I use to have older verion of GPSMap 76S too. I have been happy with that device too. I use my device both in sea and in forest. Issue with old version in forest was short-time of using device with battery power. You cannot have satelite receiving on all the time while batteries are finished in few hours. But with 76CSx this all changed. I was up in mountains hunting 5 days and I had satelite receiving on at least 25 hours without any problems(lithium batteries)! That's wonderful.

You may think this strange but I bought this "machine" to accompany me on most of AMTRAK's Long distance trains. I will use it to track my progress along the rairoad tracks as we travel all over the continent. I'm amazed at how fast this unit locks onto the satellite signals; usually less than one minute while I'm in the center of my house. I will use Garmin's Topo US 2008 Garmin MapSource Topo U.S. 2008which clearly shows the tracks on which we will travel. The Unit will be connected to my Laptop and will visually display our progress recording speeds, positions, elevations, arrival and departure times, etc. I have purchased a 2GB micro chip, which is mounted in the unit, and transferred onto it over 1100 maps which cover the nine routes I will travel. I have tested this using my car and the results are amazingly accurate.

PROS> excellent price, great product, shippment arrived on time with everything intact,... I have been using this product in Iraq for the few months now (I have used several GPSs befor). What got me is the sattelite aquiring capability without any antenna, in an Armored Vehicle. No other GPS could do that. I bought external Antenna but no use for it since I am getting a minimum of Eight out of 12. Clear view (day & night), all easy to use menu, long batterie life (manual says 18 hrs, I used it for longer than 18hrs)......

CONS> The pre stored map might be little off. Every time I reach Syrian or Jordan border, GPS shows about 7 Km inacuracy. And I would still say the best GPS I ever invested on.

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".

OK, Let me make this easy for you: This is the best! As a defense contractor, I train fighter pilots for a dozen NATO countries. I am intimately familiar with embedded GPS/INS systems employed in modern combat aircraft, but this was my first experience with a personal handheld GPS product.

Five minutes after I opened the box, the unit was on and locked on to no less than seven satellites as I sat in my living room chair. When I took it outside for my exercise walk, it locked up 12 satellites in a few seconds and gave me an accuracy of less that 10 feet- WITHOUT enabling WAAS!!

Initially, I was disappointed in the accuracy of the compass function, but then I discovered that it needs to be calibrated (Duh!) Back in the day, we called this a "compass swing" and it took hours. This unit calibrated in about 30 seconds. Ain't technology wonderful?

I'm just beginning to learn about all the features of the 76CSx, but geocaching here I come! By the way, I'm a retired USAF pilot over 55 years old, and I had no trouble using the owner's manual.

Buy one of these. Today. That's an order!

This is a huge upgrade from my earlier generation GPS. Acquisition is very fast and the GPS works in environments in which my previous GPS would not be usable.

Unfortunately I also get to provide a customer evaluation of Garmin service as my unit intermittently freezes up. Hopefully this experience will be OK as this GPS appears to be an excellent product.

I'm new to using a GPS receiver unit, and frankly I'm impressed with the accuracy, quality and general overall ease of use with this hand held gps unit.

some of the features it has that surprised me,

parachute jump calculator, tells you where you might land based on altitude ect.. very neat feature, I'm sure an advanced parachutist would love this tool that's integrated into the gps functions of :

compass

altimeter (barometric)

speed indication

highly precision GPS location tracking

waypoints, and automatic routing.

In short. VERY COOL, as cool as a car mounted system.

The only issue I had was the maps were kinda useless, all the feature are present for obviously something it doesnt come with, highly updated maps.

THOSE are seperate, and about 200$ extra - but you get the car charger, and mounting system for in car navigation .. it doesnt talk, but it really doesnt need to. the map s are scrollable. and you can quickly find things like gas stations, resturants ect.. specially good if your traveling quite a bit. or even a little to a new area.

