ronswife

Right now, I'm betting most of the women here are wondering how the heck you guys can drop a $350+ item into the water at all? Thank goodness they are waterproof or you married guys would have some pretty steamed wives!

Thanks again! I guess I'll wander over to the CS/CN thread and see if anybody has found out what is going on with the discontinuing of these programs.

Thanks a bunch all of you. It's getting to the point that since I'm spending so much, what's another $30. I'll skip date night for a week or two and all will be right with the world. At least this guarantees awhile before he'll want an upgrade (you tech geeks will know what I mean). I think I'll now go for a 76cs unless somebody knows of some netatives besides the buttons (which, after researching, doesn't seem to outway the pluses found with the 76cs). It doesn't seem that it's that much bulkier than the 60cs and I think, even though he likes to go as lightweight as possible, that the extra few ounces won't get him down on backpacking trips. I'm gonna tell the in-laws to get the topography map for sure and then I'll see what's up with the CS and CN. Maybe we'll just start out with the topography map and then see what he wants for his birthday which is in February. Of course, then there's Father's Day, and on and on and on... After reading the forums, it seems I've got years of gifts! After Christmas is over, I'm definitely going to have to have Ron check out the forums to see how lucky he is!

I found it for $379.99 at http://www.gpsonsale.com/garmin/products/GPSMAP76cs.htm

Shoot, this is like buying a wedding dress. I should have just stopped reading when I decided on the 60cs. Here's another question. How is the Americas AutoRoute that comes loaded on teh 76cs? It would seem that if I was going to buy a 60cs and have my in-laws purchase CN or CS (whatever one you can still get) that maybe I should just be buying the 76cs and having them chip in on it if this program is at all comparable to the CS or CN. He didn't really have it in mind for on road adventures. He wanted it more for the outdoor stuff. It's only $30 dollars more. Would it behoove me to buy the 76cs with Americas AutoRoute since it could have some on-road navigational stuff? or should I skip the auto navigational stuff all together? help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL! Yes, we're a rare breed. We have 6 kids and he deserves to get a bonus every once in awhile. This idea is great because he can do it with the kids. He's already been telling them about it. He loves getting them involved with his hobbies and he has a lot of them! This is really one of the first times I could justify this little luxury. It'll get us outdoors a little more and I love this. It's a win- win- win gift. I'm even excited about it after reading these forums. The funny thing is that I've been trying to get him to do letterboxing which, for those of you who don't know, is the free predecessor of geocaching but he wasn't interested and I'm thinking it's because it didn't involve cool gadgets. I'm just hoping he'll still be able to hold my hand while he's using this thing!

My husband will use it for geocaching with the kids and backpacking with the guys. I'm sure he could use something fairly basic but he does like bells and whistles. I don't think he's really considered one for the car. He'd like one mainly for outdoor type stuff. We will be traveling from California to Wyoming next year so he'll probably want to take it then but we're not afraid of old fashioned maps. He'd probably be happy with something basic but it's a gift so I'd like to get something a little fanicer. I know he's fascinated with the alitmeter and he'd probably like the compass although I understand that they don't seem to work all that great so he'll rely on his old fashioned compass that he uses for stargazing. Does the 76 have a significant more amount of memory that one would just have to have it? or anything else that would leave you dreaming about it? I think that I like the bells and whistles of the 60cs but I think that we can handle the lack of memory by offloading the info to the desk top. Except for our trip next year, we stay pretty local and would only go on day hikes here and there. So, for day hikes, geocaching and an occaisional 2 night backpacking trip would the 60cs suffice if you were a tech geek? Does anyone else have a place to get cheaper software? This is the cheapest I've found the 60cs at $349.99. Anybody know of any cheaper and, once again, is would spending $30 more on a 76cs really be worth it for the above activities. Thanks for the info thus far. You have know idea how much I appreciate it.

That would probably be the smartest but I'm a gift giver and I like to cause myself more stress than that. Besides, he'll probably end up at the same junction as I am and it's just not as fun opening an almost empty box as it is being able to play with something right away. I think I'm gonna go for the 60cs but I'm still wondering about fun software for the in-laws to buy.

Thanks a bunch. Both of your answers helped tremendously. I've heard that the compass is hard to use but I think he'll at least like the altimeter. I was simply worried about space but he's a smart boy and he can offload stuff pretty easily. I think he'd prefer to do this rather than deal with the locking up, etc. I've found the GPS for pretty cheap but where did you find the software so cheap? My in-laws said they'd buy him the software so if I was going to get him some, what would be the ones to get in order of coolness and use?

My problem is that I don't really know everything that he would need. For example, I've been wondering if I need to get a topographical map for geocaching or hiking. Yes, I am really dumb. From what I've read, and I've been reading for 2 days, it seems that the Garmin has less problems. It seems like most who gotten a Magellan have returned theirs for at least a replacement. My main concern with the Garmin is space. It's not like we'll be trekking all over the place in one fell swoop. We would be able to offload most stuff but I'm still not sure if this solves the space problem. Can I do something like, take off my northern California stuff and put on my So. Cal. stuff if I don't have enough space. Can I basically keep all info on a desk top and say "I'm going here, I'll download the maps and waypoints, etc. for this area" on a Garmin or can it only handle so much info and then the space is gone - no offloading to regain space? Sorry for being completely clueless. This is what happens when you live with someone who's really smart. I just let him handle the tech stuff!

I've found a topic like this before but it didn't help me so I thought I'd take a stab at it. I have little to know tech knowledge and I'd like to buy a GPS for my husband for Christmas. He has recently gotten interested in geocaching and he does a little backpacking. I've kind of narrowed down my choices to the ususal *gulp* magellan vs. garmin choice. I'm looking at a Garmin 60cs or a Magellan 600. He really likes bells and whisltes like compass and altimeter. The only reason I'm considering a Magellan is the SD card. I really like the fact that most seem to have less problems with the Garmin. What I'd like to know is if my husband will only use this to occaisionally geocache with the kids and go backpacking sometimes, does he really need the SD card. I understand that the compass doesn't seem to work great on any of these units. Like I said, I'm clueless in this area. Can everything be pretty much held on the desktop and then downloaded per outing? If you fill up your waypoints, etc., can you offload them to a desktop and make room for more or can you just download the certain area you are going to and then offload it again when you get home? or will the unit fill up? Do you see where I'm going wtih this? Do I absolutel need an SD card?