Garmin GPSMap 76 Handheld GPS Navigator

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.


Hits the sweet spot for GPS price/performance...   December 6, 2001
 58 out of 60 found this review helpful

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!


Hits the sweet spot for GPS Price/Performance.   December 6, 2001
 8 out of 9 found this review helpful

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!


An excellent product...   October 11, 2001
 20 out of 21 found this review helpful

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.