GPS decision..HELP!

[Weave]

Looking into a unit for out occasional trips to the salt and possibly Lake George etc.
I have been looking at the Garmin 420, 430, 440 series. I also looked at the 276 series as well.
Can you more experienced guys shed some light on the differences, pro's/con's ? Are these even the right units for our little Sundeck?
I know the 276 is a portable unit and the 400's are fixed mount but I am not decided on whether or not that matters to me since we already have a unit for the vehicles.
For mounting I was thinking of using a Ram mount from the windshield stanchion?? :smt100

 

[tphinney]

picking a unit all depends on what you want out of it. I put the 545s on my boat after spending a bunch of time at the local westmarine and Boaters World playing with them. I also bought the Vision 2 package to get all the advanced feature after seeing what it added on a friends boat (very Slick).

You need to put a list together of what you think you need and what you can live with out. for me I considered the investment and did not want to have any regrets later that my unit could not do something which would force me to buy yet another new more expensive unit, like integrate a sounder or have XM weather; but that was a personnal choice.

remember you can always take it with you if you upgrade to a large boat.....

 

[billandamy]

In for the ride as well...planning on Winnipisaukee next year and there is a company that sells the sd card for Garmins for that specific lake...rocks marked, restaurants, gas etc...

I was told on that lake it is a very good idea to get such a unit as it is a large, confusing lake.

As well, do any of them have weather...I mean being able to show an interactive radar such as on weather.com?

 

[Weave]

As far as weather, some of the Garmin units have XM compatibility from the looks of it.

tpinney, I am not so concerned about the sounder or weather options at this point in time. This will be my first GPS so it is difficult to say what else I may want/need on it.
I want to be able to hit different areas around new england coast line and not get lost is really what it boils down to.

 

[H2ONUT]

I know a few people who have had major issues with some of the newer Garmin units. 2 of them I know have had their units shipped back and forth many times now since May and they are still not working. 1 of them even got a "brand new" replacement that still dosen't work right.

 

[wastinaweigh]

I would chose the 400 series over the 276 for 2 reasons. First, you will appreciate the bigger screen when you are underway and your boat is bouncing around. Second, I am pretty sure that the 400 series has a faster refresh rate and re-draw rate so the screen will work smoother for you.

The ram mount on the window stanchion works fine - that is what I chose over drilling holes for a permanent mount.

Having said that, the 276 will certainly work. I used a GPSMAP 76 handheld with a bean bag base for years until I bought a 492 on clearance.

 

[Weave]

I was thinking about a small handheld unit but I have two reservations about them:
1 the screen size obviously, and 2 the longevity of its practicality.
In comparing so far I have found that depending on 430 or 440 I can have preloaded charts for one region and be ready to go.
Although now I am thinking that I would like to have a transducer option.....and maybe just not hook it up until further down the road

 

[chuck1]

I've got the 276C and would highly recommend it to anybody. Screen size has not been and issue yet with the zoom features. I like that you can add what ever maps you need to it. Either the blue charts for salt or the inland lakes for fresh. With some of the preloaded units you either have to go one way or another. Also nice to have the map source program that allows you to do all your pre planning on a PC and be able to keep your tracks on the pc for future use. The sounder is a great feature to have when you are in unknown waters.

Garmin has had top rated technical support when I've needed it.

 

[JVM225]

I use a Garmin in my car and have an older Garmin 230 that I use on the boat. Both work flawlessly.
I'm keeping my eye out for the right price on a 10" color Garmin to replace the 230 on the boat. The 230 works great, but I really want to move up to a color screen, and would like to get a bigger unit if I am buying something else.
I would get the biggest color screen you can afford. It will make viewing much easier when the boat is moving.
A friend of mine has a Garmin 2010 C that he uses on his 37 DA and he put a second mount for it on his 23' Laguna so he can use it on that boat too. The bigger screen is really nice.

 

[Weave]

I've got the 276C and would highly recommend it to anybody. Screen size has not been and issue yet with the zoom features. I like that you can add what ever maps you need to it. Either the blue charts for salt or the inland lakes for fresh. With some of the preloaded units you either have to go one way or another. Also nice to have the map source program that allows you to do all your pre planning on a PC and be able to keep your tracks on the pc for future use. The sounder is a great feature to have when you are in unknown waters.
Garmin has had top rated technical support when I've needed it.

Thanks Chuck.....So you are saying that once you have the inland charts on the other models you can't add the coastal charts? If so that will make my decision easier since I would like to have both.
The 440 unit seems reasonably priced with coastal charts already.
How is yours mounted and powered?

 

[VTSeaRay]

I'm using a gpsmap 76csx in my boat, and I love it. I have to get a ram mount for it, but for now, I put it on my dash, or hold it in my hand if it's bumpy. I still have my maps in my glove box, but I haven't used them yet this year. It's great having a real time locator that I can verify water depths I'm boating in with. There is some loss of clarity, (ie, I've found in one area, where it said that the depth was 6'(9' at the time taking into affect the high water), and something was off, because my depth gauge said it was 31' deep there). Which is a big difference, but it's one of the few times I've found the depth gauge be a lot different than the gps maps.

