I'm planing a trip from Qatar to the UK next year. The route will be through Saudi, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, Czech republic, Germany, Luxembourg, France, UK. (Hope I havent missed anything!)
I already have a Gramin 276 with maps of the Middle East and Europe. I have to say I really like it, esspecially as it is a real chart/map based GPS and not a cartoon style 'turn left in 1000m' style of device.

So, is there anything out there, probably Garmin, as I have the maps, which is really better than my 6 year old 276?

I'm thinking of fabricating a mount, I have a spare plate and clip thinghy.

Is the 276 the best GPS ever?

Rob

Yes it is

If you like you can buy a mount from Touratech.

My family drove more or less the same route when we left Qatar in 1980, have a nice trip!

That's nice to have confirmed. I very nearly sold it on eBay, then saw them for sale in Carrefour out here, enquired as to why anyone would want to pay so much for such an old design, then realised the subtle difference between the cartoon style GPS and a map based GPS. I still have 2 memory cards as well, so I hope to get all the maps on to two cards, swap over at some point, should be fun!

I'd agree, a 276 is a great machine, decent sized screen and dedicated buttons - If I could find one at a decent price I'd probably have one too!

However, another good option if people are looking (and you can't find a 276) is the Garmin 2610 - similar display and customizable features/fields, but not 'cartoon' as you put it. It uses CF cards for memory storage, so you can typically upload the whole of Europe/USA etc - or have a series of cards for different countries... The touch screen works very well (and intuitively) with or without gloves, and is water and shock proof etc. The screen is a good compromise size without the unit itself being too large, and ideal as a motorcycle 'dashboard' on a more basic [enduro style] bike. The only [possible] downside with the 2610 is that it has to be powered either by the bike/vehicle or a mains adapter - if it also took batteries, I'd say it would be the definitive on-bike GPS...

I've also just bought a Garmin 60CX which will also display City Navigator etc in colour too, however, while it too has dedicated buttons for zoom, menu, find etc, the screen is rather small on those 60 series units. I've bought it primarily as a readout device/compass for my rally bike, but which can still display roads and points of interest on the moving map...

Jenny xx

Yes,
I agreed too. I have mine for about 6 years. Mounted on my BMW RT1150, and now on my GS with touratech mount.
I didn't regret my choice. Good size, very visible screen, manipulate with my gloves (not with winter gloves) and really strong. I remember one day on the higway during a very very strong rain ( there was some flood around) I was wet and my wife too, but the GPS continue to work well.

Maybe the memory stick is not enough to keep all data (north america) but now I have a netbook, and it's easy if I want to transfert data or a new route, or download my tracks.

Good choice

Damien

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Damien - Motard du Monde http://motard-du-monde.net
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276 a keeper? IMHO= no I sold mine on ebay & replaced it with a 278- reasons below

You may want to consider the 278C..... successor to the 276
Why? that series is still, IMHO, the best real gps without touch sensitive screen, without bluetooth, radio 4 or coffee making facilities!

It's seriously customisable to user needs unlike most.
1- because it's the same physical size as the 276 so existing mounts fit
2- because it has an internal memory large enough for all of EU City Navigator, leaving the (up to) 512mb optional memory card available for other maps
3- Because you can load up Custom Points of Interest (which the 276 cannot)
Latest test shows my unit 'crashed' whilst uploading around 326,000 (yes 326 thousand!) POI's !!! so plenty and you can use POI Loader free from Garmin.
If you can, chose the 278C - Highly recommended-
Walk-about/backup unit is the 60CSX

I agree that 278C is a slightly better GPS then 276C.
POI is not that important (for me) and you still need the Garmin memory-cards if you travel outside Europe or you want topo-maps.

QatarRider and I allready have a 276C and personally I don't think the upgrade is worth it. If my unit get stolen or trashed I will probably go for a 278C.

+1

I have half a dozen 256meg cards and I find that works well... Only ONE of them is from Garmin. The others are iDatamedia, some times found on ebay.de

John

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Nostradamus Ate My Hamster

I'am owner of 278C two years now and
never disappointed
never think about Zumo series
keep your 276 for another 5 years

Thanks for all the feedback, especially as It was what I wanted to hear! I agree, if I was starting from scratch I would go for the more up to date version, your comments make me happy to continue with the 276, so, the GPS is finalised, on to the route!