I use this for GEOCACHING, it fits in my cargo pockets with ease. it's lightweight, durable, lasts a long time on 2 AA Batteries, and even has options to switch to ni-mh batteries which I happen to have layinga round the house w/ a charger unit for an old camera I used to use.

the screen is color, bright. and what's neat about this unit is.. it has a day/night color change feature, .. so when it flips to nighttime, you can look around the window and say 'yep there goes the sun"

it's accurate too with dates and calender info - such as moon phases.. it has that built in.

there's even tide prediction as well .

For marine use, it's got SOME features. but for general overall everyday use. WOW this thing is packed with features, built in applications. search system to find stuff. and it works great with geocaching.com online .loc uploads.

this has 128 meg Micro SD card built in, larger memory cards are available for very low prices.. I saw 512meg microsd for about 29$

the microsd cards are used to store tracks, waypoints that you add, and additional maps.

I recomend this one over the 60csx, only because it's waterproof submergable, and doesnt ahve a funky antenna sticking up. that will tell people aroudn you you got a gps unit in your hand.

as far as design and buttons, it's easy to use. smooth scrolling. and hihgly configurable to change sensativity ect..

I love the 76CSx. It came quickly -- right on the day it was supposed to arrive. I had been using a Garmin 72 and the change to the 76CSx has been pure joy. I debated between the Garmin 60CSx and the 76CSx and finally chose the 76 because the keys are the same and I felt as is if would be easy to adapt to. The only advantage that I could see that the 60 had was the smaller size. I also ordered the City Navigator disk which I had trouble loading. Once I got it loaded it was wonderful. I bought a 1 GB micro card and had even more trouble loading the maps on that, but I went to the help site and used the mass storage device instructions and loaded the 9 states (including Texas) I needed for vacation onto the unit. It was an amazing help on the trip. I couldn't be happier with the unit. I use it when I travel and when I take walks (it keeps track of distance and speed for me). It works even in my house, when I have it shut up in my purse and under the heaviest of tree cover. I could go on and on, but let it suffice to say, I am very happy with it.

I am replacing a GPSmap 76CS with the X series version. I love it. With a 1 Gig chip in it I easily fit all the maps required for a recent trip from Washington DC to Milwaukee. With the new electronics, it comes up a lot quicker and stays locked on in places where my old one would not. Another nice new feature is receiving power through the USB connection so it does not use the battery when connected to the computer. All in all a great unit.

JWF

Do not let the suggestion that this device is intended for marine use deter you from considering it for highway and recreational use on land. In fact, the waterproof and floating qualities of this device simply enhance its already impressive capabitities for hikers, bikers and motorized recreationists. It uses all varieties of MapSource software, providing the ability to use highway, topographic and marine maps.

The removable memory allows the user to increase memory or to create memory cards with chosen mapsets preloaded. I installed a 2 GB card and have every available MapSource map east of the Mississippi loaded, including parts of the Canada, Mexican isthmus, and Carribean World Maps! No longer do I have to sit and select maps corresponding to my next trip, load them to the device. Nor do I have to load map segments on my long trips during my trip (which required I bring my PC). It's in there! It's nearly as good as the DVD method found on today's built in vehicle systems in terms of map storage.

It's far better than vehicle systems in terms of features, portability, flexibility, and so on. There are no in-motion restrictions; all data can be uploaded and download with a computer; if the road is on a map, this GPS will take you there - no "road not verified mumbo-jumbo).

This marks the third Garmin GPS I have purchased. It has several capabilities that take it beyond the GPS V that I own, and puts the GPS12 (though a very fine device for it's time) to shame. This unit has expandable memory, double the storage for waypoints, and over three times the track log memory. Tracks uploaded can be twice as large as the GPS V and three times as many total points.

The satellite reception is astonishing - it often receives enough satellites to give me coverage even sitting at my desk in my home office!

The addition of electronic compass and altimeter improve the usability and accuracy of an already impressive device. You will not regret owning one! If you already have a lesser Garmin mapping GPSr, take a look at this!