GREG S.

WHAT ARE THE PROS & CONS OF EACH? I'LL BE MOSTLY USING IT FOR FRESH WATER,HUNTING & A LITTLE SALT WATER. THANK YOU... GREG

Mumblerone

Greg...welcome aboard. you can go to www.garmin.com and compare the two. Here it is in a nutshell. You get 23MB of internal storage in the 76S Vs 8 MB in the 76. 23 MB stores a lot of chart/maps, more than you might need. Plus you get a real compass (donot have to be moving to have it work) and barometer with the 76S. That's about it. You can download BlueCharts, Topo, and MetroGuide Charts and Maps to both. I have the 76S...great unit. I use it for back-up.

Boston Whaler, "MUMBLER", 24' Outrage (1996), twin 175 HP Evinrude Ocean Pros. Snowball, the cat...

Thom

I tend to think of the 76S as being a unit for folks with special needs that really require that real compass and altimeter. I don't think most folks need that additional capability to tell the truth.

Thom

Mumblerone

Thom, the only thing that made more sense on the 76S to me was the 23 MB for storage. Might be handy to store roadways to get there and then 'splash.' Particularily when on someone else's boat. The other two items are worthless but work.

Boston Whaler, "MUMBLER", 24' Outrage (1996), twin 175 HP Evinrude Ocean Pros. Snowball, the cat...

Thom

That's an interesting comment. For whatever its worth, and this is just how I have thought about the 76S, I suspect that for hikers/hunters it might be a good choice. My thinking is that the altimeter and compass would be useful, in fact essential, if you spent much time out walking around in heavy forrested areas. The GPS, as good as it is, will still loose its location if there is heavy tree cover. If you hat a Topo map loaded in (Mapsource stuff) and lost your positon you could still figure out where you were based on elevation and you could keep on moving in the right direction if you used it as a compass. Of course every now and then you'd pop out into the open and the GPS part would start working again to confirm your locaton. Anyway that's how I have thought about them.

As to the memory, I'm sure its great. What I'm not so sure of is if its necessary for the vast majority of folks. I don't have BlueChart data in my 76 but I do load Mapsource maps from Roads and Recreation. The plain 76Map can hold a suprisingly large area of mapped surface (in my case virtually every road from Pittsburgh, PA to Morehead City, NC) and so I'm not to sure what I would do with three times the stroage - but of course I'd find a use for it. Also, because I don't have the CD version of BlueChart (I use the data cards of BlueChart in my 2006) I don't know how large a memory is needed to cover a typical fishing area. I have to wonder though because I suspect that most guys tend to fish in pretty much the same area year after year.

Anyway that's why I think of it as speciality machine. I'm sure if you need its capabilitys then nothing else will do, but the real question (and its about a $100 question) is do you need it?

Thom

Squid Vishes

Mumblerone shares my view - more memory is good. The key here is to look at what you are going to do with the unit. Sure, you may buy it now as a boating only device but the minute you get it and start to play with it in the truck, you are going to want street maps. Once you get roads and recreation CD, you think, wow, this is cool, I can select an upcoming exit off the hiway and see what gas stations, restaraunts and other points of interest are at that exit. "This is pretty durn useful off the boat" you say to yourself. But then you come to the realization that the Roads and Rec cd is out of date and Garmin won't be updating it. Then you learn that the Metroguide is the better street navigation product and that it chews up more memory for the maps. That right there is why I want the 76S and would recommend it. it takes all the great stuff of the Map76 and beefs up the capacity to handle the Metroguide and Marine charts without having to reload maps everytime you turn the key on the truck.

Ich Habe Vorfahrt

ndb8fxe

i'd say if you plan on using bluecharts get the s. if not get the 76. the compas and altimeter seem like novilty items on the s unit.

i'm no expert on this topic, but i have to believe the altimeter function can't be very accurate unless there's a way for you to set the "sea level" barameteric pressure somewhere in the unit. otherwise it would show change in altitude just from the normal changes in ouside barametric pressure. i'm very curious to hear from someone who has experience with this.

the compas feature could be accurate, but i would definately want to cary a spare.

thom, let me know how well your's works.

chris l.