Garmin GPSMap 76

I've been trawling Lelong.com (the Malaysian eBay) for many months now for a second hand GPS receiver. And last week, I finally got results.

If you're not sure what a Global Positioning Satellite receiver is, then get your education here.

What I've just gone out and bought is a Garmin GPSMap 76. The seller just blew RM2500 on a newer colour model, the 60CS. So I'm getting a 7mth old, pristine condition GPS unit for a rather good price.

Been having a whale of a time playing with this new toy. Had wanted one for quite a while already. I can see where I am, see where I've been, and see where I'm going. It'll be great for jungle trekking, or off-road biking, so I don't get lost inside an oil-palm plantation somewhere.

The GPS unit can record where you've been, creating a track of you movements, so you can always backtrack your way out.

If you just want this most basic GPS function, then you can just get an eTrex for less than RM800 hereabouts (cheaper to buy in Singapore).

BUT, the GPSMap76 series also allows you to load up a map of your region. And this feature is definitely worth the premium that you pay for it. Although this function is only as good as the map that you can get for it.

There are a variety of GPS receivers out there, but Garmin models are the only one you should seriously consider, because of THIS. A community of GPS enthusiasts around Malaysia and Singapore have spent innumerable hours tracking all the roads, labelling them, and authoring the maps. And these maps are in a format useable by Garmin devices, and I can't speculate how much luck you'll have converting these maps to be compatible with other devices.

The map is INCREDIBLE. I can search for road names, malls, LRT stations, the nearest Bak Kut Teh restaurant (at least those that the mapper finds note-worthy) etc. And if you have a GPSMap 60 series, you can even have auto-routing. This means you ask the GPSr to find a way to get from point A to point B, prioritising time or distance, whether you want to avoid toll roads or not, and the device will show you the way. It's brilliant!

Best of all, the Malsing map is FREE. Free in the sense like, "free beer". Not in the sense as Linux is free. It's still copyrighted. But this map is proven to be superior to several commercial products for Malaysian roads. Products like Mapking will have you driving through concrete road dividers, or punching through cars coming in the other direction.

The GPSMap 76 that I have sadly lacks this auto-routing function. The 76 is a marine series, so routing from point A to B is frequently a straight line and a dose of common sense. Where the 76 excels over the 60, is the tide informations, NAVaid info, which will come in useful if I run a beer smuggling operation between Labuan & Brunei. And most of all, it FLOATS.

.....

If it's not apparent by now, the 60 series is the better toy to buy if you've got the cash. I got my 76 for RM820, so I'm pretty happy. All I'm missing out is the colour, the auto-routing, the electronic compass, the barometer, the altimeter, the hiking altitude graph.... But hey, my 76 floats.


And once I've got my GPS co-ordinates, the next obvious thing to do will be to download Google Earth, of course. Must've burnt a whole night looking for my parents' place in Sibu, and my sister in Melbourne.

I'm at 3deg 09' 09.64" N, 101deg 36' 18.96" E. Check out the golf-course view directly south of me, or the proximity to Ikea.

Next thing to do, will be to look for trail maps!

And GeoCaching!