Customer Reviews

Garmin GPSMAP 76Cx Handheld GPS

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Having used a huge number of GPS units over many years, I must say that the 76CX is very good.

Pro's

Removable memory (now up to 1GB)

Can be powered from 2 AA cells for a long time.

Nice Color Screen, no back light needed daytime

Water resistant

No easy to break off parts

Can be powered from USB connection!

Memory Cards(Micro SD) can be written to outside of unit

Does a good job routing for automobile use

Has marine and geocaching functions as well as hiking stuff like track logs etc.

fair pricing

Lots of optionally available maps

Garmin support is good including firmware updates that add functionality.

Cons:

Screen could be larger

Requires purchase of maps for street level(but this keeps price down, for people who aren't driving with it)

Even with car kit unit doesn't talk at all("turn right next" or more recent auto units that pronounce street names)like the NUVI units do.

That said this and the 60 series are the only GPS units that you can drive with as well as use for hiking/boating/geocaching that work really well. The Magellan units that support both Meridian and Explorist are not nearlly as nice from a hardware, software and firmware point of view.

I will keep this unit until Garmin comes out with one that talks and pronounces street names as well as all the other functions that the 76 has. Would have also cosidered the 60CX but the price of the 76CX was better with the rebate offered this month.

the majority of the negative reviews are form people that want a GPS for their car, (rookies). I use mine exclusively for fishing and hunting, and its one of the best I've seen. I bought the topo map chip for the mid-west, and was blown away. it had all of the lakes I didn't expect, as well as the ones I did, with contour lines far better (3 ft in some cases) than any DNR map I've ever seen. the topo map chip was [...] bucks, but was well worth the price. The map chip included all boat landings, nav. hazzards, POI's, major and forest roads, and lake contours as accurate as my new depth finder. If your lonely and want a GPS that talks, go get a tom tom, but if you want a serious GPS for a serious outdoors man, you won't be disappointed.

...but there are two things that annoy me:
The color display is significantly smaller than the one on the older monochrome gpsmap 76.
The screws on the back of the unit quickly get rusty when exposed to saltwater.

If you don't need a device that floats, I'd recommend buying its prettier sister, the 60csx for the following reasons: it is smaller (but its display is the same size), it looks nicer and it has the keys in the right place (below the display).

I purchased the 76CSX from Amazon in July 2007. Since then I have used it on the boat (I am on the water here in Kachemak Bay-Cook Inlet Alaska almost every weekend from late April through September), while flying in small aircraft throughout Alaska, and while driving both in Alaska and the "Lower 48."

The unit does not come with detailed maps; those have to be purchased. I purchased Bluechart Americas v9, Topo US- 2008, and City Navigator - North America. These were all purchased on CD/DVD media. My unit came with a 128mbt micro-SD chip in it. I replaced that with a 2 gig chip. Changing out the SD chip is very easy.

Like anything new, it takes a while to get to know how to use it. The online Garmin Knowledgebase for this model was very helpful to me. Customer support, when I had questions, was better than average via email and when talking to a "live" person.

Once purchased, folks should set up their "MyGarmin" account .... makes it much easier to download software updates for the unit and also update map products that they have purchased.

The unit has an excellent GPS receiver. It locks on to satellites and hangs onto them in the house, in the cabin of the boat, in small aircraft and in the car without any external antenna connected. I might also mention that I have carried this unit inside of a daypack while riding snowmobiles and it has not dropped the satellites. Battery life is about 15 hours and when they go dead, you can change them out without losing your real time nav data.

I also purchased the 12-volt power outlet cord and a RAM windshield mount.
Garmin Mapsource, included with the unit, has been a valuable tool that I use frequently to download travel routes/tracks from the GPS to the PC. There it can be saved, emailed and printed as a PDF and also layered over Google Earth.

One thing that I have found is that it is best to download the track from the GPS to the PC before "saving" it on the GPS. The data will then show a very detailed track with speed, elevation, lat/lon position, direction and bearing for every point shown on the track. If the track is saved on the GPS before it is downloaded, the resulting track will not be as detailed, as the Saved Track mode on the GPS strips out 5 of every 6 points saved. This is common with many other Garmin units too.

When navigating in the car to a specific address, it does reroute you if you miss a turn. We have found the City Navigator maps to be quite useful not only for the map data, but also because you can easily find locations and a text listing of names, addresses and phone numbers for thousands of hotels, motels, gas stations, shopping centers, restaraunts, and points of interes. It is almost like haveing a phone book with you. This feature makes finding a place to stay or eat very easy when making those long road trips in the Lower 48. This data is only as current as the date you purchased the maps and may not be as easily updated as auto-specific GPS units.

The screen is what you would expect in a hand-held multi function GPS. If you are looking for GPS for your auto that has maps preloaded so it is ready for a road trip upon its arrivel, this is probably not your best choice. If you need a single portable GPS unit that can serve in many environments: marine, hiking and auto road trips, this is a good choice provided you also buy the maps you will need and take the time to learn how to use it. GPS Photo-link also works well with this unit.

This is a great step from my 12XL. I got this along with City Select North America 7. The standard 128M hold all of the states in my area (New England), but I still upgraded to the 512M memory and plan to upgrade to the 2G when it is readily available (has been released at this time, just cannot find one to buy). The maps are shown easily and the variety of controls is sufficient. I bought mine with a Garmin bike mount to put on my handlebar. Good so far. Glad I got it.

The 76cx is a great little GPS. I can't believe how well it stays locked on even when in the car below the dash panel. I use it between boat and car and did understand before purchasing that two software packages were needed before it would guide me either street by street or navigate the waterways.
The screen is quite small, but readable. The rubber cover that goes over the USB port on the back came off. It is held in place with a tiny phillips head screw. When I took out the screw to reattach the cover, it fell on the floor and was impossible to find again. That is my only complaint so far.

