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Navigation Tips: The Garmin GPSMAP 276Cx
By Dan Townsley #60829
WHEN GARMIN INTRODUCED THE original GPSMAP® 276C in 2004 it was arguably the beginning of the GPS era for Dual Sport and Adven- ture Riding Motorcyclists. The 276C series appealed to us because it had the basic features we wanted: rugged- ness, battery or hardwired power without compromise of waterproof and dustproof features, reasonably high resolution display for its time, support for Waypoints, Routes & Tracks, and above all, a glass display and button controls—no touch- screen. Over the years the GPSMAP® 276C
series were among Garmin's best sell- ing consumer devices around the world. They still bring amazingly high prices on auction sites like eBay, even in their discontinued afterlife. Almost a decade has passed since the last GPSMAP® 478 was released, and although Garmin has created several zūmo® and handheld devices targeted for the motorcycle community, the GPSMAP® 276C series left a hole in the product line for many motorcy- clists which had not been filled—
until now! The newly intro-
duced GPSMAP® 276Cx is a portable all purpose GPS naviga- tor for marine and automotive use, just like its predecessors. Even though the new GPSMAP® 276Cx has similar features, this is not a dusted-off 276C. Completely new hard- ware and software make this device familiar, yet all new: GNSS (GPS+GLONASS), Wi-Fi, Blue- tooth, ANT+, expandable industry stan- dard micro-SD Card storage, and a brilliant non-touchscreen display. This device should make quite a few folks very happy. There are two Routing profiles, Automo- tive and Marine, used on the GPSMAP® 276Cx to manage the settings and present appropriate navigation features and func- tions. This time around, the "Automotive" mode really means terrestrial since the Routing option includes all sixteen Garmin Activity types from Walking to Mountain- eering and Cycling to ATV/Off
Road
Driving. At 426g(15 oz.),
I for use think this
device might be a bit on the heavy side
in
some of the sup- ported Routing Activities Hiking Cycling, who
am I judge? udge? Garmin Media – GPSMAP276cx back-lit 18 BMW OWNERS NEWS December 2016
The bright, five-inch (800x480 pixel) display
is one of the best
like and but to
Main memu screen
sunlight-readable displays yet to come from Garmin. The GPSMAP® 276Cx has the same buttons-on-the-right layout and functions as its predecessors. I know, hav- ing buttons-on-the-right is not exactly moto-friendly placement, but keep in mind this device, just like its predecessors, wasn't designed just for motorcyclists. For those who have only used a Garmin
nüvi®, zūmo® or current handheld device, you'll have a small learning curve with the menu structure, but this certainly isn't the most complex user interface among Gar- min devices. All Garmin consumer GPS devices have a power-up page that isn't the Map page, and the GPSMAP® 276Cx is no exception. In keeping with its predecessors, the first page you'll see is what Garmin calls the Main Menu. From there the amount of customization that the user has is more than adequate. If you use a Garmin Montana or Mon-
terra you'll be happy to know, or maybe not, that the GPSMAP® 276Cx uses the same Garmin AMPS Rugged Mount, and if you use a wired-headset, the 276Cx can be set up to pass audio out through the cable in the mount harness. The same battery compartment design used by the Montana/ Monterra has been incorporated here as
member tested
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