New Garmin units (Exp. Memory) 60c 76c...

Garmin is coming out with new units that will use TransFlash memory.

The new units will be called

60cx
60csx
76cx
76csx
etc....

Here is the link where I found it!!! http://www.gpstracklog.com/

Todd

That is kind of cool. It said the cards would go up to 128Mb. That would be plenty of memory for any trips I have every done and I usually load both the Topo maps and the City Select maps for the areas I travel. Even better, if you had more than one memory card, you can swap them out as needed and have each loaded with different regions. I bet they are not cheap though!

Another aspect of memory though is not just that of map storage. MY 60CS cannot hold as many route waypoints as say a 276. This means that if I want to define a route that follows roads instead of going point to point, on the 60CS I am limited to using 50 points. If I go more than that, the unit automatically switches back to point to point (as the bird flies) mode instead of following the roads to get from one point to another. I think the 276 can hold 250 points and still use the follow road method of navigating. 50 points sounds like a lot and works well for relatively straight routes with few roads changes. But when I was laying out the routes for the North Carolina trip, it was extremely hard to keep it under 50 points because there were so many turns in the routes.

Also, when saving your tracks, the 60CS is limited to maybe a few hundred miles per track before it starts to overwrite the start of the track. The 276 can hold numerous days of riding several hundred miles per day on one track before you have to save it and start over.

I would like to see Garmin get away from proprietary memory cards to using cards that work in cameras and other devices. This way you could buy a few cards and use them among several different devices if needed. I know nothing about the various card types so I don't know if they have done that with these new units

The 2610 uses compact flash which is one of the cheapest memory options out there. I've got a 2 GB card in mine so I have all of CN 6 loaded. The 276/376 would be the perfect unit if it used CF also. Can't figure out why Garmin won't build a unit that offers everything in one package.

As it stands right now I'd probably buy the 2720/2730. The display is really nice, the unit is very fast and of course it has all the maps preloaded with 115 Meg extra for other map types. The only down side with the Street Pilots is the lack of a real track log and an internal battery. Neither of these has ever been a problem for me as I never do any route planning on the unit itself and I've never used the track log feature on my old E-map so I don't really miss it on the 2610.

Geez, I use track logs all the time. That is how I remember where I've been when out exploring for new rides. I wish my 60CS had MORE track log memory available. Flash cards would be nice.

Scott,

20,000 miles is not enough of track memory? the track log can do 10,000 points, roughly about 1000 miles, and then you can save each log. I use the 76CS, and it has memory for 20 saved logs at 10,000 points each.

Todd

Actually, it would not save even 300 miles before it started trying to overwrite the beginning of the tracks. I tried setting the log to use 10,000 points and that did not help. So I have to save each days track and start over each day. If you are riding in really tight stuff, it will use quite a few points in a short time. I am perfectly willing to believe I may have not had something set right though