I read conflicting reviews about the usual stuff like ease of use, screen visibility, battery life. Appears to be a little larger than previous models, which I would like.
eiderz
I think the 700 is quite a bit larger than the 600? It'll get used for more than the sleds, so it needs to be battery powered not run off the machine like a Nuvi. I'm open to suggestions.
have the montana 700 and battery life has never been an issue and i love the large screen (as compared to other handhelds). what i don't like is the lack of screen resolution as compared to iphone apps like Gaia. i downloaded the garmin maps for the West thinking the resolution/detail would be better but it paled in comparison to my buddy's iphone app.
Huh, I believe you but am surprised about the resolution. You'd think a new unit would be state of the art in screen tech. Good to know about the battery, some electronics burn through them, others not so much. Tough to predict without hands on experience. Thanks for the reply.
I just purchased the Montana 700 & mount. Going to set up a mount in front of my riser on my BCXRS. I doo like the larger size and I am still trying to decide on what to load for good maps to explore the backcountry.
sounds cute, I'll stick to the 7 inch garmin so I can actually see whats up without having to stop to see the small screen
Best of luck with it, unless someone has a better alternative I'm probably getting one as well. My only objection to the car style units is the lack of internal batteries.
Definitely checking it out, thank you. Does it need to be kept warm? I've seen guys put similar ones in a case with a handwarmer.
I have had mine out in below 0 weather and never an issue. buy a used one, they can be found cheap. buy the maps, load m on, and ditch the road maps.
Mikmaze, can you advise me on a gps that will accomplish what I want... see my former thread
https://www.dootalk.com/forums/topic/1603281-new-to-using-a-gps-with-the-trailmasters-map-and-have-some-basic-questions/?p=23754689
Good question mainewood, having those tracks available is pretty important if you run small ungroomed trails that don't appear on any base map. There must be hundreds, if not thousands of miles of them in northern ME.
I'm thinking about upgrading from the 680 Montana to the 700i with the InReach connectivity. It looks like the display is a little larger which is a bonus and I already have GPSTrailmasters maps so I'm good there. The automotive ones have a bigger display and I know they work for a lot of people but I want a dedicated outdoor GPS with a battery that I can bring inside and review and plan at lunch stops.
The internal battery is what attracts me to the Montana. That, and as mainewood mentioned, the ability to use it to map routes/tracks and save for later. Route planning inside where it's warm is a good idea too. I will probably buy a 700 because I'm not into the inreach, I use a sat phone. Probably get a new one for next year, the current one is about five years old. Pricey, but nothing beats a phone call to home from Timbuctoo. Luckily never needed it, so maybe it's worth more than I think.
I wanted to update this thread for anyone looking to upgrade to a 700 series in the future. I upgraded from a Skidoo branded Montana 680 to the Montana 700i with the InReach and this is what I found. There are three 700 models and it wasn't immediately obvious what the difference were. Here you go, pretty simple:
700 - No inReach SOS, No Camera
700i - Has inReach SOS, No Camera
750i - Has inReach SOS and Camera
I use GPS Trailmaster maps for Snowmobile and ATV trails in NH, VT, and Maine. The maps uploaded correctly to the GPS but there is a problem with the POI items. The GPSTrailmaster maps install POIs that are trail accessible so you can search for food, gas, hotel, etc and then just follow the turn by turn directions on the trails. On the Montana 680 this works great, but I found a problem with the 700.
The 700 comes with 4-5 default maps that also include their own POI. It's basically setup with maps to use an Automotive GPS if you wanted but the issue here is that every business and service is listed when you search for POIs. For example, I search for gas but now instead of seeing just trail side gas I see every gas station around me with no way of knowing which are on the trail and which are on the road. This is basically a deal breaker for me...
I called Garmin support and they said there is no way to turn POIs off. I tried disabling all the maps but it doesn't disable the POIs. I asked about removing them from the file system and they said you need to remove the maps as the POIs are included into the map image file. They highly recommended that I don't remove these preloaded maps as you can't easily reinstall them. I explained that I'm going to try it because If I can't filter out the snowmobile specific POIs then the GPS is useless and I'll send it back anyway.
So I deleted all the preinstalled maps and just left the Snowmobile map. Now when I search for gas, it only shows gas stations that are accessible based on the Snowmobile trail map which is what I want. It's a shame that you can't just disable maps and POIs together. I would have liked to keep the Automotive map just to get an idea what is in a town but could use my phone for that. This GPS will only be on the Sled or a SXS.
