Blue Contrails Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 I've been checking local chain stores so I can compare the two and see how they feel in the palm of my hand. None of the stores carry them physically in the store. A few sell them directly on their websites. So I was hoping someone would have some pictures of what each unit looks like held in the palm and what it looks like as you work the buttons with your thumbs and all. BTW, I'm in Nothern NJ. Thanks! Quote Link to comment
daetripper Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 Hi, Do you have a west marine or boats USA store near you? If so, they carry GPS units as well. Just another place to think about where you can hold them in your hands. Today, I went and tested the 60cs and the 76cs side by side and held them in hand. The 60cs is indeed smaller than the 76cs, not by much but the shape lends it seem much smaller. More like a small cell phone. The 76cs is like holding a larger hand held calculator if that makes sense to you. The 76cs is a bit more awkward to me but I purchased the 76over the 60 because I need the extra memory to store more mapping information for traveling. The 60cs also is a more rounded shape on the bottom so it won't sit upright where the 76cs is more square and would lay on a dash etc more easily. Just my thoughts. they are both nice offerings from Garmin. Do you need more memory? If so the 76cs is the choice. If not, and you like a smaller GPS then go for the 60. If you can, go to a marine supply store and try one out. It's the only way to know for sure. Quote Link to comment
Blue Contrails Posted August 5, 2004 Author Share Posted August 5, 2004 I hate to sound like a pessimistic whiner, but I've even checked sporting goods stores and paintball equipment stores. From the looks of the 60CS it looks like you would operate it with one hand using your thumb as it rests on 4 fingers while the 76CS would actually sit firmly in the palm of your hand, almost cupped, while you use your thumb to navigate the controls. Am I right? Quote Link to comment
+Fenix6372 Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 There is a Bass Pro Shops not 10 minutes from me, I'll try to go out there and get pics for you, but let me tell you this from experience: I went out there every few days for probably a month or so looking at those two units (well the C version, they don't have the CS versions yet, but no difference in dimensions). I was there so often the guy at the counter recognized me whenever I went in and knew me by name and knew what I was there to look at lol. Anyway, when I held the 60C in my hand it felt very nice, fit right into the curvature of my hand, almost felt like an extension. In my right hand my thumb went on top near the power button, my fingers wrapped around the base, with my ring and pinkie fingers coming all the way around and actually touching the buttons on the left side of the unit. I am going to go ahead and say this before I move on to the 76C: I just ordered a 76CS earlier today because of the size of the 60CS; I love the feel of the 60 but I felt that with my fingers coming all the way around I might accidentally start pushing buttons and screwing myself up LOL. Anyway, the 60C felt great. When I held the 76C it does feel quite a bit larger, doesn't fit the form of your hand as well. I found that if you hold it with your thumb on the rocker pad and your fingers wrapped around to the other side it doesn't stretch anything and feels quite good. Not as good as the 60C but still comfortable. I also noticed that working the buttons on the 60C left the top half or so of the unit unsupported because your 4 fingers are supporting behind the buttons while your thumb works them. On the other hand, with the 76C your fingers stay behind the whole unit while your thumb works the buttons. When I reach all the way across to push the quit or power button on the 76C I find that my thumb only covers the very very top right corner of the screen, and it is only going to be for a second anyway, so that isn't a problem. But like I said, I'll try to go take some pics for you within the next couple of days; the AC in my car is on the blink, just spent 1000 dollars to fix it and it still has the same problem, so it might take me a couple of days to get the pictures as I will be spending a lot of time at the mechanic's place. Quote Link to comment
+ZackJones Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 So I was hoping someone would have some pictures of what each unit looks like held in the palm and what it looks like as you work the buttons with your thumbs and all. Here's some pics of my 60c 60c Donna with 60c The pics may not be the best for what you're trying to accomplish but it's something Zack Quote Link to comment
Blue Contrails Posted August 5, 2004 Author Share Posted August 5, 2004 ZachJones, thanks for the pictures. I found a place today that's an hour from here that carries these. Fenix, aftre trying both units I too felt like the 60CS was almost like an extension of my hand. But, after trying the 76CS and seeing how it sat in my hand perfectly I went ahead and got one. Working the rocker pad with the 76CS seemed more comfy than the 60CS. I must say though the size of the 60CS is real nice. I hope you'll enjoy your 76. -Blue Contrails- Quote Link to comment
