60 CSX vs 76 CSX

[+OldScouterDad and Tagalong]

I am new to geocaching and want to buy a quality unit. The differences I have found on the internet are that the 76 floats, has a transflective screen, a minimally larger display and a 128 meg micro SD card vs 64 meg on the 60 series. I don't understand why the 76 is less expensive by $50. The other question that I don't see on any site is do these units work like a car GPS? Do they have the voice directions with street maps showing? Walmart seems to have the best pricing I have seen. The forums had units for sale with 1 gig of memory card and sounded like that didn't provide the whole US. I thought these units had the whole US as basemaps. Does a basemap include city streets or is this something else to buy? Do the units just use AA batteries or can you also use a car lighter cord? I looked at the 60 CSX at Gander, but the packaging leaves a lot of questions. Thanks to anyone who already has a handle on my rookie questions and is willing to educate me.

[+Miragee]

Welcome to the Forums!

 

There is very little difference between these two units other than the form factor, since you will be purchasing a larger card for whichever one you buy.

 

You can use a cigarette lighter adapter with either unit. Auto-mounts usually come with those in a package deal.

 

You do not get "voice" directions. After installing the City Navigator maps, you will get "beeps" that let you know about an upcoming turn. You can change the sounds for those warnings.

 

I use AA NiMH Rayovac "Hybrid" batteries in my Vista HCx and recommend "Hybrid" rechargeables. They work very well.

[gratefulHIKE]

the only real difference between the units is......do you like your buttons above the screen, or below

 

reception is equal, software is equal.....internal memory doesnt mean much because you can transfer most stuff to the sd card

[+Hunter of Sock Monsters]

I personally have the 76CSx and it is a really really nice unit. Rugged, waterproof, it floats. I have the City Navigator NT maps on my unit and it works very nice for turn by turn directions. if your looking for a quality unit then I recommend the 76CSx. of course I prefer the buttons at the top of the unit and the 76CSx fits my hands really well.

[roybassist]

The differences I have found on the internet are that the 76 floats, has a transflective screen, a minimally larger display

The 60 screen is also transflective and according to the specifications printed in the owner’s manuals, they are both 1.5” x 2.2”. I suspect any information you have seen elsewhere to the contrary is a misprint. I would trust what’s in the manuals. For practical purposes, the screens are identical.

 

I don't understand why the 76 is less expensive by $50.

Based on the number of members of Yahoo! groups devoted to each, 2438 for the 60C(S)x versus 1500 for the 76C(S)x, and subjectively the number of posts I see in this forum concerning each model, my conclusion is that the 60 series is more popular. I suspect the price difference is supply and demand.

 

The only real difference between them is the physical size and layout (form factor). I guess more people either prefer the buttons below the screen, or the way the 60 fits in their hands compared to the 76. For the record, I have a 76CSx and am quite happy with it. You should try to go to a store where you can hold each and see whether you think you prefer the 60 form factor $50 worth over the 76.

 

Do they have the voice directions with street maps showing?

If you buy City Navigator maps, besides the beeps mentioned by Miragee, you get a Next Turn Preview pop-up. If you set up the data fields to show Dist to Next, you know when you’re getting close to a turn and watch for the preview. This works fine for me. I think voice prompts are overrated. Lots of people like them; but I’ve seen posts by people who have units that do voice prompts, who say they find the voice prompts an annoying distraction, and turn them off.

 

The forums had units for sale with 1 gig of memory card and sounded like that didn't provide the whole US. I thought these units had the whole US as basemaps. Does a basemap include city streets or is this something else to buy?

They do have basemaps that include the entire U.S., but base maps have only the major highways, and the road locations in the base maps aren’t very accurate. That’s why you need to buy City Navigator maps if you want to use it for road navigation. If you get a big enough microSD card, you can load all of City Navigator at once. CN 2009 NT takes 1050.1 MB. AFAIK, CN 2009 non-NT isn’t out yet, so we can’t be sure how much room it will take.

 

Garmin continues to tell people that the largest card you can use is 2 GB. That is not correct. I have a 4 GB microSDHC card in my 76CSx. You can load only up to 2 GB of maps and no more than 2025 map segments (the “chunks” that Garmin breaks their map products into), but the card works fine. Up to 6 GB cards have been tested and found to work the same way. Any remaining unused space can hold other data (track logs, custom POI), and can be accessed by putting the unit in Mass Storage mode.