View Full Version : Gps Reccomendation ?
Blind Bobber
07-24-2007, 09:25 PM
I am trying to educate myself on GPS units and their various features and would apreciate your input. It is all a bit confusing to me. Not even sure if I want hand held or permanant mount. The two features most important to me are LARGE EASY TO READ display and easy, and I mean really easy, operation. "Any reccomendations? Would like to keep price under $200. A friend has a Lowrance he says holds maps to all water ways in Oregon and claims it shows the lake and where he is on that lake with the touch of a few buttons. Any input apreciated. Thanks much:yeahthat:
pitchnboy
07-24-2007, 09:57 PM
i believe it is a M68 unit from lowrance and it is the best little unit hands down. full color DETAILED gps and sonar as well...check it out and its in your price range it will be just what your looking for!!!
pitch
MattPark
07-24-2007, 10:27 PM
I carry a handheld Garmin Etrex Legend and I have a Garmin GPSMap 298 mounted in the boat. Both have maps for all west coast waterways.
The handheld isn't real easy to see, but would work fine for emergencies or carrying on other boats. The 298 is color, easy to read, easy to adjust, and has a sounder as well. Ebay has by far the best prices I could find.
pitchnboy
07-25-2007, 12:34 PM
go with lowrance, there is nothing better and you cant beat the price.
pitch
Yakutat Wild
07-28-2007, 10:46 PM
In my opinion Garmin is the only way to go. I have used them for years and I just mounted a new one to the boat this year. I have used other brands in the past and Garmin is the easiest to use by far. The model that I have is the 498 color, combo fish finder. Only about 5 buttons and you are good to go. I would shop around and try several different models and brands to find the one that suits you the best for what you will be using it for. here is a great link to find a good unit for a good price, good luck. http://tigergps.com/
Jason S
07-29-2007, 04:42 AM
In my opinion Garmin is the only way to go. I have used them for years and I just mounted a new one to the boat this year. I have used other brands in the past and Garmin is the easiest to use by far. The model that I have is the 498 color, combo fish finder. Only about 5 buttons and you are good to go. I would shop around and try several different models and brands to find the one that suits you the best for what you will be using it for. here is a great link to find a good unit for a good price, good luck. http://tigergps.com/
Had a Garmin on my old boat. New boat has a LCX-113cHD. Doesn't get any higher end in the Lowrance than that.
DANG I wish I had my oild cheapo garmin with the blue chip back to be honest.
No crap this winter I am selling the Lowrance to a friend who loves it and I am going back to a Garmin GPS/radar and a seperate Lowrance color fishfinder. The Garmins are way more user freindly to me anyhow. Plus I have not had a problem on on the Garmin in the 4 years I had it (was a GPSMAP 182C when they first came out) and my Lowrance seems like it is always having issues.
Flatfish
07-29-2007, 09:44 PM
We have a Lowrance. Wish we had a Garmin instead.
Catching Nemo
07-30-2007, 07:51 PM
Garmin sets the standard in easy to use GPS systems. I had a Garmin but now use a Standard Horizon CP175C. Although the SH is a sweet unit, it isn't as user friendly as the Garmin (probably because that is what I cut my teeth on) and I will go back to Garmin on the next upgrade.
Forget about the Lowrance. Do a search here and on other boating sites and you will find a host of problems (bad ducers, bad/unshielded wire harness, radar waves disabiling the GPS, etc). All brands have issues but Lowrance has more than it should. It is too bad since they have a lot of neat features and pretty displays.
Doc_Rhen
07-31-2007, 01:07 AM
Do you folks know where to findout what lakes have full contour maps for garmin GPS untis?
Bobber there are two basic inital choices with GPS units.
Hand held or fixed mount, then it's mapping or non mapping, then color or B&W, then you need to decide if you want a combo unit.
I went round and round in 2005 with all the choices and just couldn't decide so I got a cheap temporary hand held Garmin GPS 72 unit thinking that it will do untill I decide on a better unit and I can keep the 72 as a backup unit.
It worked fine for me. (Link here... https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=214&tab=index.jsp
The fact is it worked so well for me that I still use it and never did get around to getting a bigger/better unit.
I got a dash mount for it and it rides through the salt spray, blood and slamming around in my skiff and has held up fine, the other thing I did was get a cord that I could plug into the boat power supply (Saves a lot of batteries) with and also cross wire over to my Garnin fish finder so I can display selected items on the screen of the fishfinder from the GPS.
I'm 59 and I found the unit to be almost idiot proof (Hey! I'm an ex jarhead ok. Lol) and even with bifocals I can still see the screen ok.
So my vote would be for the little GPS 72, at least for starters untill you learn more about GPS navigation and decide to get something different.
