Garmin Development knows this is an issue. I have five different Bluetooth Headset/Comm unites and none of them will pair with the 276Cx. All of them will pair with three other Garmin devices I own. If it were me, I would call (not email) Garmin Product Support and demand they either replace the device or you should return it. This problem will not get fixed if customers don't press Garmin to address it.
Gawd, I want to just buy one of these and then call Garmin to piss them off. It's something that just needs to happen. I'm retired and plenty of time this winter.
Tried mine for the first time yesterday on an all day rail excursion. Video of 276CX refresh with three maps working (preloaded recreational, Talktoaster TT and Cache), preloaded is the worst villain. Everything happens after the event, even when walking! Guess it's joining the queue of those going back.
Think this version is the same or even better and overrule's the Beta version 2.61 as I received yesterday. Next -> test drive tomorrow, hope it will look like this
I was wondering if anyone has noticed that map rendering speed is influenced by how many tracks you have set to Show on Map. It seems to me that the software would somehow have to look at every point in every track enabled to decide if it needs to be drawn on the current view. But it could also be that this operation is insignificant compared to a complex map scene. Some experiments might be in order to see if rendering speed is a strong function of map scene complexity. It certainly is in Basecamp but not so much in Mapsource.
From my experience all the units I have had over the years ( and I have had a few ) Slow down with more things shown on the map If you try to display a lot of tracks it can be quite noticeable One of the first things I tried with the 276cx was to set it to display nothing but the map
So far my testing shows a small improvement in map display redraw ( that includes any data that is displayed on the Map Page - like Active Routes, Tracks, Overlays, etc). My test scenario for Map Page Redraw is to enable 24K Topo, OSM NA (or CNNA) and turn on Map Shaded Relief. I activate a 10mi Route and I set the Map Scale to 0.5mi(800m). I then do Zoom In/Out and time how long it takes the Map Page to completely refresh. The following screenshot took 1:45 at v2.60. This now takes 1:03 at v2.70. Although this may seem like a significant improvement, waiting 1 minute 3 seconds for the display to refresh is dysfunctional. In addition, there has been no improvement in Audio Device discovery & pairing.
Since it is -3 degrees at home today I decided to play around with rendering speed on my Montana. With no tracks showing it took about ~3 seconds for each zoom out, zoom in, or pan over a range from .5 mi out to 20 mi. This was using City Navigator in the Minneapolis metro area. So there a lot of roads. Then I enabled 4 tracks of maybe 1000 points each. This time the Montana took ~2 seconds to do each of the renderings above. I don't understand this. I kind of invalidates my theory above that having many visible tracks would slow down rendering. Score another success for the scientific method. My timing method was a highly precise verbal "one one thousand, two one thousand, ..."
Just read a review of the GPSMAP 276Cx. Great review by the way. http://globeriders.com/article_pages/article10_gps/article10_gpsmap276cx.shtml In the section talking about track logs, there is the following image/statement: I cannot find where to set it to NOT automatically start. And ideas ?
Don't be sorry, Chris. That is the only way to force Garmin for reliable engineering. All We need , is perfect successor of 276C. Fast, worth the money, and ... Unique on the market. That cripple... "mini TV", isn't.
@Claire Z. Thank you for the kind words re: my 276Cx review. I should update the Track Log comment in my review. There actually was a setting in the early code builds but they removed it prior to release. Your Track Log is always active unless you Stop it manually in the MENU-MENU->Track->Active screen. This was done so folks didn't forget to turn in On. If you just don't want to see the Active Track on the Map, use the setting, MENU->Map Setup->Line->Track Log=Off.
@wbbnm Even if you were to show 250 Tracks with 15,000pts each on the map, the amount of data that comprises is minuscule compared to any Map. Now, if you want to add computing into the redraw, create and active Route.
Agree, but also think you should remove your recommendation for the unit from your review until things operate as it was marketed by Garmin. Your recommendation is a major factor many of us use in our purchase decision.
@empedrado I do appreciate the responsibility of my placing this, and other Garmin devices, on my Recommend List. There have been times [like the Monterra] where I did as you suggest and did not recommend it until many of the issues were resolved - almost six months after release. But, in that case, the device was actually unusable for anyone with respect to most of the Garmin related features. In the case of the 276Cx, Map refresh is slow and that does affect many users but not all users: I reference @BigDogAdventures. As for the Audio Device feature not working for me, it does seem to work for some folks in the EU - I don't know why - and given the market breadth of this device, many users will never connect a Bluetooth Headset/Comm Unit. Given those conditions, I can't justify removing the 276Cx from the Recommend List. Having said the above, the poor functioning state of Garmin newly released products is one of the reasons why I participate in these fora. Even though I have recommended the 276Cx as capable, there are some that it [currently] will not work for and I try to let folks know what I know about the current condition.
Sorry, I know you do take this seriously, and totally agree with what you said above. My concern was solely based on the comment that they should return the unit to get Garmin's attention. I was following that to the conclusion that your recommendation or lack thereof might also get their attention. As you point out that is not the whole picture. BigDogAdventures probably uses his device more like I will and he is clearly happy, others will use it in an entirely different way and in entirely different continents. With regard to the Monterra, I do recall your on then off recommendation. Being an early adopter of that device, I agreed with both your initial as well as subsequent decisions. That device had so much potential and still has features I wish the 276cx incorporated. All seasoned Garmin users know newly released products will be problematic and that most problems will eventually get solved if enough of us bring them to their attention. Having had the opportunity to set up a riding buddies 276cx the last couple days, and take him out on a DS ride today, there is no question that I want one and will acquire one as soon as I can.
I agree you start recommending units that have major issues then your recommendation will soon be worthless At the very least you should point out the major shortcomings of this device If you want to use it off road you will most likely have detailed mapping on it and under these circumstances the 276cx at the moment is dreadful !!! And I for one would avoid it until this is sorted
@DRTBYK Thanks for the explanation. Interesting side note. You first stop the track log, then clear, then check back seconds later, and the track log is back on. Garmin really wants us to keep the track log on. The problem I am trying to solve is how to more efficiently edit out these stray vectors when using Basecamp. Looks like me on a bad hair day. I tried to follow this sequence but could not find Map Setup. Only way I could get to a Track Log was: Page>Menu>Map Setup>Line>Track Log But here, the menu provides settings from Auto to 500 miles. Could not find Track Log = Off
There are a number of BaseCamp tutorials around that will guide you through Track editing so you can easily remove unwanted Track points (like the 'noise' we get when stationary). Here is my approach to 'bulk' editing of unwanted Track points using MacOS BaseCamp: With your Track showing on the BaseCamp Map (any map), double-click on the Track in the List view to open the Track Properties window. You can’t just rubber-band select the points on the Map but you can select them in the Properties window. To find the point in the list, looking at the Track on the Map, just double-click on the Track close to the point(s) you want to delete. This will highlight the Point on the Track both on the Map and in the Properties window list. Now in the Properties point list, you can multi-select points in either direction to cover the part of the Track you want to delete. Then, just press the Delete key. Hope that helps... Cheers,