To say this thing is designed for boaters is as big a joke as a lie!! The included database does not even include the basic outline of local lakes smaller than the Great Lakes. Minnesota - the "land of 10,000 lakes" has been reduced to the land of 2 or 3 lakes. The map that came with it is from 2001. Perhaps the glaciers had not done their work by then. Truthfully, the Garmin 430 that we use for our car has a far, far better database. This unit was designed for one purpose - to make you buy additional databases. The picture on the 76Cx page shows an image of a lake with depths and navigation aids. Nowhere does it say the image requires optional addons to get that kind of detail (or even see the lake) although on the box (once you've shelled out the money and it arrives) you find that in very small print on the back. The only claim that may be realistic is that it is supposed to float and I am sorely tempted to put that to the test. To get maps of two popular lakes in MN, Rainy Lake and Lake Superior, I need to buy two addon charts at over $200. If I want to see a handful of the other lakes I can pay another $89 for the Lakemaster addon (which conveniently doesn't include the other two lakes). Grand total - over $500 including buying the initial piece of junk which feels like a 80's vintage cell phone. Large color display? Maybe for geocaching but not nearly big enough to be mounted in the cockpit of a boat and the resolution is very poor. Save your money and buy a better unit - preferably not a Garmin as their business practices are suspect at best. If you do buy it, good luck with support. I couldn't even get on the web site and I gave up on the phone after 30 minutes. I'm a pretty easy consumer usually but this is a major rip off!

I wanted a hand held device that would work well in a car and this does both very well. No external antennae needed in the car either. However, an external power cable is needed because batteries do not last long. Accuracy is excellent.

I sail on the ocean and this is my secret weapon. Some of it's many features are that it initializes very quickly (VERY quickly if it was on recently) so you can turn it off to save batteries when not immediately needed and still get answers within seconds of powering up. The batteries last much longer than on earlier units. It is rugged enough to withstand the abuse I give it.

My favorite feature is how you can program the display to show you what is most useful for you. I like being able to see bearing and heading right next to each other along with VMG and ETA. Love the built in timer.

I've read complaints about the buttons being in the wrong place but for one-handed operation with a secure grip on the unit, above-the-screen buttons are best.

I wish detailed map data was free, too, but I have no problem getting what I need off paper charts, downloadable NOAA charts, Google Earth, etc.

If I were to lose or break my 76Cx I would buy another one, no hesitation.

I bought a Garmin 76Cx GPS for use on my sailboat sailing in New England coastal waters. My boat has several built-in GPS units powered by the boat's batteries, but I wanted a GPS that could be used independent of the boat's power, as a backup and for convenience.

My 1'st reaction to this GPS was negative and I actually planned to return it. One essential readout for me is the boat's current course over the ground, denoted in my other GPS's as the COG, and I initially could not see how to obtain such a display. I finally discovered, after a lot of playing with the unit, that it could display the COG, now denoted as the "Heading". This terminology is confusing to a mariner because to us the heading is the compass reading, usually different from the COG due to cross currents. Cross-current velocities can be large; I have had to crab at 45 degrees to the desired compass heading to get the course I wanted, and it is then that the COG readout is very useful. I adjust the compass heading so that the COG is the course I actually want to sail.

The default, out of the box, settings for this GPS are probably those most useful to non mariners. Also, the manual does not explain in much detail how to customize the settings. Thus my frustration that almost caused me to return the GPS. However, GOOD NEWS! This GPS is very highly customizable, and most users could adapt it to suit them. What the manual needs and lacks is a detailed example. One is sufficient, since all customizations are done in tbe same way.

Here is a detalied example showing how to customize this GPS. After the GPS is turned on and has found it's location, pressing the PAGE key will step through the various displays available. For example, the first display after the initial display is "Trip Computer". Let's set the second data field to display the "Heading" (COG). Press the MENU key and a menu will be displayed. This particular menu has 4 options, "Reset...", "Small Numbers", "Change Data Fields" and "Restore Defaults". Press the bottom part of the central round key to move the highlighting to "Change Data Fields". Press the ENTER key. Again press the bottom part of the central round key to highlight the second data field. Press the ENTER key and another menu will appear with lots of options, too many to display all at once. Use the upper or lower parts of the central round key to scroll up or down in this menu to the option "Heading". Press the ENTER key to select the "Heading" as the data to be displayed. Now press the QUIT key. That's it. This technique applies generally for all the pages. Each page has its own set of menus. I can handle the "Heading" terminology rather than the more meaningful COG terminology.

I encountered one more problem. I got a memory chip to make marine charts available for me. The chip is called a micro chip and is to be installed inside where the batteries are installed. It is a tiny chip. When I opened the package containing the chart's chip I found a chip too large to be installed in the GPS, one like the SD chips I put in my camera. I thought that I had been given the wrong chip. Someone showed me that this larger chip is actually a cartridge which can be opened and which contains the micro chip! Nowhere did I find this illustrated to any of the instructions accompanying the GPS or the memory chip.

Considering all, despite the weak instructions, I think this is an excellent GPS. I now have it setup to display the information I want. I thus rate it very highly.

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Update: I've been using this GPS a lot since first reviewing it, and I am very pleased to say that I still rate it very highly. I sail a lot single handed in an area where there are both places I want to go to and places to avoid. I've set them up as way points,and it is very easy for me to operate this GPS single handed to see where these points are relative to my current location. I turn it on for a few minutes, get the information I want and then turn it off. I've been on one set of batteries all this season. Very convenient. Excellent unit.