Customer Reviews

Garmin GPSMAP 76 Waterproof Handheld GPS

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Before my GPS purchase, I considered a number of Magellan units in addition to some in the Garmin E Trex series. I finally decided on the Garmin Map76.

In addition to being relatively easy to use, I preferred the slightly larger screen of the Map76 over the other units. Since I was purchasing the unit to use while sea kayaking, I found the screen on the Map76 was much easier to read in the sunlight than the smaller screens on the E-Trex models. In addition, you can upload map data into this unit. (Although the unit includes a basemap, Garmin also manufactures a number of optional mapping products which cover roads, waterways and topographical features in more detail). For kayaking, I use the optional BlueCharts which is essentially like having Nautical maps at your fingertips. (These are sold by regions and tend to be a bit expensive however).

The tide station/prediction feature on the Map76 was also an important deciding factor. With this unit, you have the ability to get tidal predictions for virtually anywhere in the US at your fingertips.

The Map76 often receives criticism on the low amount of memory for uploading map data. The tradeoff however is that it also drains the battery power at a slower rate than those that boast more memory. (I also considered the GPS Map76S which has an added electronic compass and more memory, however after a trial use from a friend's, I found the Map76S unit to drain battery power far too quickly for my intended use. The Map76S was also about $100 more in cost). Although the Map76S was a slightly upgraded Map76, I didn't feel the extra features of the 76S were worth the added cost, especially with the faster rate of the battery drain.

I've logged over 500 miles of sea kayaking with this unit and am very satisfied with its performance. I find the memory capability in the Map76 is adequate for uploading maps for day trips and the balance with the battery drain is also sufficient.

Although it is waterproof, I highly suggest a transparent waterproof bag for using while kayaking to avoid salt water condensation corroding the battery leads.

Garmin also offers toll free phone and email technical support for their units and software.

This unit makes a great paddling partner.

So I finally got around to upgrading my trusty 3 year old Garmin 12XL to a new GPSMAP 76. I played with one of the Magellan 330s at the local store for comparison but found that once again I simply prefer the Garmin user interfaces. I also picked up the MetroGuide CD. I figured if I was going to upgrade to a mapping GPS, I'd really want richly detailed maps. Surprisingly, I've experienced no buyer's remorse whatsoever. The GPSMAP 76 is nothing short of miraculous! Garmin is to be commended for the improvements they've made to their product line over the years.

The internal quad-helix antenna is excellent. Position accuracy is superb, screen resolution is vastly improved, and the extras such as tidal and celestial info are a really nice touch. The optimal fishing/hunting time predictor seems like overkill but I'll bet there are users who swear by it. The routing and tracking functions are well thought out and much improved since the 12XL was released. WAAS is sort of a mixed bag. I find that that whenever I lock onto WAAS signals, the estimated accuracy gets a few feet worse. It's never reads more than 20-25 feet off total but it's still the opposite of what I'd expect. Regardless of what the estimated error reading is, the accuracy always seems much better than it lets on. I've been using it a lot for geocaching lately and it invariably puts me within 5-6 feet of the caches.

The MetroGuide CD is quite nicely designed for a Windows product (I'm a Mac fan!) It contains substantial improvements over Delormes Street Atlas 4 Mac which was the last CD based mapping product I owned. It's fast and accurate (I understand that they just updated all their maps) and the integration with the GPSMAP is excellent. You can easily transfer all waypoints, routes, tracks, or maps back and forth between the GPS and your PC (or VirtualPC for Mac fans). You can also connect your GPS to the serial port and dynamically track your whereabouts on your laptop screen but I find this arrangement a bit cumbersome. There are just too many wires and batteries to deal with. For me having an easily readable, high-resolution, zoomable map on the GPS is the only way to go.

The only complaint I expected to make was with regard to the limited 8 MB map storage space. It turns out that 8 MB will hold pretty much the entire San Diego, CA and San Francisco, CA Bay Area. If I were driving across the country and wanted to investigate every nook and cranny I might be concerned. Otherwise it's perfectly fine for now.

Great product, great price. Happy navigating!

I love the screen, compared to the others. That is the most compelling feathure. The Mapsource info was more detailed than I expected. Tracked correctly on an old Georgia logging road I hunt from. I didn't expect it to be there. I did find some signal loss in deep woods though, the Lorance seems to have a better antenna if that is a problem for you. My dropouts were more momentary than extended though.
Battery life was as advertised about 12 hrs, bonus that's using ONLY 2 AA batteries. I used the light on screen as little as possible though.
Has all the features most could want. My understanding is WAAS is very limited at this time, DOD will shoot some more birds up in the future, but don't count on it for now. I used this in FLA, GA, Wash state, Lower Alberta and BC provinces and was satisfied overall w/ basemaps and reception... but never got WAAS. P.S. I would not trust basemap to navigate by (e.g. boat in fog). Resolution not enuf; happily it erred in my favor, said I was on land long before I could hit the rocks. Have to buy addin Topo USA (Canada) maps. Mapping/topo gps is wonderful, compared to nonmapping. I used the grids to find a draw that deer would likely use.

Interestingly, Garmin calls this a maritime unit, but depending what maps you download, it's not an issue if you are a landlubber. I downloaded a four county region near Tampa, and much of N. Georgia to the unit before running out of memory. I wanted to do Tenn. and NC appalacian Mtns, but not enuf room.

The floating part and general light weight is great feature. I think it is easier than some competitors.

Be sure to go to Garmin website and download: Firmware upgrade, Maritime map database (if u use downloadable maps, it can wipe out the base maritime maps, but u can upload again w/ this file) and finally, if u buy topousa or other set, get any updates there too.

