Nuvi vs. 76csx

[+eeko]

Before I go out and buy a gps I would like to know why many choose the 76csx over a Nuvi? It seems the Nuvi has a bigger screen and many other features the csx doesn't. I would want it for geocaching, but also want to use it for driving directions. I don't want to get two separate units.

[jholly]

The 76 has much longer battery life, the batteries can be changed in the field, it can load topo maps. Granted the nuvi can have more caches as a POI, but it can't load them with EasyGPS or GSAK. The 76Csx is waterproof, the nuvi isn't. One is really aimed at the car market the other at the marine/trail market. Consider buying a nuvi for the car and a 76/60 or Etrex for the hike.

 

Jim

[+eeko]

Thanks

I have a 2 year old etrex that I never used, didn't like because of the clunky way to enter the way points. It wasn't very user friendly other than being compact. I don't want to make the same mistake again.

[jholly]

Thanks

I have a 2 year old etrex that I never used, didn't like because of the clunky way to enter the way points. It wasn't very user friendly other than being compact. I don't want to make the same mistake again.

 

get a handheld with a USB interface. Nothing clunky about entering waypoints then.

 

Jim

[+AF Bmet]

The 76 has much longer battery life, the batteries can be changed in the field, it can load topo maps. Granted the nuvi can have more caches as a POI, but it can't load them with EasyGPS or GSAK. The 76Csx is waterproof, the nuvi isn't. One is really aimed at the car market the other at the marine/trail market. Consider buying a nuvi for the car and a 76/60 or Etrex for the hike.

 

Jim

the gpsmap can't load POI's with GSAK???? My wife has a Garmin Nuvi 200w I have been using for GC and I use GSAK with the macro made by pilotsnipes to go geocatching with works great nuvi gets me within 2 to 20 ft of the GC so far. look at this site for true paperless geocaching with a Nuvi http://pilotsnipes.googlepages.com/index.html

[+briansnat]

The 76CSX is durable and meant for outdoor use, the Nuvi is not. The 76CSX is designed to be held in the hand. The Nuvi is designed to sit on the dashboard. The 76CSX has log battery life and if the batteries die, you can just swap in a new set. The Nuvi has short battery life and if the batteries die and you are away from a power source, you are SOL. The 76CSX has a compass navigation screen, the Nuvi does not. The 76CSX is waterproof and the Nuvi is not.

 

In general the Nuvi is an excellent choice for automobile navigation and a poor choice for geocaching. A 76CSX

is an excellent choice for geocaching and a more than adequate choice for automobile navigation.

[+eeko]

How about one of the Zumo GPS boxes? They are waterproof.

 

 

The 76CSX is durable and meant for outdoor use, the Nuvi is not. The 76CSX is designed to be held in the hand. The Nuvi is designed to sit on the dashboard. The 76CSX has log battery life and if the batteries die, you can just swap in a new set. The Nuvi has short battery life and if the batteries die and you are away from a power source, you are SOL. The 76CSX has a compass navigation screen, the Nuvi does not. The 76CSX is waterproof and the Nuvi is not.

 

In general the Nuvi is an excellent choice for automobile navigation and a poor choice for geocaching. A 76CSX

is an excellent choice for geocaching and a more than adequate choice for automobile navigation.

Edited June 22, 2008 by eeko

[+eeko]

sorry about sending the double post

Edited June 22, 2008 by eeko

[+grimlaf]

I have both a nuvi 650 and a 76csx.

I started out with the nuvi as I had bought it for my wife and was able to borrow it now and then.

 

paperless geocaching is pretty nice for the nuvi, but I did run into problems with the short battery life of about 4 hours or so a few times.

also, the screen on the nuvi is pretty fragile and is extremely easy to scratch up. this and the water proof issue can be handled by using a case such as one made by RAM, so it leaves battery life and awkward size being the only real issue when compared to a 76csx.

it's nice being able to use it for paperless geocaching, but I found switching between the various screens I needed to be more of pain than just using my palm for the paperless aspect and the gps for the gps aspect.

