HELP! which GPS? GARMIN 126 or 152????????

[trouville]

Ive reterned my Garmin 72. But now i have to choose between a Garmin 126 or for just £10 more a 152???

In fact they may be the same price as the 152 i was shown dident have a built in antena bump so the price could be the same?

The 152 has a screen with better resolution bur 1mmX6mm smaller. a different layout with the key board at the bottem and has waas??? to make it acurate to within 3 meters?

As the 126 is the same as my old 120 i found it quick and easy to use in the shop i dident try the 152 and now for the moment its out of stock!

Which should i buy and why?? has any one used the 152??

Fitting out a small boat has become complicted,there never used to be such a choise? and functions. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[gianenrico]

May I just suggest that, if the tresolution of the 152 is much better than that of the 126, a small difference in screen size will not be "mission critical": that is, the smaller screen (at higher resolution) will probably allow You to view more things and in a better way, so I would not esitate in the choice; then there are the functions provided by the two boxes.
Sure I can remember some years ago when the best price/performance equipment was a radio beacon receiver with a hand rotating antenna......
Cheers,
Gianenrico

 

[aluijten]

On itself there is little difference, the 152 is just the successor of the 126. More features. Also the (PC) interface possiblilities are better. Go for the 152.

Arno

 

[Ruffles]

The 126/128 was brilliant for its day. Must be the longest lived GPS product on the market.

But go for the 152. As they say it was supposed to be the replacement.

Rob.

 

[salamicollie]

Having had an old 120 and moved to the 152 I have to say there is not much difference. The 126/128 has the great advantage of the same user interface as the 120 - there a more features on the 152 but they may not entirely make sense for sailing. A 3D rolling road of the entire route is all very interesting but not as easy to understand as the 120's 2D to the neaest waypoint.

I did get a 152 in the end because it had the marine nav aids database that is of some use!

 

[trouville]

a 3D rolling road? In fact i wonderd if the lower resolution of the 126 would actually be clearer??

I wasent sure if i would need to navigate to meuseums & macdonallds, but i understood the 152 had also pre programed ports rocks and lighthouses? to beable to locate and display every port in Euroupe must be quite useful?

I can see that after easter i shall have to find one to try see how the 3d rolling road looks?

On the otherhand as the 126 is now a discontinued model i would have thought i could find one at a discount? But being a ship shop im not optomistic


At the moment the 126 is £168 and the 152 £180 inc post

 

[stevebirch2002]

Hi

Given the choice I would go for the 152 as it is much better resolution. I have used the 120, 120XL, 128 and now the 152. They all work fine and all will do the job great. Ifyou eyes are not as good as they were then go for the 152.

 

[trouville]

Hi
I put the question as the 152 might have been different or less clear in its display format being aimed at map softwear?? When i first looked there was a £20 difference but now the price is almost equal.

How diferent is the rolling road?In 3D? Is it in a way less clear than the 126 or has it an advantage that it dosent break apart if i go to far off course??

What is the 152 3D rolling road?? Your happy with your 152? I dont wear glasses yet! but with the 72 display of the rolling road i was not happy though i only tried it in demo mode.

Ive still got about 4 weeks before i leave.

Have you got any advice about a transverter? Im going to take with me either a 300w constant or 150w constant just to charge the electric razor,and what ever.

For the moment no one has them in stock! even carrefour a big super market advertised one for 33% off or £18 for a 200w i went along every day now they said they wernt deliverd!!To any of the stores.

In Germany they wanted 38euros for a 300w /600w and the same for the postage to France! In France theres only 100w or 1400w?? the 300w has delivery troubles. All very odd.

Wish you a good easter holiday

 

[salamicollie]

Oh dear me causing chaos again

The 3 D Rolling road shows the course over the route enter winding its way to the horizon. The bit you got on the 120 is the section to the next waypoint - the 152 shows the relationship of this section to the next one and the next one... Hope that makes it clear (as mud)

The marine database is basically all the major buoys and lights and is def useful, but as the other info is missing (like harbour walls etc) you have to be careful!

