Customer Reviews

Garmin GPSmap 478 GPS Receiver

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have been using this unit for about a month now. It is really great. I wasn't sure I wanted to spend this much for a GPS and so I almost went with a handheld model (GPSMap 76CSx) instead, but by the time I added up all the extras I needed for the handheld (memory card, maps, etc.), it was almost as much as this unit. I am very happy with this purchase and would heartily recommend it to others.

The BlueChart g2 marine charts are really great, and this unit comes with everything preloaded. I love being able to move from my car to my boat with this unit without even turning it off. The battery keeps her going. In fact, I haven't even installed the power cord yet on my boat yet because the battery keeps this baby going for many hours just fine. The boat mount keeps it pretty secure, but I did have it fall off once when hitting some rough waves. Because I didn't have a power cord plugged into the unit, it dropped about 4 feet to the deck. The unit held up fine from being dropped like this. I just put it back in the mount and kept going as if nothing happened.

The g2 charts are impressively detailed, giving island and reef names, showing contours of channels, rock piles, channel markers, depths, etc. The unit tracks where I go both on land and sea and has plenty of memory for keeping the tracks for many trips.

The unit acquires satellites pretty fast and is very accurate. I can tell immediately what part of my driveway I am on. Amazing. The speed this unit reports corresponds almost exactly with the speedometer on my car and instantaneously tracks with it. It will even tell me how fast I am walking as I carry it to the boat from my car. The voice prompts work very nicely through the included car power cord with speaker when navigating to destinations. I like the sand bag mount for the car because I can use it in any car without installing anything. It nicely sits right on the dash. The unit has a very nice option to power on automatically when the car is started and to power off automatically when the car is turned off. There are many points of interest preloaded into the unit. If I want to find the nearest McDonalds, Burger King, Walmart, etc., it is as easy and scrolling through the menu to navigate right to it. I find the menu system very easy to maneuver. This GPS includes tide tables for numerous locations near me. It reports sunrise & sunset times, moon rise and set times, as well as fishing quality prediction. I really like that I can later buy sonar and xm satellite antenna to work with this unit. I'm interested in the weather information, but the satellite subscription price is the thing keeping me from adding it now. The price is $30 to $50 per month depending on the amount of weather information that I want. If that price comes down, I could see myself adding it in the future.

The unit comes with MapSource software that lets me backup my waypoints, routes and tracks. I haven't used it too much yet, but I did notice that it would not backup the maps. I waiting for an e-mail from tech support to find out why. I used the Web Updater from Garmin and had a problem where the g2 maps seemed to disappear. It was very easy to get a tech support rep on the phone who helped me turn off the automotive maps in order to see the g2 charts. For some reason, the updater left both maps enabled when only one should be enabled at a time. Tech Support response from e-mail has been very quick and good. I'm comfortable that Garmin is standing behind this product.

Cons:
I live near sea level in Florida, and I have seen the elevation drift sometimes by as much as 90 feet even when I'm sitting still. This does not happen all the time, but it has happened a few times, and so if it tells me I'm at 20 ft elevation or 2 feet elevation, I'm not sure I can believe it.

The power plug seems rather difficult to plug into the unit. I wish it was easier.

The little rubber covers also don't always fit nicely over the holes they are suppose to cover.

My street name changed about 6 years ago, and the unit reports both names depending on where I am on the street. Mostly it reports the wrong name. I assume that newer maps in the future would correct this problem.

All these negatives I mention are relatively minor. Overall, I am very happy with the purchase and heartily recommend it to others.

I bought this product for equal use on my boat and in my car. Over all, I would say that it has met my expectations.

PRO:
1. Contains detailed coastal charts and street maps for the United States and Canada.
2. The screen resolution is very good for its size. The screen is large enough to see will driving or on the boat, but the unit is small enough to be portable.
3. The unit come with just about all the accessories one might ask for.

Con:
1. An external antenna is recommended for use in boat a car and inside a boat. Satellite aquisition can be a problem with out a clear view of the sky. I have seen other gps units that did a better job with the built in antenna.
2. The XM receiver option should include traffic information. The receiver has the capability, but the 478's software does not include this cababilty. I would have thought that it would have been a no brainer to have this feature. Certainly, this would have made this one of the most desirable units on the market.
3. The removable memory otion uses a propretary card. The use of SD or mini SD cards would have been a real plus. Garmin's cards are expensive and do not as large a capacity as commonly available types of cards.
4. The G2 charts do not include pictures of harbors, landmarks, etc. To get this cabability, it is necessary to buy the same charts on preprogrammed cards. Bathymetric display is not supported.

Excellent portable chartplotter. Picks up GPS signal quickly. Screen is very readable even in bright sunlight (we use it on the flybridge quite often). Interface (once you've used any Garmin device) is easy and intuitive. It's limitations are, in my view, strictly a function of its size (the screen) and available real-estate (e.g. limited "buttons" for entering waypoints).

This is an ideal device as a back-up to our Ramyarine E-120 -- we feel safer with the Garmin on board -- or to take with you in rental cars or on bareboat charters. Relative to only a year ago, the pre-loading of all US coastal charts and road maps is a real bargain (I actually bought the device although I alread own a 376C because it was cheaper to buy the whole new 478 than three bluechart chart regions for the 376C!Garmin GPSMap 478 GPS Navigator and Chartplotter).

Bravo Garmin!

Douglas

Good GPS unit but..... I move it between my boats and truck. I have the XM Ant with Weather option. Big aid in avoiding Gulf thunderstorms. Power plug difficult to insert and remove. Plug broke after 3-4 times. Garmin customer service very difficult to work with, after several phone calls, emails, they finally sent me the wrong cord as a replacement. Battery failed after 11 months....forget trying to get Garmin to replace that.

