GPS

[Lawnpro979]

Got a new boat. Was kind of wanting a COOL GPS. Any advice. What to look for/ look out for ?

Thanks

 

[duped]

That's a broad question that's only limited by your wallet and the space you have on your boat. Expect a lot of opinions, but I'm a Raymarine guy. Excellent quality products and the best service I have seen from any company. They have even done out of warranty replacements for me, at no charge! Look at the touch screen A-Series or E-Series. Plenty of COOL features and work great right out of the box. Garmin also makes an excellent product.

On the opposite end, Navico (Lowrance, Simrad) appear to STILL be on a downward death spiral. Their failures are well documented on this and other boating forums. Software releases that are promised and not delivered, networking issues which their own tech support can't help anyone with...buyer beware.

 

[UncleWillie]

Other than looking COOL, what do you expect the GPS, AKA Chart-plotter to do for you?
Also how big is the boat? Where do you boat? And how big is the budget?
A 20 ft boat just doesn't have the room for the 20 inch displays that a 45 footer does.
A plotter for the local fishing hole has different requirements than one used to cross the Atlantic.
And then if the budget does not have $10k in it, The COOL displays may be out of your range.
Chart-plotters start at well under $500 and go up without bounds. What's your pleasure?

 

[roscoe]

Biggest screen you can fit and afford.
If you want the latest hd maps of your favorite lake(s), make sure they are available on a chip for the unit you buy.

For example, the newest LakeMaster chip is not available for anything but a Humminbird. Why ??
Because the company that makes Humminbird, bought out LakeMaster, and made the chips exclusive to their units.

 

[Lawnpro979]

yes I seen some HUGE TV like ones at the outdoor store this weekend..... Guess I didn't realize how things have changed...... Mainly looking to spend 1000.00 maybe up to 1200.00 really like touch screen. getting older now. seeing up close is an issue. My old black and white one. Iwould have to Put on glasses and get my bearings b4 heading to location..... Plan on Waco Lake, Lake Travis, Sommerville,maybe Lavon/ray Hubbard..... Have friends and family in all locations....... Know Sommerville Quite well. BUT I once forgot where I put in at. it was getting dark and I couldn't find anything.....Thought I was going to have to sleep in boat..... would be nice to have one to remind me where I put in at.... Lake Livingston has 100 slips....... Plan on going there too. never been........

Thanks for replys.......

 

[Teamster]

I'm a Lowrance guy, I like the way they work,...

And the new Gen3 touch screens can be linked to a Motorguide XI5 bowmount and let you control it from the touch screen,...

The Hummingbirds network with the MinKota's but don't let you run the bowmount from the unit,...

If your a troller the Gen3 with a XI5 is pretty slick,.......

 

[GA_Boater]

Lawn - Are you looking for a dedicated GPS or a sonar/GPS combo to do some fishing? And how much space do you have to mount a unit?

 

[Lawnpro979]

Got some pretty good space, Cant do one of those Large TV type..... But being NEW to it all,Looking for advice,

 

[Lawnpro979]

No Title

 

[UncleWillie]

I can't see mounting any thing much bigger than a 5 inch in there.

 

[Starcraft5834]

Ive got a Hummingbird 587 cihd, 5 inch screen, older (prob 3 years) gps/sonor combo...$500 one way or the other.. very happy w it.... comes w basic charts, takes card... gps is nice, yesterday morn was on Seneca Lake NYS, fog so heavy could not see 100 yrd in any direction,, that lake is 30 miles long and 1-2 wide.. I had zero idea on my direction until I popped up the gps, lake image popped up, played arcade game and followed my boat icon,, good to go that is why gps is a must have.. if you like to fish, some mornings you deal with fog. IMHO you don't need to spend 1K for a good unit