I've seen them on Ebay for well under a hundred bucks.
Just remember that the 72 is a non mapping unit so it tells you where you were, where you are going and how to get back. If you wish to have maps then you need a mapping unit like the GPSMAP 76.
Catching Nemo
07-31-2007, 07:33 AM
Do you folks know where to findout what lakes have full contour maps for garmin GPS untis?
Give Garmin a call for specifics but they list Oregon as having some lakes mapped. From what I have seen, Oregon lakes have not been mapped very well by any brand.
http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/inland/region.jsp?RegionPK=18014
Tacklebuster
07-31-2007, 08:22 AM
Had a Garmin on my old boat. New boat has a LCX-113cHD. Doesn't get any higher end in the Lowrance than that.
DANG I wish I had my oild cheapo garmin with the blue chip back to be honest.
No crap this winter I am selling the Lowrance to a friend who loves it and I am going back to a Garmin GPS/radar and a seperate Lowrance color fishfinder. The Garmins are way more user freindly to me anyhow. Plus I have not had a problem on on the Garmin in the 4 years I had it (was a GPSMAP 182C when they first came out) and my Lowrance seems like it is always having issues.
What kind of issues are you having with that unit?
WaterDog
07-31-2007, 08:47 AM
I would stay away from the new generation of Lowrance's. There is a local marine electronics dealer who no longer sells them as the new units have not been reliable. He now sells Garmin. I have one of the last x-26hd and while it's had a couple of issues, its been fine since one trip to the the service center and a software update. The new Garmins look like a great unit.
The only knock I have on garmin is you need to buy thier memory chip and thier mapping software.
Doc_Rhen
08-01-2007, 05:08 PM
Give Garmin a call for specifics but they list Oregon as having some lakes mapped. From what I have seen, Oregon lakes have not been mapped very well by any brand.
http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/inland/region.jsp?RegionPK=18014
Thanks for the link, I just wondered because I was looking at the detailed listing for Navonics Hot Maps http://www.navionics.com/HMPremium_06.asp and all the places I fish were listed, but they do not show Garmin compatibility. I have an old Garmin Hand Held, but it does not have a NMEA 0183 output for an autopilot, so I am weighing my options for a new boat. Furuno is interesting but awfully expensive. With Garmin I still want to know which lakes detailed information is available for. It is a bummer to hear not great things about Lowrance, my grandpa was a commercial fisherman, and when I was a kid I did not step on any commercial or charter boats that did not have Lowrance units on them, they were only way to go in grandpa's circle of buddies. I like the features of the lowrance and being able to run the simulators on their website is really cool.
Blind Bobber
08-01-2007, 09:46 PM
Thanks guys
You giuys are awsome!! I asked my wife if I could invite you all over for dinner. She said NO! Sorry. You still rock in my book. I'm researching GARMIN hand helds at this point. Probley a non mapping unit at this point. Thanksagain.
BLIND BOBBER:wave::wave::wave::wave::wave:
BARCHASER
08-08-2007, 11:02 AM
I'm old fashioned, if it aint broke I dont buy a new one. My GPS is an absolutely ancient Magellan I bought in 1994. I'll bet I've got the oldest one around. Works on boat or battery power. It is about as simple as it gets with only 4 nav screens and mostly just an icon and an arrow. But the thing has been extremely reliable. On a RAM mount, which I would recommend, keeps the unit right in front of your nose.
Old, but it has hundreds of waypoints in it all the way from Tbay to Ucluelet BC. Whatever you get, just be sure you are comfortable with it and you dont have to mess around looking at the op manual to figure out what function you want in a foggy or rough ocean. Some of those units have so many functions it gets confusing unless you're a real bug on electronic toys.
Chrome Bumper
08-08-2007, 11:22 AM
Love my Garmin expidition+. High rez color screen, 16 channels. Great unit. Get the one with Topo maps. Good battery life.
I have the Garmin 60CSx and have the auto kit for driving, great for finding addresses. I also have the topo 2008, awesome for showing contours for hunting! Easy to use bar none!
backlash442
08-10-2007, 08:35 AM
""Any reccomendations? Would like to keep price under $200."
Well for under 200 bucks you are fairly limited. Unless you go used. I don't even think there's a mounted unit that sells for that. You won't be able to get a color handheld for that much either. Gray scale is the best you can do.
Garmin is the best when it comes to gps units. However, their screen size in a handheld is small. Lowrance is about 3" diagonially. Only Magellan is bigger but wouldn't buy one. I picked up a Lowrance Expedition off of EBay for about 200 bucks used. Had a 1 GB chip of the South in it and turned around and sold that for a 100.00 so my net is pretty good. I like the unit. Lots of features and no regrets about buying it.