 

I also use the 76csx as my driving gps leaving the nuvi for my wife. it doesn't talk to you, but beeps where there would be voice prompts. I find this perfectly acceptable. also the screen size is about half of what you get with the nuvi but this can be solved by placement of the gps by mounting it closer to your eyeballs. I mount my 76csx right next to the steering wheel whereas we tended to mount the nuvi significantly further forward on the dash by the windshield. another way to solve this is by using the RAM magnifier which does a very good job of enlarging the screen. unfortunately there is too much light in the cab of my truck which creates a lot of glare, but it works fine in my car.

 

I have also found the compass of the 76csx more useful that I thought I would. it is also a nicely rugged device.

 

having used both, and if I was just buying one gps for myself, I would go with the 76csx.

my wife however would insist on a gps with turn by turn directions that include the street names in the voice prompts, but she's not a geocacher.

 

if you are buying a gps to mostly give you voice directions and also maybe use it for geocaching now and then, the nuvi is great. if you want to split 50/50 or mostly use it for geocaching and are happy with beeps instead of voice prompts, I would go with the 76csx.

 

to get turn by turn directions on the 76csx you need to buy an additional map which will add to the cost. also the 76csx doesn't come with a auto power adapter or car mount, so be sure to takes those costs into account when making your decision. also a keep in mind a water proof case for the nuvi if you go that route.

 

if you want voice prompts and want to geocache regularly, I would recommend buying both a nuvi and a lower end high sensitivity gpsr, as there isn't a perfect single solution to meet those requirements.

 

I guess the other aspect would be a park and grab geocacher, the nuvi would work perfectly well for that. but I find myself doing a lot of hiking or day long geocache runs where I will be away from a car, so I need the longer battery life and the ability to swap batteries of a trail type gps.

 

for example the last cache run I did was for a puzzle cache which was composed of 7 caches scattered in a local historic park. I needed about 6 hours of battery life so I couldn't have done this with a nuvi without plotting out the caches ahead of time and only turning on the gps when I was near the caches, which I don't like to do.

[+briansnat]

How about one of the Zumo GPS boxes? They are waterproof.

 

 

The 76CSX is durable and meant for outdoor use, the Nuvi is not. The 76CSX is designed to be held in the hand. The Nuvi is designed to sit on the dashboard. The 76CSX has log battery life and if the batteries die, you can just swap in a new set. The Nuvi has short battery life and if the batteries die and you are away from a power source, you are SOL. The 76CSX has a compass navigation screen, the Nuvi does not. The 76CSX is waterproof and the Nuvi is not.

 

In general the Nuvi is an excellent choice for automobile navigation and a poor choice for geocaching. A 76CSX

is an excellent choice for geocaching and a more than adequate choice for automobile navigation.

 

They are waterproof, but the rest of the issues remain.

[+Moore9KSUcats]

We've had a 76 Cx for 2 years now, and really like it for geocaching, and it is also great for car navigation. We used it on a trip from central Texas to Baltimore in 2006, and it worked really well for the navigation.

 

We just made an impulse buy and bought a Nuvi 260w in June... it is fun for the car trips! We have tried it on a quick urban cache, and can see its benefits for geocaching, but our BIGGEST concern is durability. I would be fine for quick urban caches.

 

We prefer hiking to our caches, and some of the hikes can get rugged (not compared to the real mountain caching, though). We've also slipped on slopes, and dropped our 76 down slopes, in the water, etc. I sincerely doubt that the Nuvi would last through a few falls like we've taken. One fall on a flat rock riverbed resulted in killing the $400 digital camera (in a camera bag), while the GPSr survived just fine.

 

The 76 is rugged, durable, and waterproof. The Nuvi is not.

 

Even with the latest map set (claims to be the 2009 map set), there are still limitations on roads. It doesn't have roads and housing areas that have been in Georgetown for several years! I had hoped it would be more update than that. (I realize some of that is the fault of the city not updating its plat maps and sending them to the mapping companies... typical.)