| Author | Message | ||
     Baydog |
Jack, You know, I don't think the SiRF chipset is as big of a deal with the marine units since you pretty much always have a clear shot at the satellites on the water. I think all around, the 276C is probably the best compromise, but for bike only, it looks like the Zumo wins out for me. Of course I still need a SiRF chipped handheld for the dirtbike. Darn, this can get expensive... | ||
| Jackbequick |
You're right about the SiRF chipsets. I just wish Garmin would be more specific on which set they are using. There is SiRF, SiRF II, SiRF III and other variations. My 76Cx has the SiRF III chipset. That is the arguably the best (fastest and most sensitive) chipset used on consumer market GPS receivers. Simply an amazing leap forward. But you are right about the 276C too. I do some seasonal boat deliveries and my 76Cx goes with me as my primary navigation reference and backup for the gear on the boats. It has all my routes on it when I get the boats, it helps me find the boats (at out of the way marinas, private homes, etc.) and with locating/returning rental cars, getting taxis, and finding restaurants, motels, etc. Simply stated, my days would suck without the 76Cx and the City Navigator and BlueChart mapping that lives on it. The boats I deliver all have high end chart plotters and all the other bells and whistles. I use the boat's gear but the 76Cx is always on and is my primary reference for the next waypoint. It has 40 odd routes and about 400 waypoints on it that I simply can't live without. A handheld like the 60Cx or 76Cx is hard to beat for usefulness in multiple locations like boats, bikes, ATVs, etc. Jack | ||
| Anonymous |
"I just wish Garmin would be more specific on which set they are using. There is SiRF, SiRF II, SiRF III and other variations." Check the website. The receiver type can be found under the 'Specifications' link for a given unit. Failing that, the manuals are available for download, and they all have a specifications page where this information can be found. | ||
| Henrik |
From the Zumo specs page: GPS Performance Receiver: SiRFstarIII™ high-sensitivity GPS receiver http://www.garmin.com/products/zumo/spec.html Henrik | ||
| Jackbequick |
Thanks Henrik, they must have fixed that last night! Grrr! I swear I could not find that info yesterday and now it is everywhere I look, in the spec sheets, in the user's manuals. Jack | ||
| Henrik |
No worries Jack. I checked the manual earlier today and didn't find the info there - which of course does not mean it wasn't there, only that I wasn't able to dig it out  Henrik | ||
| Court |
Henrik: You are doing NOTHING to free me from my jones! | ||
| Jim_sb |
Jackbequick, The Zumo has a trip log which stores up to 10,000 points of trip data. See page 41 of the user's manual. No, I don't have one (yet). But a riding buddy just ordered one. I downloaded the OM from Garmin. Enjoy, Jim in Santa Barbara | ||
| Khollister |
Court, let me pile on - the Zumo was delivered yesterday & I got it mounted on the Road King. Fantastic gadget. bear in mind I have never owned a mapping GPS, so I'm probably not too sensitive to some of the complaints about advanced features, but it is very easy to use and recalculates extremely quickly when you make a wrong turn. The size is perfect, too - big enough to see and use, not so big it looks like a brick sitting on the handlebars. I love it. Buy one immediately :-) Got some more RAM bases coming in a couple of days & I'll get it hooked up on the XB as well. I connecterized the power cable and have pigtails installed on both bikes so i can move the cradle easily. Keith | ||
| Court |
>>>>when you make a wrong turn. You've never ridden with me have you? I have a rare ability to make EVERY turn a wrong turn. I am saved only by my rare skill in backing down a one-way street the wrong way coupled with my ability to parallel park from the sidewalk side into a space. The ZUMO may have met it's match with me! | ||
| Khollister |
Obviously, you NEED a nav system. Pull out the credit card and help support the economy ASAP. | ||
| Reepicheep |
You are golden Court, no worries. My Quest has a "sidewalk navigation mode" that will route you down sidewalks and pedestrian bridges as well as surface streets. That'll open up all sorts of new possibilities for the truck I bet the Zumo has the same thing. (I'm serious about the sidewalk navigation mode) | ||
| Court |
>>>>I'm serious about the sidewalk navigation mode Man. . . that'd pretty much seal the deal. . . a navigation unit that navigates where I drive! I hope it has a features where you can punch in "places to eat" and it brings up the dumpsters behind your finer restaurants. That babe leads me to a Taco Bell, I'll know the technology is "in flux". | ||
| Henrik |
Well, Court - price online is down to around $730 for the Zumo. Unfortunately I haven't been nearly nice enough this year to have any hopes ... I do want one though. Of course since I don't drive (don't own a car) and only go on one or 2 longer MC trips a year it might not be one of the smarter purchases I'd make ...? But you go ahead and buy one and I'll borrow it once in awhile  Henrik | ||
| Court |
