Best Handheld GPS?
- Thread starter r.oril
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I own one, but it is not for sale. Good unit. It replaces my older Garmin 175 which is no longer supported. It is a fairly new unit so you might not find many used yet. Usually when you can pick up a used GPS it is sorely antiquated.
I just purchased a very lightly used 76csx in the box with most accessories via craigslist. I was fortunate the seller was in SF where my daughter lives [She somehow induced her boyfriend to ride his bike up Lombard to pick the thing up. Now that's love!] You can do a national cragslist search but if you find a great deal out of your area, I advise using one of those purchase protection sites to make sure you don't get scammed. That adds $25 to your cost. I use it for coastal cruising and really like the unit.
Richard makes a good point: when you get one it should have the charts for the area you're planning to sail in. That's 'cuz the GPSMAP 76 Cx and Cxs both use Garmin's Blue Chart disc, which I hear is being discontinued as of last December. I have a 76 Cx and like it very much.
Try Ebay. There are quite a few.
ie http://cgi.ebay.com/GARMIN-GPSMAP-7...0758692167?pt=GPS_Devices&hash=item3a6261fd47
ie http://cgi.ebay.com/GARMIN-GPSMAP-7...0758692167?pt=GPS_Devices&hash=item3a6261fd47
As always, Stu is right on the money. Garmin will discontinue BlueCharts after the most recent 2010 version. I initially had an ugly dispute with the folks at Garmin about the transferability of a BlueCharts disc I bought but could not access. They claimed BlueCharts is not transferable unless you sell it with the device onto which the maps are loaded. However, a reading of the license agreement shows that Garmin actually meant purchasers to be able to transfer the discs or cards, provided they first erased the maps from their own units. In other words, you're not supposed to sell your cake and eat it too. I finally ended up with a wonderfully sweet woman at Garmin who not only sent me a new 2008 west coast disc, but said I could upgrade to 2010 when I got my 76. Waiting for the update now.
I use a Garmin GPS 76CS and it is great. Many useful features. Looks good both in sunlight and at night. The only feature I do not like is that you have to turn on the Blue charts when you get on the water. This means that you can have it display either the way points or street maps but not both at the same time. The new ones includes the maps already loaded. I had to buy mine separately.
Be careful of the BlueChart CD. I was told the it was being discontinued and unsupported at the end of 2010. So, it is now useless. I loaded up the North East before that so my 76C is still functional. If I ever need to, there is bound to be somebody with a crack for it.
Just bought the the 78S, plus blue chart disk (the std. world map is absolutely useless and a waste of disk space). Initially, I was sold the 76CSX instead(for the same price). Only discovered it when trying it out. I find the 78 model slightly easier to use-it appears less cluttered. Had to download the manual from the internet for the latter. However, both manuals make sure that you use your imagination a bit to figure out some of the functionalities. IOW they leave a lot to be desired.
I bought a Garmin 76CX recently. You can get a single microSD card that has charts for the entire US coastal waters for about $150. I don't know it that card has the lakes.
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