Garmin GPSMAP 276C vs. 478

[JB]

I have had this 276C for about 6 years and use it in my car now, but have used it on my boats in the past.

I have the car navigation kit with City Navigator V8, Recreational Lakes CD, and about 400 waypoints on Lake Of The Woods, Possum Kingdom, and around the country. I also have a spare 256K data card.

I really like this unit and have become very comfortable operating it, but. . . .it has much less memory than the 376 and 478 which I think are otherwise compatible and those newer ones have much brighter screens.

Now my unit is getting forgetful. When I start up the car it doesn't know where it is or what day, date, time it is. It has to reorient itself, which usually takes a few minutes. Then it is just fine and works as well as it ever did. It takes several hours after it is turned off to forget what it was doing and have to reorient. I bought a new battery that had no effect, and did a full update of the software, also no effect.

Garmin wants a flat rate $160 to fix it. I suspect that is plus shipping and handling.:facepalm:

There are a couple of used 478 units on ebay for around $200. Free shipping.

My impression is that the 478 is an upgraded version of the 276C with more memory, more software onboard, built in City Navigator and a brighter screen.

I am thinking that for an extra $40 I can get a good working unit with much bigger memory and a much brighter screen (a very, very big plus) and a truckload of accessories and it would all be compatible with the 276C stuff I have on my 'puter.

Then I could sell off the leftover stuff piecemeal for a C-note or so.

Anyone agree with my thinking or see flaws in it??

 

[JB]

Re: Garmin GPSMAP 276C vs. 478

My bad. I misread early bids on the 478s as buy it now prices. They will both go for well over 4Cs.

Oh, well.:redface:

 

[paulpost]

Re: Garmin GPSMAP 276C vs. 478

I have had this C for about 6 years and use it in my car now, but have used it on my boats in the past.

I have the car navigation kit with City Navigator V, Recreational Lakes CD, and about 400 way points on Lake Of The Woods, Possum Kingdom, and around the country. I also have a spare K data card.

I really like this unit and have become very comfortable operating it, but. . . .it has much less memory than the 376 and 478 which I think are otherwise compatible and those newer ones have much brighter screens.

Now my unit is getting forgetful. When I start up the car it doesn't know where it is or what day, date, time it is. It has to reorient itself, which usually takes a few minutes. Then it is just fine and works as well as it ever did. It takes several hours after it is turned off to forget what it was doing and have to reorient. I bought a new battery that had no effect, and did a full update of the software, also no effect.

Gamin wants a flat rate $160 to fix it. I suspect that is plus shipping and handling.:face palm:

There are a couple of used 478 units on Eba for around $200. Free shipping.

My impression is that the 478 is an upgraded version of the C with more memory, more software inboard, built in City Navigator and a brighter screen.

I am thinking that for an extra $40 I can get a good working unit with much bigger memory and a much brighter screen (a very, very big plus) and a truckload of accessories and it would all be compatible with the C stuff I have on my 'pouter.

Then I could sell off the leftover stuff piecemeal for a C-note or so.

Anyone agree with my thinking or see flaws in it??

I think that the problem is the internal battery like the one in our computers that way it forgets and is really hard to replace it from what I herd.