Garmin GPSMAP76

[Harrison]

List,

What are your thoughts regarding the Garmin GPSMAP76 as the primary GPS?
Likes, dislikes, great value, piece of #$%& etc.

Thanks,
Harrson

[RandyMoon]

In a post a few months ago someone expressed an opinion the Lowrance is kicking Garmin in the GPS market, both in quality and cost.

My son-in-law works at a national retail outlet for sporting goods and took me to one of the stores to get a good deal on a GPS. Of course I ran to Garmin first because it is "the" name.

I remembered the post that talked about Lowrance and looked at the Eagle Intellimap 500. Eagle is made by Lowrance.

http://www.eaglegps.com/Products/GPS/intellimap500c.htm

I bought one and am extremely pleased. $399 retail. I could have bought a Garmin for a really good price. Along with it I bought MapCreate to build detailed maps (it comes with a base world map.) And if you want extreme detail on lakes/costal with depths, marinas, attractions, etc. it is all there to create what you need.

Maybe Garmin is better than sliced bread but I was pleasantly surprised with the Eagle GPS. Normally I am a Tim the Tool Time guy who spends more money to get the best. But I have to tell you that Lowrance/Eagle is a very credible product with all the bells and whistles. For what I need this has everything. I have rigged the mount to fit on my Mac pedestal or on the dashboard of my SUV.

[CFCassidy]

I've been using the GPSMap 76 since they first came out. I use it with the BlueChart which covers my area. It works great, very reliable and has no trouble getting a WAAS signal for improved resolution. I have it mounted on the top of the pedestal, wired into the battery.

There are only two things I don't like about it. The first is that the display is getting a little small (or is that my eyes getting a little bad). It was fine until my need for reading glasses outweighed the increased depth of field your eyes have in bright sunshine. The second is that the mount is tough to move from port to starboard after you tack. The GPSmap 175 that I had before was much better there.

Charlie

[Catigale]

I got a brand new GPS 76CS off ebay last year for $400..they sell for $600 or so.

I like the unit - I use it to car travel as well, and love that I can take if off the boat so I dont worry about theft.

FIt form function and readibility are all great.

[mike]

I remembered the post that talked about Lowrance and looked at the Eagle Intellimap 500. Eagle is made by Lowrance.

http://www.eaglegps.com/Products/GPS/intellimap500c.htm

I bought one and am extremely pleased. $399 retail. I could have bought a Garmin for a really good price. Along with it I bought MapCreate to build detailed maps (it comes with a base world map.) And if you want extreme detail on lakes/costal with depths, marinas, attractions, etc. it is all there to create what you need.

I'm a big fan of Lowrance... I have an LMS-320 on the boat now, and am awaiting the arrival of a used LCX-15 (basically the same thing only bigger) I bought a few weeks ago so that I can have a backup GPS on board.

One big caveat with the Eagle units... I was going to buy one, but I started asking myself "what's the catch?" I mean, the Eagle units appear to be pretty much identical to their comparable Lowrance models (just with a lighter gray case). Why would Lowrance sell them for considerably less if they were the same?

After some digging, I found the answer... if I'm not mistaken, the Eagle GPSs don't have NMEA out. So, if you want to connect it to a DSC-capable VHF, or an autopilot, you're S.O.L. Of course, if you DON'T need NMEA, the Eagles are a great buy... but I just thought I'd mention it here, to maybe save someone from having a nasty surprise during installation.

Oh, and the mapping software is pretty neat... though I now use a Navionics chip, the Lowrance-generated maps were very good (though they don't have soundings). I still use the MapCreate software to create routes... it's much easier to plan trips and create routes in the comfort of home and on the big computer screen than to do it on the little GPS itself.

--Mike

[RandyMoon]

Mike, my unit has the NMEA out.

[Frank C]

Oh, and the mapping software is pretty neat... though I now use a Navionics chip, the Lowrance-generated maps were very good (though they don't have soundings). --Mike

Actually, Lowrance has just released NautiPath USA Card, available at BoatersWorld for $99 that includes soundings & contours, plus this other stuff:
- Highest level of accuracy
- Depth contours, intertidal zones, and spot soundings
- Nav aids with view range and coverage
- Extensive object-oriented detail including
> list of lights,
> tides and currents,
> wrecks & obstructions,
> marine services,
> restricted areas, and
> anchorage database
- Chart information including name, number, scale and more ...

"NauticPath USA provides electronic charts covering the East and West coasts, Hawaii, Gulf coast, Great Lakes, Alaska, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, all on one memory card!"

Haven't yet seen a user review though.

[mike]

Mike, my unit has the NMEA out.

I stand corrected... my research was on the older Eagle units (the same vintange as my LMS-320), and I just assumed this was still the case.

Sheesh... at $399, that thing's a steal. And those Nauticpath cards are very reasonable too.