The product works great on the boat and in the car. The screen is very easy to read, even at night while the boat is rocking. It has many many features, so it takes a bit of practice to learn how to navigate using the menu, page, and find buttons but it is smooth sailing after that. I was surprised on how many waypoints and addresses are built in. All harbors, markers and buoys I have needed were already in the system. Both restaurant adresses that I have gone to in Chicago were already in it.

Like all GPSes and MapQuest, the routes it chooses in automotive mode are sometimes adventurous since there are so many choices were I live, but when you choose to take your own path for parts of the route the unit quickly adjusts the route from that point on.

The many page layouts that it has are great. It allows you to customize each page as well, so you can easily monitor many things across a few pages or by choosing a multi-column layout you can squeeze it all into a single page. It updates the pages so frequently, that I don't even look at my compass anymore.

My key for the PC software isn't working so I haven't played with the PC software that came with it yet.

I also look forward to getting the XM and Sonar features next year. The unit allows you to place it in a demo mode that allows you to see and change the pages/screens for these features even though I don't have them. The weather information you get with the XM features looks like a must have. The sonar feature is also just too cool to pass up, especially if you are doing any fishing.

I love this GPS.

The Con's are, it would be great to include inland lakes and ocean on one GPS, did garmin ever think that someone may actually want to take their boat on both or is this a ploy to make you purchase memory and an additional CD. The second downside is the menu's can be confusing and if you are at sea and dont remember what keys to push and are constantly going back to the quickstart guide it become irritating. This issue may not be relevant if you are a prior garmin user or once you have used it for a while and get used to the menus.

The Pro's are numerous, for such a small screen it is incredibly bright and easy to read. The detail is extremly good. The battery life is at least 4 to 6 hours if you dim it down.

Overall a good product.

This is the best Sea to Land to Road GPS I have found and certainly the best GPS I've ever owned (and I've had many). I seamlessly use the 478 on my Sailboat, Motorcycle and Car. The XM Weather feature is outstanding, which I use both on the boat and motorcycle. It is an advanced unit and therefore, will take a novice a bit of experience to work through all the sophisticated functionality vs. some of Garmin's mass market-oriented products like the Zumo or Nuvi, but there is no other device that can do everything that the 378/478 units can do, so it's absolutely worth the extra learning curve.

Garmin's new 640, which is apparently aimed as a new replacement/upgrade for the 478, is a major DOWNGRADE in functionality - so do not be fooled into buying the 640 (XM only with Marine mode, not Automotive mode. Also, the 640 regrettably removed the critically important Tracks Saving/Routing function, which the 478 has). The 478 ROCKS!

I had a 276c, and I had the Mapsource software package, with Bluechart, and the street detail maps for the US that I would have to select and download to the unit, and I liked that just fine. I had that so long that the maps started getting out of date. I lost this unit and decided to get the 478c, intrigued by the XM Weather features.
The 478c has all the charts and all the streets already loaded into it, so no more having to manage the maps and running out of space on the flash memory stick of the old unit I had. Also, it worked with the Mapsource software I had, so I could download all those waypoints and routes to the new 478c.
I bit the bullet and bought the XM antenna for it, and signed up for the basic weather service package, and, went ahead and subscribed to the music service too. I never realized how much I would LOVE having the ability to use the 478c as a satellite radio receiver. I'm sure there's fancier receivers out there, but I am happy to have one device that does that and the navigation and the weather.
The monthly weather subscription is more expensive than I care for. The basic wasn't enough... it provided a Doppler RADAR summary, and NOT real-time Doppler, and it was frequently WRONG. I upgraded to see if that would be any better, and it is... it updates every 5 minutes or so, and that works. I'd really like to get the top-of-the line weather service that gives a satellite mosaic so you can tell where it's supposed to be cloudy and where it isn't going to be cloudy, but that's just too expensive for me. I'm not a pro mariner and I work indoors most of the time, so I just can't justify the cost. I have a hard enough time justifying the cost of the middle-of-the-road service that I have.
On the whole I really like it a lot.
My advice is this: if you're willing to spend the additional $200 - $275 for the XM antenna, and the additional $30 - $50 a month for the weather and XM Radio, this is a great device.
If not, and you're not a country-wide traveller, save some $$$ and get the 276c, or, whatever their most basic street and marine device Garmin currently has.
I DEFINITELY prefer Garmin over other GPS brands.

The 478 is my first GPS unit. My primary use of it is for making tracks in the desert of Qatar over dunes to the Inland Sea. My secondary use is for finding new locations and checking better routes around town in Doha. Thus far the software and mapping functions have worked well, with the exception of the tracking function putting me in the Persian Gulf rather than in the desert while I was still on land. Downloading the Middle East maps and transferring my choices to the 478 was easy. I've moved maps, tracks and waypoints back and forth between my laptop and the 478 with ease several times. So far I'm happy with the 478 unit and the software to download onto my computer.

As per other reviews of this GPS, the auto power cord / speaker is a piece of junk. The first time I tried to remove the plug from the back of the 478 unit it came apart in my fingers. It is most disappointing for such an expensive unit to come with such poor quality connections.

I look forward to using the marine mode, and may try it with my track in the desert for better definition.

Overall it's an excellent unit, but Garmin need to improve the quality of the plugs and cords which accompany it.

Yes, all products have a learning curve and the Garmin GPSMap 478 is no exception. This said, the 478 is a very useful tool in any environment. It will guide you to roadway destinations with precision and charm (using the voice feature) and plot a course through nationwide costal cruising. Add on features expand its use to enhanced weather data, depth sounding, fish finding, satellite radio and more. I have only had the unit for a short time and already see it as a great asset in the car and essential on the boat. Coastal cruising here I come!