 

[Stork_III]

If you need to intrface with "older" aids ie Yeoman, the 126 has earlier NEMA versions than 152. Check the spec for each, depending what you want to do with it.

 

[trouville]

Yes, i couldent imagin exactly how the 3D would look. I found some images of the screen with the rolling road, But with your discription its now quite clear!

I lost the link to the shop i found, so its now £195 ! I hope this is a good price as i will order a 152 on monday unless i find the 126 for far less which dosent seem possiable even though there discontinued.

Thanks everyone for the adivice and discription, i shall look out for solid objects not shown!

 

[William_H]

In chosing a GPS I would look at the one easiest to read in sunlight. With distance corrected sunglasses or at night with distance corrected clear glasses I find it tedious or impossible to read the fine writing of time speed waypoints etc on my Etrex. its a menace having to take glasses off or change to close corrected glasses. i am not really so sight impared I usually don't wear specs so strongly suggest unless you are young and 20/20 consider this aspect. I have a small boat and all nav is done from the cockpit while steering so I need everything going easily.
Get one with big numbers. olewill

 

[trouville]

I agree with that, i will be navigating while steering in the cockpit,That was the reason i wonderd if the lower resolution of the 126 and rather thicker numbers would have been better?

However i still have not seen the display of actual 152, only an image online,and it did seem as if it would be clear enough,so the better resolution just makes the numbers letters displyed smoother??Thats the impression i got.

I chose the garmin 72 at first, but in reality i thought it ok for lake sailing but not navigating amongst rocks!

I took the 72 aboard a small boat when we went for a picknik on a calm sunny sunday, i had someone hold it in position and even though i was just 4 feet away was not happy with the size of the display size nor the permited viewing angle with the mounting.

Given the small price difference between the 72 with marine pack plus data cable and the 126 about £20 i decided i would regret it when the winds blowing its pouring with rain,and i have to navigate a rocky channel albeit a wide one!As a gps showing me to be on course is reasuring when my chart log possition are almost the same?

 

[aidancoughlan]

[ QUOTE ]
i wonderd if the lower resolution of the 126 and rather thicker numbers would have been better?

[/ QUOTE ]
I wouldnt be sure that this assumption is correct. The ease of viewing will be affected by a combination of suitability for viewing in sunlight,the resolution of the screen, and the physical size of the letters on the screen.

I would presume (but check) that the replacement model 152 will be more likely to be better equipped for sunlight viewing - this is the priority IMO, as the other two dont matter if you cant see the screen.

Assuming the screen is quite visible, but your eyesight is suspect then the physical size of the characters on screen is what I would check next - better to have big characters with ragged edges than small smooth ones you cant read. However, its not correct to assume that a higher resolution screen on the 152 will result in smaller characters - they may be the same size or larger, just made up of more pixels.

Lastly, the other things being equal, better resolution for displaying any letters will be much easier on the eye, and will translate to being easier to read.

I would go for the 152 since it wins on resolution, and probably wins on sunlight viewing. I dont know about the comparative size of the characters, but I would be surprised if they made the main information (eg. bearing in degrees significantly smaller than in previous models).

(I did go for the 152 without thinking too much about it, but mine will be viewed at close quarters out of sunlight at the chart table).

 

[pvb]

RTFM...

One of the great advantages the internet has brought us is the ability to download the owner's manual for products we might be considering buying. If you devoted a few minutes to looking at the 152 manual, which you can download free here, you'll see exactly what the 152 can do. Unlike the old 126/128 models, you can customise the 152's screen to show small numbers, big numbers - or even just one giant number! The compass page offers a really easy way to stay on course to the next waypoint, and if you can't see that with the tiller in your hand you really need a white stick in the other hand! The manual even shows you exactly what the 3D route page looks like. So don't speculate - RTFM!