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Garmin GPSMap 76CS 115 MB Handheld Marine GPS with The following report compares gadgets using the SERCount Rating (base on the result count from the search engine). |
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POPULAR HAT - 2006-02-13 11:49:00 | © Copyright 2004 - www.hat.net () | sitemap | top |
(1) Color TFT screen - makes it so easy to see your maps and data; it's bright and sharp, easy to read in any light. The variable-level backlight is great in low-light situations. The night-time color scheme is pretty cool, too. You can have the receiver automatically switch between day/night color schemes at sunrise/sunset, or manually select the mode. There are several alternate color schemes for day or night-time use.
(2) Point-to-point automatic routing - works very well. There are two audio-visual prompts for each turn, one about a minute before, and again (with a different tone sequence) about 10 seconds before the turn. You can choose from several different tone sequences, but I'm happy with the defaults. The prompts display a zoomed-in view of the intersection (great for tricky interchange exits and ramps). If you miss a turn, it re-calculates your route to get you to the next point, or your destination. Generally it uses the most major roads available for routing. For areas that I know well, I may take a local road that I know will get me where I'm going sooner. When driving in unfamiliar territory, I rely on the route it calculates for the most part. Apparently, you can select variations on the routing algorithm on the "follow roads options" page: Car/Motorcycle (the one I use), Truck, Bus, Emergency, Taxi, Delivery, Pedestrian and Bicycle. I haven't tried any of the other routing options yet. Overall, I would give the routing capability 4 stars.
(3) Customizable page sequence - in my other Garmin GPS receivers, you can cycle through the main pages forwards or backwards, but you can't change the sequence. The 76CS lets you add, remove, or move individual pages within the sequence. I put the pages I use most often next to each other; I like this feature.
(4) Recent Finds page - a new feature and real time-saver when I want to go to a place that I've looked up before. I use this page so often, I added it to my main page sequence. However, I discovered you can bring up the Recent Finds page by pressing the Find button twice.
(5) More memory - 115 MB stores detailed map data from optional Mapsource CD ROM sets. I was able to load all of North Carolina and about half of South Carolina and Virginia from the North America City Select database. This is nearly 5 times the memory of the 76S!
(6) USB connection - my old 76S (with serial connection) takes the better part of an hour to load a full 24MB map set from the Mapsource CD ROMS. The USB connection on the 76CS makes loading the full 115MB much quicker. Also, loading waypoints, routes and tracks between the receiver and PC is way faster now.
Garmin periodically updates their GPS receivers' software, and you can easily download the updates from the Garmin website. They have already posted an update to the GSPMAP76CS (version 3.40 was released June 8, 2004).
Quibbles: as mentioned in another review, you can't customize the data fields display to show small data fields three-across, as you can with the 76S. Admittedly, the small data fields on the 76S are hard to read while driving; I would consider this a minor setback for the 76CS. One can still display up to 4 data fields in large or medium size as an option on several of the pages, much like the 76S.
One feature of the 76S that I like is the ability to show the name of the upcoming cross-street (when lock-on-roads is enabled). This is a useful feature when you're just cruising around an unfamiliar part of a city. At first, I thought this was missing from the new 76CS, but I discovered that when the map has guidance text turned on all the time (instead of only when the unit is actively navigating) then when not navigating, the text area displays the upcoming street name. Another great feature of the 76S which carried over to the 76CS: graphic editing of a route. When the "use map" option is selecting while editing a route, move the pointing arrow to touch a route segment. The segment then appears as a dotted line, and if you press the Enter key, acts like a tight rubber band attached to the panning arrow. One can then move the panning arrow to any other map feature (for example an intersection) and press Enter to add an intermediate route point. I've found Garmin's manuals provide a good introduction to basic operation, but may not cover all the features. However, I've found the 76CS operation to be fairly intuitive.
Now for the major gripe: to enter text or numbers, Garmin has reverted to the character matrix format (found, for example, on the Etrex Vista), where you move the cursor about a grid of letters and numbers, press Enter to select that character, then move the cursor to the next character, etc. Finally, you move the cursor to the "OK" spot on the grid and press Enter. On the 76S there's no character grid, you just cursor left to clear a field, cursor up to advance the current letter or down to move back through the character set, then cursor right to select the next character, etc. I found this method fairly intuitive and much easier to use on the fly. Hopefully, Garmin will fix this in a future software update.
As with the GPSMAP76S, the sensors are a useful feature, particularly while walking. The compass can be used for getting a bearing while standing still, and the barometric altimeter provides useful information for those of us who just have to know, "how high (or low) are we?". If you don't need these features, the GPSMAP76C should work just as well at a lower price. Garmin's GPSMAP60C / 60CS have the same color screen and similar software, but only 56 MB of memory in a smaller unit. Nearly all Garmin GPS receivers have rugged, waterproof cases, but I prefer the 76-series size and flat shape. They even float!
If you're looking for a general-purpose, easy-to-read, easy-to-use mapping GPS receiver, you need look no further than the GPSMAP76CS (or GPSMAP76C without compass and altimeter). Garmin got it right with this one!