700 - No inReach SOS, No Camera
700i - Has inReach SOS, No Camera
750i - Has inReach SOS and Camera
I use GPS Trailmaster maps for Snowmobile and ATV trails in NH, VT, and Maine. The maps uploaded correctly to the GPS but there is a problem with the POI items. The GPSTrailmaster maps install POIs that are trail accessible so you can search for food, gas, hotel, etc and then just follow the turn by turn directions on the trails. On the Montana 680 this works great, but I found a problem with the 700.
The 700 comes with 4-5 default maps that also include their own POI. It's basically setup with maps to use an Automotive GPS if you wanted but the issue here is that every business and service is listed when you search for POIs. For example, I search for gas but now instead of seeing just trail side gas I see every gas station around me with no way of knowing which are on the trail and which are on the road. This is basically a deal breaker for me...
I called Garmin support and they said there is no way to turn POIs off. I tried disabling all the maps but it doesn't disable the POIs. I asked about removing them from the file system and they said you need to remove the maps as the POIs are included into the map image file. They highly recommended that I don't remove these preloaded maps as you can't easily reinstall them. I explained that I'm going to try it because If I can't filter out the snowmobile specific POIs then the GPS is useless and I'll send it back anyway.
So I deleted all the preinstalled maps and just left the Snowmobile map. Now when I search for gas, it only shows gas stations that are accessible based on the Snowmobile trail map which is what I want. It's a shame that you can't just disable maps and POIs together. I would have liked to keep the Automotive map just to get an idea what is in a town but could use my phone for that. This GPS will only be on the Sled or a SXS.
I don't have mine in front of me but you need to connect it to the computer and open it in File Explorer. Look for the Garmin folder on the GPS and delete the .img files. These are the maps... You won't be able to reinstall them which I didn't care about. Here are the files I removed from mine before I installed the snowmobile map. This will remove the maps and POI info.
![Image]()
I finally was able to get out for a ride with the new 700. A few differences I noticed from my Montana 650.
1. I left the 700 on the sled in the trailer and it was cold overnight. When I started the sled in the morning there was an "!" through the battery/charging symbol. The GPS worked but was slowly losing battery life (It started at 100%) and after 2 hours was down to 70%. We stopped in for a coffee and I brought it inside. Once we went back out it was charging normally again and eventually made it back up to 100% while I was using it. It looks like the battery was too cold to charge which I have never seen on the 5+ years with the Montana 650. We are heading to Maine next week and I'll make sure the GPS rides in the truck.
2. I can't seem to get the re-routing working as well as the 650. If I have a destination in and I decide to take a different trail that it tells me, it will take a long time to finally re-calculate me on the new trail. I can see on the screen that it is still telling me to go up the other trail I purposely missed and it will do this for a long while before it recalculates to the new trail, to the point I can't even see the "pink" route anymore. Sometimes it looks like I'm just driving along a trail without a GPS destination. My 650 will recalculate within 100 yards or so. I will need to go play with the settings and see if I can figure it out.
![Image]()
1. I left the 700 on the sled in the trailer and it was cold overnight. When I started the sled in the morning there was an "!" through the battery/charging symbol. The GPS worked but was slowly losing battery life (It started at 100%) and after 2 hours was down to 70%. We stopped in for a coffee and I brought it inside. Once we went back out it was charging normally again and eventually made it back up to 100% while I was using it. It looks like the battery was too cold to charge which I have never seen on the 5+ years with the Montana 650. We are heading to Maine next week and I'll make sure the GPS rides in the truck.
2. I can't seem to get the re-routing working as well as the 650. If I have a destination in and I decide to take a different trail that it tells me, it will take a long time to finally re-calculate me on the new trail. I can see on the screen that it is still telling me to go up the other trail I purposely missed and it will do this for a long while before it recalculates to the new trail, to the point I can't even see the "pink" route anymore. Sometimes it looks like I'm just driving along a trail without a GPS destination. My 650 will recalculate within 100 yards or so. I will need to go play with the settings and see if I can figure it out.
Yes thank you, I did see that, I don't need the camera and I am not sure what I reach is or does or if I would want it. Looks like the 276 may be a possibility as well. Also do you still need to delete the pre installed maps with the 700 to get the correct poi for the trail and does the 700 leave bread crumbs of where you went? Do you manually have to hit a button for that or is there a tracking feature? And is it turn by turn?
In-Reach is the Garmin SOS feature for emergency rescue - Google it.
It will keep a breadcrumb trail automatically when you turn it on. Yes, it's turn by turn like a car if you install the snowmobile maps.
It will keep a breadcrumb trail automatically when you turn it on. Yes, it's turn by turn like a car if you install the snowmobile maps.
I've getting the ! icon on my 700i I'm using the Garmin AMPS mount & it powers up when I start the sled but doesn't take a charge any suggestions?
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