N00b Questions On Garmin Gpsmap 76

[+jacobsen1]

Hi,

I've been poking around here reading about GPS units for about a week now, and finally joined yesterday, so I can now post here today. As for my background, I sail A LOT, and have quite a bit of experience using GPS units and nobletec on the CPU on the big boat. I am new to the portable GPS market and Geochaching which looks like it will be a great winter activity for me and the wife...

 

I have been thinking about getting a GPSr and getting into geocaching. On the search for which unit to get, I've narrowed it down quite a bit. I went to my local west marine and they have a eTrex Lengend C and a GPS76. I don't want color, but I assume they display on the legend C is similar in the amount of space the non color screen has, just in color not grayscale. I will also be using this unit on my boat while sailing here in Rhode Island. I was thinking I'd get a legend, but once I held on in my hand it's simply too small for me. So That has norrowed it down to the GPSMAP76 and the GPSMAP76S... The reason why I am considering the S is that I am wondering how much space a map takes? I will be getting the BlueCharts for sure, and after seeing how "empty" the base map is, I'm sure I will probably get the topo CD also. So that is my first guestion, how many charts/maps will fit in 8mb versus 24mb. I was interested in the GPSMAP60 until I learned that it does not have the marine points in it's basemap.

 

Also after reading THIS THREAD I am wondering about the Magellan eXplorist 210 I have a question about Magellan's MapSend Software DVD that comes with the unit. With that software, you have to pay to download any maps or charts from it right? Basically they give you a DVD that has their regular software whihc is usable, and it also has all the maps/charts on it, but they are locked and you have to pay to unlock them, right?

 

Thanks for the help, and I apologize for the n00b type questions, but I haven't been able to find these answers yet.

 

Ben

 

oh, and one last complete n00b question, what does the r in GPSr mean?

[+briansnat]

I would go with the Map 76S over the Map 76 because of the addtional map memory.

 

Exactly how much will fit in memory varies with the mapping software and the area you are in. For instance something like Mapsource City Select chews up a lot of memory in populated areas. It has a database of over 5 million businesses and services (restaurants, shopping centers, museums, etc...). There are a lot more of them in populated areas, as well as roads. However in the same areas Topo doesn't take up much memory.

 

Conversely, if you are somewhere like Montana or Alaska, City Select won't take up much memory at all. Perhaps even less than Topo because with all the mountains, Topo has more info to display.

 

I have no idea how memory intensive BlueChart is. If its anything like Mapsource Topo you should be able to get significant map coverage in the 24 megs. The extra memory is even more important if you are going to run Topo and BlueChart.

 

The 76 series is also good for boating because it floats. An eTrex will sink like a rock.

 

BTW, I've seen the prices at West Marine and they are incredibly expensive. If you shop around you might be able to save yourself at least a hundred bucks. Check Amazon.com, TigerGPS.com, Offroute.com and also look at Froogle.com.

Edited October 6, 2005 by briansnat

[+briansnat]

BTW if the eTrex was too small for you, you'll have the same problem with the eXplorist. Its a very compact unit.

 

Oh, and the "r" stands for receiver. Technically GPS encompasses the entire system, sats and all.

[Hankhan]

I think color adds a lot to these devices.

[+jacobsen1]

BTW, I've seen the prices at West Marine and they are incredibly expensive. If you shop around you might be able to save yourself at least a hundred bucks. Check Amazon.com, TigerGPS.com, Offroute.com and also look at Froogle.com.

Yeah, I just went to west because the have units to "play" with. Everything there was MSRP (at least) and I would never buy anything there. I used price grabber to find prices on the units I am looking at so find the best prices online.

 

Anyone use the BlueCharts, and know how many will fit into 8mb versus 24mb? Good point on the street info with businesses versus Topo maps. I wasn't planning on getting any streetwise info, and now I will be sure of it. I live near providence, but would never use that, so it would clog up a bunch of my memory and not be used.

 

Ben

[rynd]

I think you should reconsider the color units. Color makes it much easier to read under different lighting conditions. I would recomend the 76c or the 76cs for geocahing and boating. I dont have any blue chart stuff but on my 76cs (which has 115Mb of memory) I have street maps for the entire state of tennessee, every map touching the state, portions of I40 east to raliegh North carolina, portions of west central Florida, and portions of New york including all of Manhatten. I also have the older topo maps for the entire Cherokee & Pisga national forrest wich (I think) runs the entire lenght of the Tn/Nc border.

[+jacobsen1]

Do color maps take more room than B+W maps? I would assume the maps are the same as they only sell one set of CDs, but when you donwload maps onto a unit, do they take up less space on the B+W versus a color unit?

 

As much as I'd like color, I don't want to spend the extra $ for it. I'm basically looking for something "good enough" to get me home from the race course in the fog and to start geocaching. I'd rather spend ~$150 (+maps) now and then if I really need color later I could sell this unit and upgrade...

Ben

 

Also the gpsmap76c is ~$350

While the gpsmap76 is ~$175, so color is twice as expensive... It has USB and more ram, plus NMEA, but realistically the ram is the only concern...

Edited October 6, 2005 by jacobsen1

[rynd]

As far as I know the maps are the same for b&w as they are for color. One good thing about the 76 series is, I think the b&w has a bigger displaythan the color. I just looked and I see that the gpsmap 76 only has 8 megs of memory. I really don't know how big of an area that would cover but if I where to guess I would think that would be enough for day sailing and such . I wish I could be of more help here. Another thing to consider is if the gpsmap 76 will autoroute. which is something to consider if you are going to use it in a car.