+lostinflorida Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 I have the 76cs and love it. Detailing in map much easier to read the black and white. I have a 76 also but the cs is in my mind far superior with the color. I use mine for road geo and benchmarking. Got my on line from GPS store. I phoned in the order and spoke wiht the guy there very helpful and the price was much lower then anything I could find nearby. Including Bass Pro (never had in stock) cabelas in catalog not in stock. I have the Mapsource geo and Streets for downloading of maps to the unit. Geo to large scale and I use expertgps when I want good topo. So far imoressed with the streets maps. Good Luck Quote Link to comment
+Fenix6372 Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 Hey Blue: I'm glad you found a place to compare the units and I'm glad you went ahead with the 76CS, I just checked my order via UPS and it is scheduled to get to me on Monday the 9th. It left Cerritos, CA at 2:04 AM on the 5th (I'm assuming thats eastern time since at the bottom of the page it says the tracking results were provided at 10:49 PM Eastern) and as of this writing that means its been in transit for about 20-21 hours! Maybe with some luck it'll get to me early (HAHAHA yeah right.... ) so I can use it this weekend instead of waiting for the beginning of the work week to get here. Oh well, better whenever than never! You'll have to go caching this weekend or use it for some autorouting and let me know what ya think! Congrats again on what I feel is an excellent choice! Quote Link to comment
+Team DEMP Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 I found a place today that's an hour from here that carries these. Which store did you go to and what price did they have the 76CS for? Quote Link to comment
+graciebaby Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 http://store.yahoo.com/planet-gps/info.html planet-gps has very nice prices. I got the 76CS for $441 and with the topo and ac and dc and car mount and carrying case it was $600. I cancelled an order I had in with a company in CA to get this price from planet. All products are new and come with the US warranty. I saved about $80 over the CA store. Planet-gps Quote Link to comment
+DBleess Posted August 11, 2004 Share Posted August 11, 2004 Is this like what you wanted? I'm not a real big guy so your hands may differ. Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted August 11, 2004 Share Posted August 11, 2004 I have A GPS V, that's not one of the two you are looking at but it does have the buttons on top. That's still my preference. The buttoms on the bottm of the 60 are not as bad as I thought, and I'd still go with a 60 over the 76 due to size in spite of the button issue. However if a GPS VI is going to come out in the near future I'll skip both and go there instead. Quote Link to comment
+Night Stalker Posted August 11, 2004 Share Posted August 11, 2004 I got my 60CS for $400.00 on ebay, so it all depends on what you really find to be the most suitable for your needs. Quote Link to comment
+Night Stalker Posted August 11, 2004 Share Posted August 11, 2004 I got my 60CS for $400.00 on ebay, so it all depends on what you really find to be the most suitable for your needs. Quote Link to comment
+jj3 Posted August 11, 2004 Share Posted August 11, 2004 Hey folks, I got my 60C , city select and topo from www.getagps.com You have to 'add to cart' to get their true price but the 76CS is listed as $438.99. I believe I initially read about them in this forum (which I'm thankful for). All 3 items were placed at different times and the shipping, pricing, etc were all right on. anyway, just thought I'd chime in since they're pretty low. Jim Quote Link to comment
+wickedsprint Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 (edited) well technically the 76C is like a color versionof a gps V with a floating case. It auto routes..color screen..identicale basemap and it is squarish. Kinda hard to beat. I manily dislike the 60 series because of the crappy basemap. Has about half the streets as the V or 76. Edited August 14, 2004 by wickedsprint Quote Link to comment
+GOT GPS? Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 With the 76C/CS you can stick it between the bean bag base and the wind shield, but you can't do that with a 60C, it just will not stand between the glass and the bean bag base, but my 76S will stay there. Another thing is that my 60C keeps crashing off the dash, even though it's in the Holder mounted to the bean bag base. Quote Link to comment
moopgroop Posted August 15, 2004 Share Posted August 15, 2004 I've only had my 60cs for a week but so far it is great. I compared the 60 and 76 at Cabelas both indoors and outdoors. I chose the 60cs mainly because of the size and the fact that the buttons are on the bottom, not the top. Both had awesome displays. Either way I think you get a great unit. Quote Link to comment
+fizbot Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 Do the 60C and the 76C both run identical software? or is it slightly different versions with different functionality? Quote Link to comment
+Fenix6372 Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 Firmware is exactly the same, only difference between 60cs and 76cs is the 76cs has a larger basemap, floating case, 2x the memory of the 60cs. Quote Link to comment
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