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Garmin GPSMAP 478 customer reviews

Global Rating: 4.75 from 8 reviews.

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rating title date name city state/province country
Garmin GPSMAP 478 SWEET (5/5) Jan 19, 2010 Jack W Smith St Charles MO US
  I have had mine for about 4 yrs. We love it. It has saved my marriage(I know). It also saved my wifes life the 1st trip we took it on. We were in Utah in a remote looking area when my wife passed out with bloode coming out of her mouth (lots) when I stopped to check her the blood ran out onto the road. I revived her and got back in the truck (towing a 28ft inclosed trailer) hit the hospital button and we were only 15 min from a hospital. If I had not had the Garmin 478 I would have turned around drove about 90 mile to the town we had passed that I knew had a hopsital. We name the unit Angel.
I also use mine in my boat. We really depend on the even around town..
Garmin GPSMAP 478 -- lookin' good (5/5) Jan 18, 2007 Rick Manser Andover MA US
  The Garmin 478 is a nice piece of hardware. For those of you accustomed to operating an older Garmin, you'll find this one to be an intuitive step up.

Maps are clearly displayed on the screen -- waypoints and routes are easily programmed and activated.

While I plan to use this mostly in the "marine" mode, I found it fairly easy to input information in the "automotive" mode also.

I bought a MapSource CD and a 128MB data card -- probably a bit of overkill -- so I could load up charts from regions outside the US. With a little help from the very responsive Garmin technical folks I had the new charts on the screen in just a few minutes.

All in all I expect this unit to meet my expectations and hopefully keep me safely off the hard stuff out on the water.
GPS 478: all I wanted & more (5/5) Nov 15, 2006 Matt Moniz Sunnyvale CA US
  My 6 year old GPSIII worked OK but the display was hard to read & I wanted detailed maps. I considered GPSMAP 276C, but if I ordered all the extras I wanted the 478 was a better deal..not to mention additional speed and capacity. Another big attracton was that I didn't have to swap memory while driving cross country. Ordering from GPSNOW was easy and when the 478 arrived I was suprised to find the battery fully charged. This meant the Kid in me could immediatly start checking it out. The menus are really intuitive and button placement and operation was like my ole' GPSIII. When I road tested my 478 I was amazed at how fast it recalulated my route when I took an intentional wrong turn. The display is easy to read even from the center of the dash. I recommmend turning the twilight adjustment to AUTO because the bright daytime screen is too bright at night, but the white on black twilight screen is great, easy on the eyes and not distracting.
If forced to find something wrong with my 478, my wife said the mounting system looked "clunky". But the mounts are secure,easy to use, and have a tight fit. The beanbag mount is amazing! It conforms to the dash or console with equal ease and stays there. I am a commercial driver and never know what kind of vehicle I will be delivering next, so the beanbag will really get a workout.
Bottom line: I love it!
GPSMAP 478 - unbeatable, reliable (5/5) Dec 26, 2007 Bob S Carlsbad Ca US
  I've had this unit for 9 months and use it in the car, on a sailboat, on my Harley and on my KTM dirt bike (offroad). It is very versitle and works great for all the different uses. It has modes for Auto, Marine and offroad - so it knows how to plot your best route. The maps are great. And the track feature is very helpful for offroad riding - you just can't get lost.

Recently, I had a bad spill on my dirt bike - several flips, which the 478 took the brunt of due to the mounting on the handlebars. Well, the screen got damaged, 'cuz basically the bike fell on it. First off, I was surprised the unit was still intact and when I got home, plugged it into my PC and found the system worked (showed my speed right at impact at 59mph!). So, since it was still under warranty, I sent it in and was stunned that they sent me a new unit! What a great company! That's service!
I was so happy, I just went out and bought a Garmin Nuvi 650 for my wife.
GPSMap 478 a winner .. (4/5) Jan 24, 2007 PETER K MCCRARY MANASSAS VA US
  The GPSMap 478 is especially well engineered. The "bean-bag" portable mount is very sturdy and stays put. The nonrefelective screen is quite effective and adjusts well to all lighting conditions, but I haven't tried it under direct sunlight in an open boat. The Owner's Manual could be more helpful; however, I've been able to discover for myself "how to" do what I need. Technical support has been prompt and helpful.
Gpsmap 478 Rocks! (5/5) Dec 10, 2006 Anonymous
  The best money can buy.
Great Versatility GPSMAP 478 (4/5) Jan 19, 2007 Lane Stafford San Diego CA US
  The GPSMAP 478 has a large enough, and bright enough, screen to be visible in any lighting. The easy switch from marine to automobile makes this a double treat to use. I navigated to the marina from home, then out on my sailboat with this battery-powered, easy startup GPS.

I'm new to GPS and don't think the documentation is very clear about which marine charts are included with the 478, so I am still working on updating the system for the latest data.

I also think that there should be installation instructions for the various mounting options and wiring options, none were provided although several hardware kits are included.

The "friction" mount is the greatest, basically it's a beanbag and can be placed anywhere. I recommend the small external antenna for automobile use, otherwise you will need to put the unit on the dashboard and probably obstruct vision on the road.

Great device, I can hardly wait to "navigate" the California Coast.
It's hard to think of anything else you could want a GPS... (5/5) Jan 25, 2007 David Hatton Hauppauge NY US
  The ultimate portable GPS. It has high detail moving maps, on the road, turn by turn spoken guidance, 'off the road' course deviation (left or right)guidance or birds eye view guidance. On the water, on the road, or off the road, it’s hard to think of anything else you could want a GPS to do.

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