--Mike

[Brian26x]

I bought the Map76 at the Toronto boat show. The show price with rebate came to $249.00 CDN. I have the blue charts loaded on topo maps as well. Great for boating and driving. It has loads of features. It does alot of cool stuff.With the topo maps loaded, when you dock in a new port, it shows you the streets, locations of places to eat, bank,parks,and alot more. I'm happy with it. Best money I spent for the boat yet. A quik look and you know exactly where you are.

[flameout]

I use the gpsmap 76S handheld. I have bluecharts loaded for Maine and New York areas. I run a 26x.

I placed the marine mount on the pedestal, this places the GPS very nearly next to my fish finder.

This handheld is just fine. Tells me what I need to know.

Easy to pop off and bring in the home, take on a car journey (that part alone is wonderful), easy to bring into the cabin where it still manages to lock onto a signal. At night I set the anchor drag alarm feature and place it near me in the bunk.

When plugged into the laptop, works great with Mapsource and Microsoft streets.

Easy to use.

Of course its downside is the smaller screen. Buts it's large enough for my eyes.

Because of the wide variety of uses, while still doing marine navigation well, its been a good choice for us.

Rick Dieffenbach
Lady-in-red

[jklightner]

I have one and like it pretty much as Flameout says. I did have a few times while hiking in Hawai'i it would lose signal in the rainforest. But I was also carrying it in my shirt pocket. The other thing is the memory is 8 Meg, and the Bluechart for my area is 16 meg. The way around that is just load those chart sections your needing for that trip. Battery life is good. Hopefully I'll be interfacing it to my VHF this weekend, but the diagram looks pretty easy.

[ChrisNorton]

I have the 76S that I use as a primary GPS in my car and for hiking and as a backup on my boat to my Garmin combo 238 GPS and Sounder.

I love the 76S. With the built-in barometer you can see both true altitude when in a jet (using the satelites) and cabin altitude using the barometer. Pretty cool. Although you need to sit in a window seat and hold it to the glass to get a fix (had some old granny think I was blowing up the plane once when I was doing it. She totally freaked out and yelled for the stewardess.)

If you are considering the 76, there are several models, base 76 (b&w screen, 8mb memory, no barometer or true compass), 76S (b&w screen, 24mb memory, barometer and true compass) and the then the color versions 76C, 76CS and a west marine version of the latter.

Definitly spend the money and get a 24mb model. I regularly fill that up with combined boating, road maps so I don't need to reload on the compouter regularly

Also, decide on a manufacturer you can live with for some time because the software is expensive (typically $100-$150 per disc) but can typically be used across all GPSs by the same manufacturer. I have the Garmin Metroguide, US Roads and Recreation, Blue Charts, US Topo, Canada Topo, Canada Metroguide, Aids to Navigation and a few other misc. discs.

By the way, not that I condone this sort of stuff, but if you know someone with the discs already, they are easily copied for free.

[Harrison]

Everyone,
Thanks for all your responses.

---Harrison

[Terry]

I also have the Garmin GPSMAP 76CS handheld and am fairly happy with it. It is a bit expensive but you get what you pay for. I like that I can take it everywhere with me so it won't be stolen off the boat. The only downside is the small display but I have since remedied that. I bought a Monitor holder on an arm from Staples ($42.00Cdn) and I clamped it on the top rung of the companionway ladder. I now have my notebook mounted on it with the 15" screen and my Garmin plugged into the USB port. With the hatch pulled over to block the sunlight I can view a much larger area when on extended cruises and see where I am going on a big picture, sure beats the little screen. I don't use it for day sailing though, only when going longer distances or cruises to make navigating easier.

[Chip Hindes]

By the way, not that I condone this sort of stuff, but if you know someone with the discs already, they are easily copied for free.

Not sure about the stuff that's not locked, but I don't believe a pirated Bluechart disc, or any other Garmin software which require unlock codes, are worth anything without purchasing the unlock codes. I believe the unlock codes are matched to the disc, as well, so it may be impossible to purchase an unlock code for a pirated disc.

Even if obtained completely above board, the codes themselves are only good for two GPS and two computers. The unlock process is unnecessarily complicated and would be quite easy to screw up, and they also have a slew of warnings on the unlock site that if you screw it up and unlock the wrong area, you're out of luck. And once you've used the unlock code twice, it's dead.

Unless you've figured out how to hack the unlock codes.

In fact let me be one of the few dissenters. I have the 176C chartplotter, a few accesories and software, and if I didn't already have over $1000 tied up in their stuff, I'd definitely buy something else, anything other than Garmin. Their overpriced, proprietary software (no coverage in your area? Sorry, you're screwed and stuck with the laughably inadequate base map); overpriced, proprietary hardware ($45 for a serial adapter cable? Give me a break!) and really crappy upgrade policy make them last choice, in my book.

Too bad I was too dumb to figure this out before I had sunk the first $800.