GPS Info.

[Toad]

Looking to buy a GPS for marine use. I would like reviews and first hand knowledge. I would like WASS and the ability to download maps into the gps. I am not looking at any one brand yet. It can be portable or fixed mount. What do you think would meet my needs. Talking to all the salesman at the stores can be a little overwhelming. Biggest factor will be price. I would like to get the most bang for my buck.

[Scott]

I prefer Lowrance, but you'll have a hard time beating a garmin 162 for what you want. I'm not sure on the WAAS. You'll have to check that out. But the download and all is what you said you want. Internal intena is really nice to. Fewer holes, less to step on or mount.

[dogfish1]

I just received my Garmin 182 the other day. So far It's working great. Really impressed with it. It also has the internal antenna. Will use it in the boat,truck and ice shanty this winter. Will get the blue chart's in the mail tomorrow. Garmin's replacement for the g- charts.

I researched for about two weeks, narrowed it down to Garmin or Lowerance. Went with Garmin because of the WAAS,ease of use,and my buddy has a x-15 and I wanted to compare and see which was better. Most places will give you 30 days on-line to try them out. Look on gps4fun.com. Price is right around 600.00. They make a larger screen version for I think right around 900.00, the 232 version. I think the screen on the 182 is big enough. They also make the 188 and 238- mapping and sonar units. I think they will come out hopefully in aug or sept.

The blue charts are kind of spendy, look around and price them, I found one for 129.00. They are suppose to give map quality details. depth contours, buoys and all the other goodies. You also have to buy the memory chips for the unit and the other map source software. All said and done I spent right around a 1000.00 to get started.

I'll let you know how it perform's.

The only drawback I can see right now is the availability of the map source data, that is if you want contour info. That's the main reason I wanted one of these units. It sounds like more lakes will be availble in the next few months for the upper midwest. The WAAS is really neat if it works as good as the unit tells me. Iv'e only had it in the truck so far but it was giving me accuracy readings down to 6.5 feet. I'll have it out in the boat in a few days and test it.

[dogfish1]

Garmin also makes a gpsmap 76 with waas capabilities for right around 350.00 and a 176 unit for 450.00. Went with the 182 because of the larger screen. I think the 176 would have also worked fine. You can load the blue charts into the 176, but not the 76 unit.

[Toad]

Thanks Dogfish. Can you load contour maps into the Garmin 176. I don't know much about what is available on BLUE CHARTS.
Thanks again, Toad.

[Suzuki]

You should also do a search through the forum archives. This subject has been covered thoroughly at least a couple of times recently so there is some great information out there for you. Personally I went with the Garmin Map76. It has all the features you desire and you can find a good deal on the web. I did.
Email me if you want more specific info about the Map 76 or how I found a good deal.
myager@avaya.com

[FreeByrd]

I'm also in the market for a new mapping GPS that has ability to display depth contours. I've been a Lowrance fan for years but all the problems I've read about on the new units plus NO WAAS ruled those out for me. I was leaning towards a couple of the Raytheon units until I went to Boat US and West Marine to "play" with them. I found them to be very user UNfriendly. I can normally pick up on how to use eletronics pretty quickly. One of the reps at Boat US showed me one of the new Garmin Units - specifically the 232 with the BlueChart. Within 5 minutes my mind was made up that I wanted one of the new Garmin units. I believe the 182 is the same as 232 with smaller screen and less pixels - maybe stores less waypoints, etc. but essentially the same with WAAS. I did some further checking and am going to wait on the 2010 which has a much bigger screen and more resolution. The BlueChart chips are basically like looking at an official NOAA chart - including harbor details, spot depth soundings and bottom contours. I fish Lake Erie and Lake Ontario so this is the right technology for me. Cost of the 232 was $999 plus $150 for the BlueChart chip that had both Lake Erie, St. Clare, Huron and Western Lake Ontario. 182 was less. 2010 was $1499.

From the research I've done on the mapping units - the biggest variable is WHERE you plan to fish - ie Great Lakes, Navigable Rivers or inland lakes. The BlueChart Garmin chips probably don't have much detail of smaller inland lakes. I've been more impressed with the C-Map NT chips than the Navionics chips - although I understand Navionics now has the ability to provide the details fouund on the "Fishin Hot Spots" maps - so it jsut depends on where you fish. I wouldn't buy a unit/chip without being able to view it and "play" with it.
Good Luck,
Steve

[dogfish1]

Yes you can load data into the 176. by using the memory chips and mapsource cd's. The chips are kind of spendy, right around 89-100$ for a 16 mb data card. It would be nice if at least a 8 mb chip would come with the unit.

So far I am happy with my 182, I received my blue chart for WI area yesterday and am really happy with the detail. On the ad it appeared to include lake Winnebago for depth contour, but it didn't. Oh well, it still includes green bay and little bay de noc. I'll have to wait till they come out with contour info on the garmin (mapsource) cd.

On the previous post someone mentioned going to West Marine and playing with the units for awhile. That's great advice.