Garmin 76csx Vs Lowrance Exp C V Magellan Xl

[jfdlaw]

I don't want to start a firestorm like the "What a Mistake" thread. But I have to ask:

 

Does anyone have good knowledge about which would be better under foliage?

 

The guy at REI said the Garmin x series unit. The sparse comments I hear on Lowrance indicated they have "better antenna". I'm not sure the REI guy used a Lowrance much.

 

I want to use the unit in the woods and as a backup on my boat.

 

Each unit has its pluses and minuses. I wish Garmin or Lowrance would make a model with a large screen like the Magellan XL. I also wish Garmin would unlock the whole country like Lowrance's nautipath marine charts. I think the deciding factor for me will the performance under foliage and cost of marine charts. My problem is I haven't seen any direct comparisons of the units under foliage.

 

Thanks for your input.

[kb9nvh]

I dont have first hand experience with a new lowrance or magellan but it really think it would be very hard to beat a new garmin X series for recpetion...I'm constantly amazed at where it gets a lock. Maybe they are all this good now adays though......Seems like the sensitivity is so good now that if it got any better the error would just keep getting larger now due to multipath.

 

Anyone else care to comment on this.....we need some guy to stick a magellan/lowrance on one shoulder and a garmin on the other and find some caches and compare the two/three.

 

 

 

I don't want to start a firestorm like the "What a Mistake" thread. But I have to ask:

 

Does anyone have good knowledge about which would be better under foliage?

 

The guy at REI said the Garmin x series unit. The sparse comments I hear on Lowrance indicated they have "better antenna". I'm not sure the REI guy used a Lowrance much.

 

I want to use the unit in the woods and as a backup on my boat.

 

Each unit has its pluses and minuses. I wish Garmin or Lowrance would make a model with a large screen like the Magellan XL. I also wish Garmin would unlock the whole country like Lowrance's nautipath marine charts. I think the deciding factor for me will the performance under foliage and cost of marine charts. My problem is I haven't seen any direct comparisons of the units under foliage.

 

Thanks for your input.

[+synergicity]

I can vouch that the Expedition does well under cover (solid locks in the old and second growth redwood forests where I live, my Magellan Sportrak Map did not maintain lock on the same trails), and from posts here, it sounds like the other two do fine as well. The Garmin and Magellan offer autorouting with the right software purchase (but add around $100 for that). But without software those two are at least $100 more than the Lowrance. For the price of the 76CSX and the XL you get the Expedition and the MapCreate Topo software. So if you want autorouting, is it worth almost $200?

 

I think the Explorist has a triaxial compass, which the other two don't. That's kind of nice so you don't have to hold the unit flat to use the magnetic compass. The Expedition and the XL have the same number of pixels on their displays, but the XL has a larger display (XL 3.5", Expedition 2.83", 76 2.6"). The 76csx has lower resolution (by quite a bit) than the other two. (XL and Expedition are 320x240 and 76 is 160x240). So the Expedition has the highest resolution and the XL the largest screen.

 

The Lowrance and the Garmin use 2 AA batteries and the XL uses 4 AA. I get 12 hours more or less with 2500 mah rechargeables with the backlight on continuously. I think the others quote 18 hours typical use, but that is with the backlight off.

 

Those differences aside, I bet your deciding factor might be who has the better chart options, if the boat backup is important, or which unit you are used to using already, or have software for.

 

I don't want to start a firestorm like the "What a Mistake" thread. But I have to ask:

 

Does anyone have good knowledge about which would be better under foliage?

 

The guy at REI said the Garmin x series unit. The sparse comments I hear on Lowrance indicated they have "better antenna". I'm not sure the REI guy used a Lowrance much.

 

I want to use the unit in the woods and as a backup on my boat.

 

Each unit has its pluses and minuses. I wish Garmin or Lowrance would make a model with a large screen like the Magellan XL. I also wish Garmin would unlock the whole country like Lowrance's nautipath marine charts. I think the deciding factor for me will the performance under foliage and cost of marine charts. My problem is I haven't seen any direct comparisons of the units under foliage.

 

Thanks for your input.

Edited June 28, 2006 by synergicity

[jfdlaw]

Thanks for the input.

 

I really don't need auto routing. I have the TomTom receiver and software for my PalmT3, and although their routing algorithms leave a LOT to be desired it gets me where I want to go.

 

If the Garmin 76x and Lowrance Explorist have similar performance under foliage the deciding factor is the price of marine charts.

 

The $100 unlock fee for Garmin quickly adds up. We spend a few weekends a year roadtripping to different places and usually bring a boat. With Lowrance I can get a Nautipath map of the entire US for $99. With Garmin I have to unlock each region as I go. Last year Chesapeake Bay and Boston. This year Maine and NY Canals. Next year North Channel/Georgian Bay. Plus the home area of Lake Ontario. That's $400 to $600 in unlock fees for Garmin.

[+geobc]

The $100 unlock fee for Garmin quickly adds up. We spend a few weekends a year roadtripping to different places and usually bring a boat. With Lowrance I can get a Nautipath map of the entire US for $99. With Garmin I have to unlock each region as I go. Last year Chesapeake Bay and Boston. This year Maine and NY Canals. Next year North Channel/Georgian Bay. Plus the home area of Lake Ontario. That's $400 to $600 in unlock fees for Garmin.

I think you have your answer right there. Buy the Magellan. By the sounds of it, you could always buy a 60Cx or 76Cx just for heavy foliage if you're not satisfied with the Magellan's performance and still come out the same or ahead.

 

GeoBC

[kb9nvh]

I think he's leaning towards lowrance.

So, where the doe H2O stand in this? Is it still the flagship for lowrance? If I didn't need autorouting (and already have maps from my old gpsV) I would have probably been using a different brand right now too.

 

 

The $100 unlock fee for Garmin quickly adds up. We spend a few weekends a year roadtripping to different places and usually bring a boat. With Lowrance I can get a Nautipath map of the entire US for $99. With Garmin I have to unlock each region as I go. Last year Chesapeake Bay and Boston. This year Maine and NY Canals. Next year North Channel/Georgian Bay. Plus the home area of Lake Ontario. That's $400 to $600 in unlock fees for Garmin.

I think you have your answer right there. Buy the Magellan. By the sounds of it, you could always buy a 60Cx or 76Cx just for heavy foliage if you're not satisfied with the Magellan's performance and still come out the same or ahead.

 

GeoBC

Edited June 28, 2006 by kb9nvh

[jfdlaw]

I think the Expedition C is the new Lowrance flagship. Compass and alt. like the Garmin CS series. Scouting mode for perimeter. all the bells and whistles.

 

I might have mentioned Explorist in previous post when I meant Expedition. The names are too similar.

Edited June 29, 2006 by jfdlaw