Henrik: I'm wondering if RAM could fashion a "Henrik Mount" . . . something that would suspend the unit from your forehead in front of your eyes? That way when you ride with me . . . instead of "Tom-Tom" . . I could ask "Dane-Dane, is this where I turn?. The upside of this is that it would give you something to say other than screamin' "ohmygosh...we're all gonna die" . . which I find to be demeaning to my elevated driving talents. . when I am parking. By the way . . when you see Vickie next ask her, if in her opinion, it is possible for a human being to ignite AND explode a tin container of BLACK (I mean VERY BLACK) show polish in an all pristine enamel white kitchen. (heating is **seemed** like a good idea at the time) Accounts of the actual incident vary widely. I'm otta the Zumo game after last Friday . . at least for 2 years. | ||
| Henrik |
I'm otta the Zumo game after last Friday . . at least for 2 years. Hmmmm - there's a story there ...? Shoe polish; vapors + heat = ignition ?? Definitely possible. Henrik | ||
| Jackbequick |
Court, When I was in Navy boot camp (shoes were still leather and could still be spit shined in 1964), we used to "burn off" our cans of shoe polish. In that process we would light the top of the polish with a match and let it burn for a while to melt and soften the polish. Then we'd blow it out and use it. Rumor had it that doing that kept your spit shine better for a longer period of time. In hindsight I suppose it was a forced evaporation of some of the volatile esters that contribute to the polish drying. But if you exposed a closed can of shoe polish to a heat source or open flame, I'd have to ask, "What the hell were you thinking!". :>  But you have my sympathy, brain farts will happen. Jack | ||
| Lowflyer |
Jack, The same was true in the AF up to as late as '98 when I got out. However, the boots I wore for most of my 8 years were tan-colored suede. No polishing! | ||
| Court |
>>>>Hmmmm - there's a story there ...? There is a GREAT story there. It was contained in a long letter written to the wife of a friend. I read it at the dinner table last night and one of the guests spit wine (Henrik's wine) all over the table. I may break done and edit the story for posting. How this crap happens I have no idea(r) | ||
| Blake |
Court, If you really want to finish of the exploding shoe polish trick, you ought to try heating some Mobil-1 tranny lube on the stove while immersing copper in it to see if the copper will corrode. Be certain to sprinkle just a little water into the pot to ensure it boils off and thus the lube is up to good operating temperature. The all penetrating aroma of sulfur should compliment your newly blackened kitchen quite well. And if you can get the whole affair on video, I'll say you are as good a man as I.  How do you get tranny lube out of a digital camera? | ||
| Red_chili |
Well, my dashed hopes of getting a GPS are... undashed. My lovely bride not only got me the pair of Sidi Discoveries I've been lusting after, but... gave me another box and out popped a Garmin Nuvi 350. Apparently a good deal on a model about to be phased out... but not a great deal, as she indulged me at around $600 after tax. OHMYGOSH. So based on the feedback here, I am thinking another unit might meet my needs for hiking, hunting, dualsport motorcycling, 4x4 use, as well as road use. No? I referred to (and printed out) Jackbequick's feedback to me, and my wife and I are sorting through all this pretty quickly (5 day return policy at Car Toys). 60Cx? 76Cx? Zumo? Heck I just don't know. Learning curve time. | ||
| Khollister |
The Zumo is probably not what you want for hiking or hunting. The 60 Cx or 75 Cx is probably a better choice. he 76 has a larger screen. | ||
| Red_chili |
Kinda what I'm finding. Pros and cons? Readability of topos in real life use on the ground? That is the one thing that kept me from GPSs for so long. I like the perspective of a quad for triangulating. And while I'm flailing about, some dualsport motorcyclists like the 276C. No idea how its use in hiking would be though. | ||
| Bosh |
I have the 60CS which has the electronic compass. It's great for hiking because you'll know which way to go without walking around to get a track going on the GPS or the need to pull out a magnetic compass. Worth the extra $ in my opinion. I haven't bought any topographic maps for it but it works very well for hunting / backpacking and riding. The new receiver in the 60Cx and CxS are the best you can get right now I think. Very sensitive and work even under heavy canopy. | ||
| Red_chili |
I bit the bullet last night. Went to REI because I had not even HELD one before. The guy was extremely helpful, spent a lot of time with me. For that reason I paid more than I should have (like, $80 more after my dividend comes back to me), but my wife (rightly) has this thing about the "shopkeeper's law" (don't take up a shopkeeper's time, then go somewhere else with your knowledge instead of rewarding him for his effort). After I explained my intended uses (4x4, dirbike, dualsport, on-foot hunting) he steered me away from the Magellan eXplorist which has a nice large screen, because it does not have the SiRF chipset. Nicer price though. So I got a bright shiney 60CSx! The SiRF chipset pulled in satellites even in my house. And not necessarily all that close to the windows either. Pretty impressive. Oh, and yes it's expensive. By the time you get the software you need (City Nav, and Topo USA, and 12VDC adapter, and a 1GB or 2GB card) it's not only merely expensive, it's really quite sincerely expensive (by my budget at least). But I'd rather have a high-zoot GPS that goes from truck to streetbike to dirtbike to hunting pack, than a bunch of cheapies or a cheapie plus another truck-only or Buell-only unit. The screen is quite fine. Backlighting definitely is good, and it is reputed to be viewable in direct sunlight. I wouldn't be able to see much in grayscale (GPS V, or GPS60). The features jump out at ya pretty well. Now I just hafta figger out how to operate the dang thing. But it's coming to me in waves. REI also has a class coming up, free to me. So that figures in to the mix. A couple years ago I took a shot at an elk cow in the DEEP dark timber, WAY down in a canyon, at the end of a very cold day. I missed. She hid in the brush, looking for her I spooked her, and did not take the shot at end of legal shooting. All I was thinking was, geez, so I clean her in the dark, then come back in the morning to haul her out ALL the next day... and what if I can't find her? I have orange ribbon but not THAT much orange ribbon. I was actually kinda relieved at my bad marksmanship. Not a problem now. My knees might be the limiting factor now...  | ||
| Jackbequick |
Red_chili, You'll be happy with the 60CSx, the thing is far enough advanced that you can get years of use out of it. There is somewhat of a learning curve with all the features though. Drop me an email at jacker at midmaine dot com and I can hook you up with some slightly dated but still useful mapping for that. Some of the older Garmin mapping shows some features that are of more interest to the Uly riders and off roaders than the newest stuff. City Navigator is great for getting the latest streets and roads but most of us will want to have some of the older stuff on there too. The Garmin topo is sort of mediocre because it is the 1:100,000 stuff. But it is better than nothing. For the most part, you'll still want to have a paper USGS 1:24,000 quad along with you for serious hunting and hiking. I just bought a 2GB microSD card here http://tinyurl.com/y7y9rn and that was shipped quick and worked perfect (about $72 shipped). As a warning to pretty much everyone, *don't buy* any of the new 4GB SD cards unless you are certain that your equipment (camera, GPS, etc.) is fully compatible with the new SDHC memory format. Apparently the majority of the electronics out there will not or cannot use SDHC SD cards yet. Jack | ||
| Mikej |
(slipping in the side door into this discussion here….) REI has the GPSMAP 76Cx on sale right now with the newer SiRF chipset in it which I guess is the current “bee’s knees” of GPS chipsets. I’ve been looking at various units lately, along with looking at handheld PC options coupled with GPS sending units linked via that Bluetooth wireless stuff. I’ve got an older Garmin eTrex unit without the tighter location fix and I had it out the other day trying my hand at some local geocaching, the unit had me going in circles once I got within 20 yards or so of the destination, then lost it’s fix so I had to hike out of the trees to recapture a fix then wander back in. Probably not a good thing if I’m out at night on the bike trying to re-find some obscure turnoff on a treelined roadway. Right now I’m thinking the 76Cx will serve my immediate needs with the built-in mapping for trying to find local addresses and properties, then later when some new stuff hits the market I can look into a handheld PDA device of some sort. One of the GPS forums had some discussion about the compass function of the GPSMAP 76CSx units not pointing in the right direction, or else it was the direction pointer, in any case they were trying to figure out what feature to turn off to get the unit to point properly. Does anyone know first hand how a 76Cx compares to the 60CSx units in the field and on the road? Just some rambling comments and a question or two, thanks for any input. MikeJ. ps, locally in the last few weeks there have been some great deals and discounts on 1Gb SD cards, and also the 2Gb cards. I picked up a couple for the camera, hopefully they'll work in the GPS unit too if I get one. | ||
| Red_chili |
You do need to calibrate the compass and altimeter... no worries. The 76CSx is a fine unit. Circuit City had a darn good deal on them, if you want to shop somewhere where you can actually play with one first. Don't do what I did and order an SD card. DOH! I get to send it back, replacing it with a microSD card. Other than that it should work fine. | ||
| Jackbequick |
"Does anyone know first hand how a 76Cx compares to the 60CSx units in the field and on the road?" The 60Cx, 60CSx, 76Cx, and 76CSx have slightly different shapes and sizes. They are identical as far as software, displays, and features. Here is a summary of the differences: GPSMAP 60 Cx/CSx = 2.4" W x 6.1" H x 1.3" D GPSMAP 76 Cx/CSx = 2.7" W x 6.2" H x 1.2" D Both have the same software and features. The CSx models have a compass and altimeter built in. The compass and altimeter are of most use to mountain climbers, glider pilots, and people that want to know their altitude and/or direction when not moving (a GPS is not a compass). The altimeter is of benefit for getting more accurate altitudes and for seeing changing weather trends (rising or falling barometers). The Cx models will give you a "compass like heading" (direction of movement) as long as you are in motion (at a slow walking speed or faster) and they will give also you a GPS calculated altitude that is generally accurate enough for most purposes. I chose to buy a 76Cx over a 76CSx for two reasons. I generally have an analog compass with me when I need one (it will *always* work, even if the GPS is lost or broken) and the altimeter in the CSx models was not anything I wanted or needed. It requires some level of additional user attention and calibration to be useful. Here are some of the differences between the 60Cx/CSx and 76Cx/CSx and some the things I like about the 76Cx: 60 is display over buttons, 76 is buttons over display 76 "props up and leans against things" better because of the more rectangular case. I often use the 76 in a map case on a motorcycle, the more rectangular shape and button location works better for me there than the shape of the 60 would. Batteries have to be removed from 60 and a card holder messed with to change microSD card. On 76, microSD card pops out quickly without removing batteries. This is not a biggie, with a decent sized card you seldom have to remove it. Both 60 and 76 series have battery cases that can be a little bit snug with some brands or types of AA cells. There have been some problems with broken battery contacts. Solution is to keep them level as you insert them and remove them gently (like gently slap the case over your cupped palm). Both are equally water resistant. The 76 floats, the 60 does not. The 60 is very close to neutral buoyancy, it will sink slowly and you'll have some time to think about jumping in the water to save it. It can be made to not sink fairly easily. The 76 is "slicker" in the hand, the 60 sticks to the hand better with its rubber armored case. I have my 76Cx in a Gilsson neoprene case with a clear window over the display. That makes it not slick and protects the case and display. Both models come with a lanyard (a wrist strap, more or less). The 60 also comes with a belt clip. The 60 can be hung though an opening in the case next to the antenna near the top of the case, that puts it more or less upright. The 76's lanyard loop is on the bottom of the case and it would hang upside down if the lanyard was used for that. I used Magellan Meridians (shaped much like the 60 series) for years but bought a 76Cx. After trying both styles, I like the 76's buttons over display style equally as well as I like the buttons under display style. There are situations where either one of the two may be better than the other. Only solution for that is to buy one of each. The accessories and performance is the same with both of them. Check for rebates: http://www.garmin.com/whatsNew/currentpromotions/ I've been using my 76Cx for six months now. It is the best and most versatile GPS I have ever had. It goes everywhere and does it all. The SiRF III chipset in the 60/76 "x" series models is head and shoulders above any other chipset in use in consumer GPS receivers with regard to speed and sensitivity. It will get and maintain a fix under moderate to heavy vegetation and in inner city canyons better than any comparable GPS. It is a 20 channel receiver (displaying 12 channels and using the other 8 in the background). It will get and maintain a good fix in the house, in the below dash cup holder in the car, on the bike, inside boats, on my ATV, and every place else I've used it. It can be stymied by extended stays under heavy vegetation, heavy reinforced concrete buildings, steel shipping containers, and windows with metallized mylar reflective coatings. I have a plug in external antenna but have not needed it yet. The software features are very good. It will do autorouting and multiple destination routing (i.e., give you full control of routing) on the built in basemap and on the optional City Navigator detail maps. As you buy it, it will navigate you almost anywhere in North America on major roads. You'll need City Navigator for street level detail and routing. With automatic rerouting turned on, it simply keeps giving you new ways to get to your next destination from wherever you happen to be. Ride all day, get lost, select "home" for a destination, choose the most direct route (instead of quickest), and the ride home might be better than the ride out. In use the 60/76 provides full featured navigation console with a small display. It uses a series of pop up screens and audible warning sounds (audible in a car anyway, no headphone jack) to keep you aware of things. I am sort of a minimalist on GPS, I don't want or need spoken directions, traffic reports, bluetooth audio, MP3 players, etc., as are found on the full featured automotive units. I glance at the GPS like I do the speedo or tach and want something that can be useful almost anywhere and the 76Cx is all of that. I pay more attention when I need more help but find it hard to get lost or miss a turn. I want full control of routing, using the roads I choose, and I usually plan those kind of routes in advance. The 76Cx meets all my needs for control of routing and for recording tracks of my travels (lat/long, time, and elevation). When used with the MapSource application (comes with City Navigator) on a PC (soon to be available for Macs too) it gives me all the pre travel planning and post travel record keeping and analysis I want. It will run all day on two to four AA cells (but it will not charge AA cells). It can be powered externally with an accessory cable (9-36VDC) or via the USB port (5VDC). Plan on having and using external power for use in tank bags or mounts that put the GPS in direct daylight. You need external power to get it and keep it at full brightness (i.e., fully usable at a glance) in bright daylight. Jack | ||
| Reepicheep |
Wow! Nice Summary... |
