Garmin 60CS vs. 76CS

[Lumenous]

Can you share your personal experience about any of these two units please? I've looked at some reviews online and compared spec's. I'm trying to decide between the GPS60CS and the 76CS. They both have the same screen size, but the 76CS has more memory. The 60CS seems more rugged though. What's the 76CS case made of? I'd like to hear what you think about either one.

Thanks!

 

[ChopperCFI]

They function identically. As you point out, the main difference is the internal memory. I am currently using a friend's 76CS and find that I strongly prefer the buttons at the bottom on the 60CS. The 60CS also just feels better in my hand. For single geographic area trips, the smaller memory hasn't been an issue. If you make cross country trips, you'll need to take a laptop to load new maps as you go.

 

[felder]

I have a 60CS and really like it. Not much to say really because I haven't tried the 76CS.

 

[Floating Spots]

I have the 76cs.
The case is larger, but floats.
The memory is larger and the buttons are in different spots.
That's about it....

 

[this_is_nascar]

I have the 60CS and love it. I choose it due to the ruggedness of the case and the fact it can handle the moisture of using it in the rain.

 

[TOB9595]

I have an idea of the ruggedness of the 60 from the above posts.
Anyone compare the two from that perspective?
Tom

 

[ChopperCFI]

The 60CS "feels" tougher to me, but I don't have any factual data to support that opinion. The 76CS case is more slippery. They both have the same waterproofness, but as mentioned above, the 76CS floats. The 60CS was designed for hiking/camping while the 76CS was designed for marine use.

 

[Spectre]

I own the 76CS, have owned it for about 2 months now. I also considered the 60CS but decided on 76CS mainly because of the memory size. I have held both, and I believe they are about equally tough. On the 60CS group (link below) some have had problems with the belt clip point breaking at the back of the 60CS (the 76CS does not have a belt clip).

The things you have to decide between IMHO is: memory size, floating capablitiy, preferred form factor. The functionality is the same on both units.

this_is_nascar:
How is the 60CS when using single handed? Do you find it easy to hold the unit while pressing keys with the same hand?
I think the 76CS is easy to operate single handed.

You may also want to take a look at this cpf thread:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=571972&page=3&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=365&fpart=1

Or these usergroups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Garmin_GPSmap_76C/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GarminGPSMAP60C_60CS/

 

[Lumenous]

Thanks for all the input!

I went out and held both the 60C and the 76C. Both units feel nice and rugged. The 76CS sits firmly in the palm of my hand and I find it much easier to navigate the menus with the buttons on the top. I eventually opted for the 76C; It has more memory and its shape makes it easier to mount in universal dash mounts.

 

[E__WOK]

I have the 60CS and since I don't drive, the smaller gps is better.

 

[Frangible]

Has anyone tried driving navigation with either unit? How does it work?

 

[Lumenous]

Frangible,

With either unit you can get City Select maps. Once I uploaded the maps to the receiver I was able to do autorouting with the 76CS. It gives turn by turn directions and is rather intuitive to use.

 

[ChopperCFI]

I used a 76CS driving around Boise, ID for a week. It worked great, but I never did get the beeps figured out for advance warning versus time to actually turn. Used it again in D.C. and it was a lifesaver.

Just make sure to program it before you start driving. It is too hard to do while driving safely due to the small screen.

 

[Wingerr]

How does it display the turn event? Does it pop up an enlarged roadview diagram with the turn direction indicated?
I was expecting it would be something like the GPS V, but your difficulty with the beeps made me wonder if they adopted a different way to do things.

 

[ChopperCFI]

It does display an enlarged map view showing the direction of turn. My confusion with the beeps was knowing when I needed to look at the screen. Since I roughly knew where I was going, I really didn't need to look until I actually needed to do something. It was lack of experience on my part and not any shortcoming of the unit. The beeps were different and with experience, would become memorized. I think they were even programable, but I didn't mess with that. I have never used the GPS V to compare.

 

[Spectre]

The routing works great, I use my 76CS with european City Select. I used it extensively in a few days on holiday I had driving around in Sweden (I didnt bring any maps, only the GPS). I have also tested it a lot locally to see if it calculates good routes, and how it handles rerouting when I drive wrong directions. The routes it creater are very good. I would say its routing is as good as the in-car navi system on the BMW 5 series (which is the only other system I have compared it too).

 

[this_is_nascar]

[ QUOTE ]
Spectre said:
I own the 76CS, have owned it for about 2 months now. I also considered the 60CS but decided on 76CS mainly because of the memory size. I have held both, and I believe they are about equally tough. On the 60CS group (link below) some have had problems with the belt clip point breaking at the back of the 60CS (the 76CS does not have a belt clip).

The things you have to decide between IMHO is: memory size, floating capablitiy, preferred form factor. The functionality is the same on both units.

this_is_nascar:
How is the 60CS when using single handed? Do you find it easy to hold the unit while pressing keys with the same hand?
I think the 76CS is easy to operate single handed.

You may also want to take a look at this cpf thread:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=571972&page=3&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=365&fpart=1

Or these usergroups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Garmin_GPSmap_76C/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GarminGPSMAP60C_60CS/

[/ QUOTE ]

Not only does it work great single handed, but that's the only way I really use it, with one hand.

 

[this_is_nascar]

For those that have the 60CS, how long does it take to acquire all the satalights from the time to power the unit on? I've read that unless your > 600 miles from the last position it was used, that the acquisition should be fast, however mine takes quite a while (minutes), each time I power on.

 

[Saaby]

Mine powers up and aquires pretty darn fast. Especially outside.

One of the reasons I went with the 60CS vs the 76 was the Quad Helix antenna vs. Patch.<font color="red">*</font> Are you holding your unit vertically, or horizontally nascar? It should be held vertically.

Shell out the $$$ and get a RAM Mount for the thing for in-car use. Easily doubles the value of the unit.

Or one of the Garmin mounts if you want a more permanent solution, I had to be able to use it in 3 cars (and I've since used it in 2 more) and the bean bag mount wouldn't work because there's a speaker in the middle of the Saab dash.

<font color="red">*</font><font color="red">Ok so I stand corrected. I've really got to hire a better fact-checker, that's' the second thing I've been mis-informed on today!</font>

 

[Lumenous]

Just for the record, the 76C and the 60C both have quad antennas.


"Built-in quad-helix antenna with remote antenna capability"
http://www.garmin.com/products/gpsmap76cs/