New boat owner. Which GPS to buy? Please assist me.

[BKSinAZ]

Forgive me for my silly questions, but I am a new boat owner. First boat ever! I just bought a Reinell 204FNS. I also never owned a gps system before and I dont compleatly know their capabilities.<br /><br />I am in the market for a handheld gps system that I can use to navagate while I am "on" the lake or coastal areas of a ocean.<br /><br />What would be the BEST for about $250.00 ?<br />I've seen units by Magellin, Garmin and Lowrance. However I am confused. I dont know which is a better name brand.<br /><br />My needs for a gps would be to be able to store several lakes.Maps/Software updates would be nice. I need to be able to see simple roads around the lakes that I go to. I would like to enter the locations of the boat ramps into the gps memory. I would like to be able to hook the gps unit up to my computer.<br /><br />Screen size, resolotion and color would be nice also. Bells and whistles are always a good secondary plus.

 

[BULLWARKS]

Re: New boat owner. Which GPS to buy? Please assist me.

I have used Garman GPS Flying for years so when I got a boat I bought a Garman 182C and I love it. Easy to use.

 

[FishyFun]

Re: New boat owner. Which GPS to buy? Please assist me.

Check out Eagle, they are part of Lowrance. Service tecks are great and so are the GPS/sonar.<br /><br />lee

 

[limacina]

Re: New boat owner. Which GPS to buy? Please assist me.

We went through this this past summer when my brother got lost in fog and ended up on a sand bar off the vineyard. I talked to a bunch of my boat buddies. The best unit is a Northstar or a Furuno. Ships and commercial fishing boats run them. If you want to buy an inexpensive GPS, the Garmin 172 B&w or C for color are the way to go. You can get an internal antenna option and two power cords/mounts and use it in your boat and car. The biggest issue is having to buy the bluecharts after you sunk a bunch af money into the unit. Look on EBay and Amazon for used and new deals. My brother got the blue charts off ebay seperatly.<br />If you really want the hand held, I like the Garmin Etrex Legend. The most convient thing on a GPS is a displaying your track lines, you don't have to always keep up with waypoints. If fog rolls in, you follow your track lines back to the ramp. Better than popcorn, doesn't float away.<br />Best of luck, hope you get your answer from one of us.

 

[seabones]

Re: New boat owner. Which GPS to buy? Please assist me.

If you can swing it, the Garmin 276c is a great unit. It's a little more than you budgeted - I got it last year for about $575 from gpsdisount.com. Get a RAM window mount, and you're good to go. The color is definitely nice to have, the screen isn't too small, and the window mount keeps you from drilling into your helm. <br /><br />Garmin recently came out with a successor, the 376c, so the price may come down.

 

[Joenic]

Re: New boat owner. Which GPS to buy? Please assist me.

Another vote for the Garmin 276C. I love it for both the boat and car.

 

[BlackKnight755]

Re: New boat owner. Which GPS to buy? Please assist me.

I use Garmin on my boat, and I use Magellin at work. I like the garmin a little better for ease of use.<br /><br />My $.02 BK.

 

[seamegr]

Re: New boat owner. Which GPS to buy? Please assist me.

BKS, I have a Garmin 276C with a GSD20 sounder module. The 276C is a great unit, well supported by Garmin with regular no charge OS updates. The Bluecharts cover my particular boating areas so you should make sure that electronic charts are available for whatever brand you buy. Colour is the way to go.<br /><br />I also use it on the road and would never be without an autorouting GPS again.<br /><br />I have a Magellan Meridian as well but Garmin has a huge product lineup to choose from. I will buy Garmin again.<br /><br />Greg

 

[Mo.CrappieFisherman]

Re: New boat owner. Which GPS to buy? Please assist me.

I use a Magellin when I go out and fish a new lake. I like it because it comes with most lakes and can add more with chips and memory. easy to use and set waypoints.