Super accurate device - But lousy TOPO map. Ouch$$!

Ouch. I just plunked down $550 for my new Garmin GPS receiver and the North America Topographical Map CDROM.
And I'm not done yet. I likely will have to purchase the Inland Lakes, Bluechart Atlantic, and a North America City map.

Though i am an electronics engineer, I am new to the world of GPS devices. I work in a different segment.
So this is my first one.
I decided to buy one for a practical need.
I needed one to locate points of interest on large real estate plots for sale. And so I wouldn't get lost!
I also wanted one for recreational hiking, kayaking and boating.
Driving in a car was never a big consideration.
Hence, I bypassed the talking auto-friendly models.

I read several reviews, here of course and in several forums, etc. From all the info i have seen, Garmin is the way to go for first timers, reliability, support, and map quality.

Generally, the sub-$200 devices would not meet my needs: they do not function well in dense forests, on cloudy days, in mountain valleys, and inside moving vehicles (boats or cars).

Though nearly identical in features, I chose the 76csx over the 60csx because it will float in water and had double the memory. I also like the rectangular body shape better. A $50 difference.

It includes Waypoint and Route management software. This software allows you to preplan your routes and Transfer them to the device via USB cable. If you purchase an additional Map product on CD, this program will also transfer the maps you need. This all works well and if you are somewhat computer literate, you can get it going quickly. Except I wish you could plan driving trips by entering city to city; then have the PC software autoroute it. Maybe their City Map product has this; i don't know. But I had to manually enter the route by creating waypoints. The 76csx will however, autoroute once you click on the city and tell it to "Go To".

There is a free program on Garmin's website that will also let you import custom images for waypoints or grab an image of the 76csx's screen.

If you are new, it will take you a couple days and outings to get the hang of the device's menu system. It is not easy to follow and each screen page has a different set of options. It also took me 3 days before i figured out you can move the map pointer like a mouse with the little round pad. The manual is so-so. There are LOTS of settings you can adjust in the unit. Way too many to list. You can adjust screen colors, map autorouting defaults (to help stick to roads), turn by turn prompts, autotracking, waypoints, geocache history, the order of viewable screens, it goes on and on. There really is no way to explain all the features here as you can download the manual from Garmin's website www.garmin.com.

While you're there, look through all the available maps. It is really confusing which maps CDs/DVDs are appropriate for what you need. They have several versions of City maps. The Bluecharts are ocean charts. There are several lake maps. I believe the "Recreation Lakes" has more details than the "Inland Lakes" map, but is not available for all areas. Then they have fishing maps. All these different products are expensive, so keep that in mind before you buy. You can easily go over $1000 for the device and all the maps you need. The built in "BaseMap" is useless. You will need at least one more purchased map product. I recommend getting the maps on CD and not on the microSD card. It is tiny (the size of my pinky fingernail) and easy too lose.

This device is SUPER accurate in every location I could throw at it except in a moving elevator or in my basement office. Dense forest, heavy stormy cloud, in moving cars or boats. It even works well driving through short tunnels. I do have to say, that from a "cold power on", it can take 30 seconds to 2 minutes to locate enough satellites to get the initial location. The less obstruction above you the quicker. But once it does find you, it tracks very accurately; even if you temporarily go through a tunnel or indoors!

HOWEVER, I have been disappointed in the inaccuracy of the North America Topographical map I purchased separately.
The Topo map is grossly out of date. Interstate Roads built 15-20 years ago in the Charlotte, NC or Charleston, SC area are simply not there.


Also the built in Points of Interest do not include Hospitals. If you are hiking wouldn't you like to know where the nearest Hospital would be! I actually needed one on my first car trip with it (long story). Every church or cemetary is listed though!

I do not own it yet, but will likely get a Citymap CDROM, which will likely have more details. The Base Map built into the unit has interstates but has little detail on local roads.

Additionally, I found many elevations to be way off. I think the Topo maps must be from the 70s. Creeks had dried up or moved. Old roads were long gone or new ones weren't there. Old neighborhoods missing. Terrible.

I got almost a weeks periodic usage on one set of batteries, including a 10 hour drive. But spend $20 for the 12V car adapter. I've taken it driving, kayaking, boating, even golfing!

So, it's a great product, except the Topo map which sadly defeats the purpose of many users. Expensive, but that is what you must pay for excellent tracking.

My favorite features:
Accurate location and tracking even under heavy cover
It floats & is water resistant; fairly tough too
Large color screen
Easy to hold
Can use 2 standard AA rechargeable batteries (NiMH or Lion)
Fishing time/Tide chart
Electronic Compass mode.
Driving directions surprisingly good
It automatically records your Tracks so that you can save them to your PC for reloading later.
The PC software exports your Waypoints so that you can save them and overlay them onto Google Earth's aerial photos!

My least favorite:
Did I say the Topo map is inaccurate!
Get disposable screen covers, it can scratch
Expensive
Button usage is a bit tough for big fingers or dirty hands
Slightly bulky
Didn't include a case ($10 extra!)

I will update my review as I purchase more maps.

8-21-06 update:
Well, after a couple more weeks of use, I still can't complain enough about the Topo map (see above gripes).

You better plan on purchasing a City Navigator CDROM as well. (this unit works with the City Navigator product but NOT the "Metroguide" product!!!)

You don't have to but you may want to get an additional memory card (around $35) to store the City Navigator maps separately from the Topo Maps.

Reason is, it is very tedious to switch between maps if they are on the same memory card. Example, the built in Base Map cannot be viewed simultaneously as the Topo Map. Neither can the Topo and City Navigator Maps. So you must go into the Map Setup menu and check/uncheck EACH and EVERY map block depending on what you want to see. You can't just check/uncheck ALL Topo Maps with one click.

Since driving and hiking are quite different, it makes most sense to have one card for Topo maps and one for City Navigator, one for Marine, etc. That way it is a quick card swap.

Garmin has released at least 2 or more updates for my unit and the Mapsource software. It nicely updates automatically when you click 'Check for updates'.

The unit can run off USB power while plugged into the PC. It cannot charge rechargeable batteries internally. You must use any AA external charger. No biggie though i was hoping it could charge in the car automatically.

update 9/18/06: unit still working great. Now that I bought the very good City Navigator DVD, i use this unit a lot more in the car than i ever thought i would. I keep 3 Flash cards handy for map data; one for topo data, one for city data, and one for mixed.

However, i find that the 128MB flash card is insufficient for frequent highway trips. You cannot fit much on a card. 2 or 3 states max. And if it is for a large city, even less.
Worse yet, you must then download your trip route or waypoints to multiple cards if you can't fit all the cities for your trip on one card. Like when you drive from DC to Alabama with several stops in between it requires lots of card swaps; not very helpful for sales people. The only solution would be if Garmin designed the unit to take higher capacity (1Gig or more) flash cards or allow external USB hard drive access.

For the hardcore driver, you probably should look at the car-specific units. Though I believe you can hook up a laptop to the unit in the car to view your location on the PC maps in realtime. But I have not tried that yet.

12-07-06:
I'm getting pretty proficient with this unit and learning new things to do with it all the time.

Thanks to the two other user's comments.

You can in fact use 1 Gig Flash cards with the unit! Duh, i should read the specs. I assumed the supplied 128MB card was the max.

Also, you can in fact "check/uncheck ALL" to display your choice of maps, but I still find it easier to just to load all my driving data on a card, then Topo data on another, etc.