Good basic marine GPS unit that shows depth?

[joecooool]

Whats out there? I have been looking on line and most of what I have found is either under of overkill.

I'd just like a basic unit that shows me where I am at and the water depth. I have a pontoon so the sounder / fish finders are useless to me.

I just want something I can plug into the 12v on the boat and suction cup to the dash.

I wish Garmin sold marine maps for my Nuvi, that would be perfect. Unfortunately, near as I have been able to find, they do not.

I'm currently using my IPhone with the Navionics app. I only paid $5 to download the entire east coast of the US marine charts and this works perfect for what I need. I just don't feel like holding my stupid phone the whole time I am navigating around the Keys.

What do you guys recommend?

 

[JoLin]

Re: Good basic marine GPS unit that shows depth?

You aren't going to get away that cheaply.

1. Nautical charts for depth, plus a basic hand-held GPS (like Lowrance iFinder H2O). About $200.

2. Separate units. The hand-held GPS, plus a simple digital readout depth finder with transducer for the boat. Might get away for about $300-350. for the pair.

3. A combination GPS/Fishfinder. Around $500 is about the cheapest you're going to pay.

I don't know of any other alternatives.

 

[slydog75]

Re: Good basic marine GPS unit that shows depth?

I picked this Humminbird up from Amazon and it works great for my needs.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F3O0YO/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

Although I'm not sure about your 'I have a pontoon so the sounder / fish finders are useless to me' comment. Is there some sort of incompatibility between sonar and Pontoon boats?

At any rate, sonar is the only way you're going to get actual depth readings. You may find maps with depth estimates on them, but they're usually only down to 10' and I imagine they have to be highly inaccurate.

 

[joecooool]

Re: Good basic marine GPS unit that shows depth?

You aren't going to get away that cheaply.

1. Nautical charts for depth, plus a basic hand-held GPS (like Lowrance iFinder H2O). About $200.

2. Separate units. The hand-held GPS, plus a simple digital readout depth finder with transducer for the boat. Might get away for about $300-350. for the pair.

3. A combination GPS/Fishfinder. Around $500 is about the cheapest you're going to pay.

I don't know of any other alternatives.

Well bummer. Guess I'll just stick with my IPhone then.

By the way, I am SHOCKED that I can't find a thread on the IPhone Navionics app. For $5 I got the entire southeast United States.

Here is a You Tube demo I found for the app - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh15K_2VpD4

 

[cwhite6]

Re: Good basic marine GPS unit that shows depth?

I picked this Humminbird up from Amazon and it works great for my needs.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F3O0YO/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

Although I'm not sure about your 'I have a pontoon so the sounder / fish finders are useless to me' comment. Is there some sort of incompatibility between sonar and Pontoon boats?

At any rate, sonar is the only way you're going to get actual depth readings. You may find maps with depth estimates on them, but they're usually only down to 10' and I imagine they have to be highly inaccurate.

That sucker is only$345. That is a good price. Might have to look into getting one.

 

[bekosh]

Re: Good basic marine GPS unit that shows depth?

If your Nuvi is the 500 or the 550, it can take the Blue Chart or Inland Lake microSD chips from Garmin.

Otherwise, the least expensive setup I've found is the Lowrance XOG ($149) with the Navonics Hot Maps 08 ($99)