A unique website dedicated to fishing information from Florida's Northern Big Bend. This includes the area from the Econfina River west to the Apalachicola River
Gonna buy either a Garmin 76CX or Ifinder H20c. I only have a few questions left and I know you all have the info so give it up!
Biggest question....
How does the display on the 76CX do in bright sunlight? Do you have to tilt the unit to a certain angle to see it well?
next question...
How long does it take for the 76CX to get a satellite lock?
One last question...
Anyone use their 76 CX for driving and if so how do you like it?
I have personnally witnessed all of these on the H20c and wasn't impressed but I need to weigh the cost factor between the two. Right now West marine has $100 off the 76CX bringing it down to $300 but if you add bluechart its still expensive.
I can get the H20c with nauticpath for under $300 total so its a tough decision when the Garmin is still gonna be around $450-500 even with the discount.
Thanks all for your input.
Last edited by Just Fish on May 14th, 2007, 6:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I have the CXS and I have not noticed the difference on the screen in the sun light. I don’t know maybe because it’s not mounted on my boat and in the shade on dad's boat?
As for the satellite lock question... it locks right on no problem. I will tell you that once you get the unit you have to do the sat. Search thing because it’s new and has moved more than 600 miles.
I also travel A LOT and I love my gps for travel. If you are gonna travel with it I suggest the street map upgrade (don’t know the exact name but it’s around $100). It gives more detail than the base map. It also shows more a lot more roads other than the interstates and major highways.
I just got mine for Christmas so I am still learning but it has WAYYY more options than i think that I would ever figure out.
All in all I really like mine and now dad say that he has to have one!
I don't have the unit you're talking about. I do have a Garmin 172C. It will wash out a little in direct, intense sunlight. It never washes out so much that I have any problem reading it. I can also throw a towel over it a few minutes and the screen brightens right up. Slightly aggravating but I would still buy color if I was going to buy another one.
"Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant?? I'm halfway through my fish burger and I realize, Oh man....I could be eating a slow learner."
I had a GPSMAP 76 w/ the B/W screen. In July and August when it got really hot, the screen would start to fade. If I put it in the shade and cooled it off it would clear up. Don't know about the color screens.
I have the old GPSMAP76 and the GPSMAP 60CSX and the biggest difference is the 76 floats. I like my 60CSX because it locks signal really fast and does turn by turn directions for on the road. To find the tides they make it an easter egg hunt and you hit FIND, MARINE, TIDE STATIONS, then select the tide station. At least thats the way I remember it. It has great tracking and plots the Barometric Pressure. It also gives you the hunting & fishing prime times on a calendar or by day, and it has a card slot that I keep a 2 gig card in so I can have all my blue charts or topo or street maps on one card. The 60 CSX will sink like a rock if you drop it overboard but I think the 76 and the 60 are pretty much the same otherwise. I bought mine from Dell and it was a lot cheaper than what everyone else wanted. Use some of those price shoppers to find the best deal.
I have the Garmin MapGPS76CS It locks on to Satellites quickly, I have not noticed a problem in the bright sunlight, and I use it regularly for traveling in my car. The turn by turn instructions are great. I have the roadmap software downloaded as well as the Bluecharts for our area. I also have the RAM mount w/ suction cup. This thing will not let go ! I'd got with the Garmin and I don't know anything about the other unit. You just can't beat garmin and it's customer service if you do need them. You can always do the upgrades a little at a time. My .02's worth.
Well thanks to all your input, I got the Garmin 76CS this week. I am satisfied so far. Here is my review.
Screen - very visible even in bright sunlight. I was very impressed with this and it very much helped make my final decision. Compared to the Lowrance H20 its much better.
Construction - I am impressed with the contruction, seems to be very durable.
Menus and ease of use - seems to be very easy to use, I like the icon style menu system.
Satellite lock - extremely good, it even works inside my house. Outside I was getting 10-12ft accuracy.
Base map - this is the only downfall, the basemap is horrible. The lowrance was much better. the H20 has the channel markers on the base map, the garmin's basemap has none and barely has even the main roads.
Map source integration with Google maps was pretty cool also on the Garmin.
Thanks for all the assistance from everyone. Looks like I will need to drop some more cash for the blue chart and Metroguide to be fully satisfied.
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