I have the inland lakes map, (almost all the lakes, in great detail topologically), and the Topological land map and the std map that comes with it. I usually only use the lakes maps. I do know that I can see the topo of the land too... I've also used it for driving, however it only beeps for turns for that, no street names. I also used it with my laptop and microsoft streets and maps when I was out in Salt Lake City. I'll probably get one of the Nuvi GPS units for my vehicle that announces the street names. I checked out the 260W @Costco last weekend, but wasn't impressed with it, but I didn't spend a lot of time with it. It did everything it advertised it would, but I couldn't seem to change from the drive 3d view to a 2d type view ... it prob. was operator error.

Here's what a snapshot of Lake Winnipesaukee (wow, not bad without even looking for spelling!) looks like in the garmin inland lakes view off my pc.

 

[RiverRat]

I have just purchased the garmin 430x with the xm weather. As stated earlier the sounder would be a great thing to have in unknown water. I also purchased an external sounder with the in hull dual beam transducer to hook to the 430. Hopefully sometime soon I will have time to do the installation and give a report. Since our season has been shortened here due to flooding earlier in the spring and summer we are going out every weekend. So, I'm sure I will install it the first weekend that the weather is to bad to boat. Until then, we are just enjoying the good weather and trying to salvage as much of our boating season as we can.

From what I've read, with the G2 vision card the 400 & 500 series will display any area on the card. I will never take my boat offshore (due to location) and the helm on a 280 DA doesn't lend itself well to extra electronics, the 430 was the best choice for me.

good luck in your search!

 

[jacktm]

I have the 276C I use it at Lake George ( will be there next week) and also on the river. The plus is that you can also use it in the car. I hightly recommend it

Jack

 

[Weave]

I have the 276C I use it at Lake George ( will be there next week) and also on the river. The plus is that you can also use it in the car. I hightly recommend it
Jack

So I assume you had to buy the "Inland Lakes" chip?

 

[jacktm]

Yes I bought the inland lakes, bluecharts and street maps. I use 1 card and put on what i need

 

[Nehalennia]

I really like my 545s as Tphinney has. I believe the 535 is for inland lake but don't recall if that's correct. The screen is super bright in the sun and works great. I have the transom mounted sounder, which shows temp as well.

I also have the G2 Vision card for 2/3's of the area I boat in and that info is very cool.

The Mariners EYE makes navigating in varying water depths much more relaxing.

Good luck in your selection, as I know I did tons of research as well.

 

[Henry Boyd]

You might re-think your perspective. The 'GPS' in most cases is the antenna bulb, leaving the box on the dash to be mostly a display that matches up the lat/lon with the data supplied on the chip, or display rom. Many times these displays also do other stuff. This means with a little research you can find a unit that does a number of things. In short you might get a little more bang for your buck

In a larger boat this could be radar, or a serious fish finder. But it can also be an additional Smartcraft display (Dave S has some great posts of the stuff he has done with his Northstar). I've got Raymarine because it came with the boat, but even still I have been able to integrate it with the Smartcraft upgrade I did getting speed and bearing data output to MPG fuel consumption.

Henry

 

[chuck1]

Thanks Chuck.....So you are saying that once you have the inland charts on the other models you can't add the coastal charts? If so that will make my decision easier since I would like to have both.
The 440 unit seems reasonably priced with coastal charts already.
How is yours mounted and powered?

I'm not sure about adding other charts to the unit that comes preloaded. I guess I just like adding what I want. I've got
Blue Chart Americas
Blue Chart Americas Tides & Marine Services
City Navigator North America 2008
City Select North America
US Inland Lakes 2008
US Recreational Lakes with Fishing Hot Spots East v5.

Between these charts and maps I've got most everything covered.

I've got mine mounted to the left of the wheel on my 240. I've got some pictures of it on my web site under the links section under the boating adventure tab. Since I've got the black box for the sounder/fish finder option and the DSC option it is powered through it.

You might re-think your perspective. The 'GPS' in most cases is the antenna bulb, leaving the box on the dash to be mostly a display that matches up the lat/lon with the data supplied on the chip, or display rom. Many times these displays also do other stuff. This means with a little research you can find a unit that does a number of things. In short you might get a little more bang for your buck

In a larger boat this could be radar, or a serious fish finder. But it can also be an additional Smartcraft display (Dave S has some great posts of the stuff he has done with his Northstar). I've got Raymarine because it came with the boat, but even still I have been able to integrate it with the Smartcraft upgrade I did getting speed and bearing data output to MPG fuel consumption.

Very good and correct info, but total useless on our smaller sundecks:huh:. We don't have the dash space to even think about mounting a large screen.

Another thought about going with a 276C. The cost for the unit keeps coming down and it will make a great backup unit when you upgrade to a larger boat that has the dash space for adding a large display/network system like Henry is talking about.:thumbsup: