Garmin GPS 76CSX Handheld GPS with Barometric Altimeter and Electronic Compass 010-00469-00

This GPS works very well, even in the car. Even though the screen is small, it is easy to see. I would recommend one of the mounts to make viewing easier in the car, and a 12V adapter for long time uninterrupted use. Take the time to read the manual while trying the features. This will make it easier and help you remember how to use it. Have fun!

The 76CSX Mapping handheld is an example that sometimes small things come in big packages. For $299, you get very little, in the way of real functionality. You get only the most BASIC maps with the unit, so it is not worth much as a GPS-especially for the car- a TOMTOM one has better features for ($149.) It is usable as a car gps, but you need to buy a additional Microsd card(2 Gb- 1Gb for US maps). The included 128 Mb MicroSd is worthless, in reality. Now you must buy the map release( I had to buy the North America NT) Then the 2008 NT Update, then the unlock code. So $299 for the unit, (and then another $300 to get it to have the same functionality as the TOMTOM one for $149). The unit's manuals are VERY poor for teaching you the intended purpose- vague one- liners for definitions of keys, etc... so trying to understand the purpose of the keys is not intuitive. So overall, I would say tall on cost/promises, but low in actual value. Tech support is poor, also. I emailed tech support- got the reply 4 days later. Phone support was better, but the garmin rep gave me the wrong information, and as the result I bought software I do not need. The issue is, why should you need a different GPS in the car, and on the trail? Why can't Garmin design one unit that works well in BOTH worlds? To be able to pay Garmin for two sets of maps- Garmin- "Pay at every turn".

I'm still learning it--but It's Great!!!

The GPSMAP76CSx is a great GPSr for what we do. Hunting, fishing, and everything outdoors. It's fast and easy to learn how to use. We are enjoying it a lot.

We haven't had a single complaint. One funny thing did happen. I was sure we had been turning it off. Well the backlight on the screen is turned up by the on-off button. I"m not to fond of that feature now. My daughter thought she turned it off-she didn't-she only turned the light off on the screen. I had just put in new Lithoniam batteries (which is another great feature in the menues that you can choose which battery your putting in -if you need longer battery life) Well I thought the thing was broke the next time I tried turning it on. The screen would come on, but then it would slowly loose color till it turned off. I called Garmin, like an idiot, and the first thing they said was try switching batteries before you send it back. I did - it worked. Garmin's support was very nice and helpful. I call for support and in return after my new batteries worked-they taught me even more I could do with my new device. I could even get cell phone reception everytime I turned it on while in the Appalachian mountains. (may have been a coincidence-we do use pc phones with our Garmin - but my cousins Garmin never received satelitte service there before while were there) We use ours for Geocaching and I didn't have to buy software or do anything to get started with my device, it was ready to go. I've seen other Garmins that you have to buy this and that to get started-and the best thing-we can go paperless and it's been extremely sufficient finding those cache for us. Especially when we go off trail cause their is a cookie crumb feature so we can find our tracks back to the starting place-no more getting lost in the middle of no where. It never beeps till we are right on it. Without buying it for the intention of use We've found it perfect for road trips. And we have been cheating when we go fishing by seeing from our Garmin when the perfect time is to go fishing before we take the kids. And it's been right everytime. Nomore boring trips to the lake for the kids either. The games are awsome. You can play the all time favorite Astrodoids but you literally have to run around the yard like you are the ship. Same with Gecko smack and a memory game that can take the whole family for help to find the right cards. For outdoor sports-or your every day travelor.. This is worth every penny spent. I've had mine for several months now-and I never leave home without it. Infact we need a new sd card because we've been saving so much in it lateley. The memory card isn't quiet big enough for us (family of 4 using it) because we use this thing way more then we thought. Here we thought we were wasting money spending this much ... We've def gotten every penny out of it thus far this summer. For the first time we all know-we will not be house bound in the winter.