The Garmin GPSMap 76 is a nicely thought out and solidly built device that works great if you're willing to learn how to use it. It has super-sharp graphics, a fair amount of detail, good satellite reception and accuracy, and nice additional features like tidal and sun rise/set information. Oh, and it's waterproof and it floats. I've had mine a few months and have gotten good use out of it while driving around northern California and city hiking in San Francisco, and i'm just starting to look at geocaching.

This should be obvious to most people but, for the price of this unit, you are not going to get a GPS that puts your seat belt on and gives you turn-by-turn directions in your choice of voices. You have to be a bit of a gadget-head (or, at least, not a gadget-phobe) to figure out how to use all of the 76's features like navigation or the surprisingly detailed trip computer. The menu-driven UI is rather terse and doesn't have built-in documentation. Luckily, the GPSMap 76 allows you to work in simulator mode so you can put it through all of its paces from your living room.

The 8Mb RAM does seem light, but GPS Mapquest format must be very efficient in storing data, because that actually works fine for most localized uses. If you travel around a lot and want to keep two or more locations memory-resident, you might begin to feel the pinch. As others have mentioned, some of the stored topo and location data is rather high-level and you can spend ~$90 for a CD set that will provide more detail. That seems to me to be a reasonable price-performance investment.

The only thing i've found in this unit that i would consider a bug is that the user has to tell it what time zone to use. I would think that it would figure that out based on its location. Minor detail, though. One other thing -- the 76 doesn't come with a carrying case so you're out a little more money buying a pouch for it. Great deal for the money though, and a solid product overall.

I haven't seen this written explicitly, anywhere, so here goes: This thing isn't mac compatible. Using a serial to USB converter, and some free software (Garmin software will be no help) you can get to the gps data on windows, but good luck if you're on a mac.

Also, it is really hard to create new waypoints on the water. This is because if you try and create a waypoint too close to a known feature (such as a highway, intersection, or BODY OF WATER), the GPS will try and use the center of the feature (or something like that). So, to create waypoints over water, your only solution is to manually enter the lat and long (you can't use the cursor to select a point).

This is a great gps, especially for marine purposes. I searched around and researched before deciding on purchasing the gpsmap 76. I find the preloaded base maps to be very sufficient and fairly detailed. It's waterproof and submersible, what else could you ask for. The only downfall is that it's not colorized, but big deal. It's quite easy to see when you're standing in direct sunlight. This is one of the best gps devices out there for this price range. It's well worth every penny, and comes highly recommended.

You will need to buy Map-source maps ($100+) to make this thing worth the purchase. I needed GPS for boating but the base maps are rudimentary, ie; no inlets, rivers, shoreline detail or lakes. It is although very accurate and easy to use, nice big screen and good reception. If you need GPS now this unit is an excellent value. I payed $199 a month ago and now its $169 but that's my problem.

The MAP76 is a well-designed and well-made unit with a lot of useful features. In particular, the external antenna, WAAS and DGPS capability, and wide input voltage range make this a great GPS for doing consumer-level mapping.

This unit has Garmin's new quadrifiler antenna which really improves the ability of the GPS to lock onto satellites under heavy brush and in rugged terrain. There really is little comparison to the etrex units on all the testing I have performed in real-world conditions.

The user interface is typical Garmin and it won't take you long to figure out how to use the GPS. The unit is fully water-tight (well, except for the battery compartment itself) and I have yet to see any complaints about leakage. It also floats which is definitely a useful feature for those thinking about using it for canoe tripping.

The accuracy is rather astounding, again in comparison to older etrex units I have used. The unit consistently and quickly locks onto satellites and often receives the WAAS info even in northern Ontario; accuracy is remarkable when WAAS is recieved.

I have used this product extensively for doing trail mapping and design. With an external battery and antenna such as the Mighty Mouse II you get very accurate data and the tracks are extremely detailed compared to previous products. The MapSource information leaves a lot to be desired but with GPS Utility and a bit of time you can do whatever you want. The only thing I would like to see on this unit is some form of pluggable memory such as SmartMedia; hopefully that will be available on future products.

I had previously used GPS units, but never knew the intricacies of one until purchasing the GPSMAP76. The base maps that are preloaded on this unit are awsome. It is extremely user friendly. If you are technologically in the dark and are scared about newer electronics such as this, this unit is perfect. The manuals walk you through everything.
I have had a blast planning trips, geocaching (google it), and I can't wait to get on the water with it. I put it to the test when I was in some beautiful back country in the northern portion of lower Michigan. I googled some coordinates of where I wanted to go, and connected the dots on some really awsome 4x4 trails. The accuracy was incredible.
The only downside I can think of is the lack of expandable memory. However, I can't see the need for any additional software. Like I said, the basemaps are full of detail. I can find a McDonalds that is 20 miles up the road off an interstate exit! Also, it is a little bigger than the eTrex series, but that's because it's a "mapping" unit. It still fits easily into my Columbia jacket pocket.
The GPSMAP 76S would have been nice, but I was trying to be very price conscientious. Overall, I'm stunned and I love it.

With the rest of the GPS devices shifting to color, the large b&w screen on this unit means money well spent. It's fast enough for practically any use. I've been using it in South East La. post-Katrina, Where those piney back woods were often blocked by debris. In New Orleans I used it to avoid blocked roads and to mark entry points into closed areas. I live hear, and the suroundings were so disturbed and displaced that even my own home-town was very disorienting. The backtrack and routemaking features are lifesavers. The screen is easy to read. The low draining B&W screen also allows longer battery life compared with other color units I've used. Looking for a dashboard mount and auto power adapter right now. A photojournalist, I keep it in my camera bag.