"The GPS 72 is a great combination of technology tradition, innovation and value for a broad range of users," said Gary Kelley, Garmin’s director of marketing. "Fans of the GPS 12 will recognize many of the intuitive features on the GPS 72, but they will also notice the larger display, enhanced accuracy and advanced features."
The GPS 12 was introduced in the summer of 1997 and remains one of Garmin’s best-selling GPS products. Its lightweight design, long battery life, logical operation and value made the GPS 12 a hit with mariners, hikers, hunters and military personnel. Garmin has taken the best features of the GPS 12 and inserted them in the distinctively black GPS 72. First, the GPS 72 continues the legacy of the GPS 12 by offering a waterproof product that’s lightweight (7.6 oz), yet highly durable. Second, the GPS 72 provides 16 hours of use on two AA batteries. Third, the GPS 72 has audible alerts for anchor drag, arrival, course deviation, proximity waypoints and clock functions. Finally, the GPS 72 relies solely on its internal 12-channel quad-helix antenna, rather than on an external antenna.
The GPS 72 contains several innovations from the GPS 76 series that make it a no-nonsense navigator. Comparable in design to the GPS 76 family, the GPS 72 has four-level grayscale display that’s sharper (120x160 pixels) and larger (1.6"x2.2") than the GPS 12. The GPS 72 also taps into the GPS-corrective Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) to deliver accuracy of 10 feet or less. And the GPS 72 is not only waterproof, but it can also float like the GPS 76 series. The GPS 72 has an internal database of U.S. tide data, worldwide nautical navaids (lights, buoys, sound signals and daybeacons) and major worldwide cities - as well as one megabyte of internal memory to store data from Garmin’s exclusive MapSource Points of Interest CD-ROM.
Other specifications of the GPS 72 include:
The GPS 72 is expected to be available in November 2002 with a suggested retail price of $170.65.