Magellan Sportrak Map vs Garmin Map 76

[lakevet]

Any opinions on Garmin vs Magellan? I am trying to decide between the Magellan Sportrak Map and the Garmin Map 76. Magellan reviews as having less drifting, more accurate. Magellan doesn't have external antenna capability. Is this a handicap? Any opinions on ext antennae? Both units float, important when your fishing buddies are 5 & 2 years old!!! Any thoughts on durability? Any other thoughts are appreciated!!! Don't forget to take a kid or senior citizen fishing when you go!

[NELS-BELLS]

A couple of my friends have and use GPS handhelds and they told me that you don't need an external antenna even in the car as long as you put the unit on the dash. I am debating between the Magellan Meridian Platinum or the Garmin 76mapS.

[lakevet]

Thanks for the info. Let me know which you decide on & why.Anyone else have thoughts on Magellan vs Garmin?

[irvingdog]

Ford/Chevy. Coke/Pepsi. Blah, blah. From what I know, Magellan did a poor job for several years of improving their machines for retail customers, seeing as great profits were to be had from military accounts. Once selective availability was turned off by Klinton, Garmin charged ahead and nailed down the retail market with their Etrex line of small, durable and user friendly machines. Magellan has played catch-up, and has done a bang-up job with the Meridian and Sportrak lines. Comparing the Sportrak map and the Map76 isn't really fair. The 76 screen is huge, and it has more available memory. The Sportrak map is smaller and closer to "pocket-sized". Sportrak is more comparable to Etrex machines. I DO really like the Sportrak Pro! Dollar for dollar, you get a lot of machine for the money. 24 megs of available memory is some good stuff for well under 300 bucks.

[This message has been edited by irvingdog (edited 01-07-2003).]