Most economical GPS unit with detailed depth chart maps?

O

Ozshadow

Member
Jul 14, 2013
166
Lake St. Clair
Boat Info
99 Sundancer 270 wide
Engines
7.4 mpi B3
I have been using Navionics on my iPhone for 2 years. The chart data is great, but the iPhone screen is small and has to be handheld. It gets too hot on the dash. You can't beat the price though.

My boat has a Garmin 182c with the regional map card but it won't stay fixed on satellites. I would love to replace it with something that gives me the features of what I use on my iPhone in a fixed package on the boat.

I have only really considered the Garmin 441/541. Prices can be had for $300 + another $300 for the map card, but they do have a $200 rebate at the moment. (the models seem to be changing over as well) A sounder option is nice, but not needed since the boat already has a separate unit.

If there a more economical option? I only run on Lake St. Clair. I know the locations I want to get to. I only want the GPS to make sure I have plenty of water underneath my chosen path. LSC is quite large but very shallow.
 
I've had great luck with the Standard Horizon 190i. They are going for around $330 and have a lot of preloaded maps.
 
I just replaced my Navman 5500 with a Lowrance Elite-5 HDI. The one that I bought was the unit with the Navionics "Gold" charts bundled with it. I paid $491, which included new charts. I think it was a fairly good deal considering that I usually spend about $80-$90 per year on chart updates anyway.

I was able to upgrade the charts to Navionics+ with 12 months of unlimited chart downloads for free, even though I was told directly by Navionics support that bundled chart cards could not be updated for free. I followed the link on their web site that said "Freshest Data", and clicked the link that said "Click if you received a Silver or Gold bundled with your plotter.". I had my credit card handy, intending to purchase the updates. The web site had me fill in all of my personal and address information like I was about to buy something, but it went straight to upgrading the card without ever asking me to input my CC#. I even got an invoice emailed to me showing a $0 "purchase".

The "Gold" charts have a modest level of detail. You can see where marinas are, but no details like dock layouts, sea walls, etc.. The Navionics+ charts on the other hand, have an excellent level of detail. It shows marina and pier layouts just as they are in real life. With Navionics+, you can select a chart area on their web site, and then download regular chart updates as well as sonar charts for that area. The sonar charts are really nice, too. As people upload their logged sonar data, Navionics compiles the information. You can then download that information by area. You can switch between sonar and regular charts easily in the plotter menus. When you compare the level of detail between the regular charts and the sonar charts, the difference is amazing. You get 1 ft. bathymetric lines, and I am amazed at the level of detail missing from paper charts and the chips based on them.

If you were to get the model with the transducer, you could troll around the lake and take sonar recordings in the area that you boat. You can upload them to Navionics, and then download them as a sonar chart so you have detailed information about those areas. This is a great feature for those of us who boat in shallow areas.
 
To me, the most resolution is important. For your area a Garmin 536 (inland lakes) would be good. It will have better resolution than the 531 (inland lakes). The 546/541 are for coastal areas.
 
The Lowrance Elite-4M HD ($199 with inland basemaps) and Gold HD ($270 with a stripped Navionics Gold upgrade) look like potential extremely low cost options. Anyone used either?

I wasn't aware of the 531 and 536 coming with inland lakes base maps.
 
Ozshadow said:
I have been using Navionics on my iPhone for 2 years. The chart data is great, but the iPhone screen is small and has to be handheld. It gets too hot on the dash
Click to expand...

what kind of problems are you having when the phone gets hot?.......i also use the Navionics app on my HTC One smartphone....i use a suction cup 'car mount' to hold the phone next to my steering wheel....it works very well to hold the phone in place, even when the boat is going through rough waters.....i have had my phone directly in the bright sun on a 90*+ day for several hours and not had any issues with the either the phone nor the app working as expected......

cliff
 
CliffA said:
what kind of problems are you having when the phone gets hot?.......i also use the Navionics app on my HTC One smartphone....i use a suction cup 'car mount' to hold the phone next to my steering wheel....it works very well to hold the phone in place, even when the boat is going through rough waters.....i have had my phone directly in the bright sun on a 90*+ day for several hours and not had any issues with the either the phone nor the app working as expected......

cliff
Click to expand...
What happens when it gets wet?
 
iPhones have a temp warning/shut off. In direct sunlight on a summer day, it will trigger it. I have had it happen just sitting in my car passenger seat as I was driving.
 
Another reason not to buy an Apple. I have had HTC phones forever. Best on the planet, every couple of years I buy something else and it just reassures me to go back to HTC.
 
Nehalennia said:
What happens when it gets wet?
Click to expand...

it doesn't get wet.....since I boat on inland lakes there is little to no chance that I will be in weather rough enough to cause waves to splash into the cockpit.....if it rains I either put the phone in my otter box waterproof case or just put it in the cabin....

cliff
 
If you have a tablet or iPad, buy the Garmin GLO for 99$ Between this and the Garmin Blur Xhart app, another $30 you can have a multi touch 10" Chrt plotter for $130 . I have a Garmin 740s, but read about what I just mentioned by another forum member and I must say; it works great!!! I have a redundant setup now, but it's a great little backup
 
Lowrance Elite series is pretty impressive for the price. I have the Elite 7, which with the LakeMap Chip is about $100 over your budget. The 4 and 5 series are nice units.
 
I just got the Elite 4M HD gold. Best price I found was $208 plus shipping. Screen is bright. Dash Mount. I like it. My first gps. I use it in coastal St. Pete area. Does not have depth founder but I already had a separate one.
 
I do have a question. About the Lowrance 4 series with Navionics Gold. Do you need to keep the Navionics SD card in the unit at all times to have the charts? Or does it load the charts into memory. I'm trying to figure how to save routes on an SD card... Ideally Id like to load the charts and then put the Gold card away for safe keeping. Thanks in advance.
 
Is there a way to use Navonics on a Ipad without internet? I can load it on tje ipad but as soon as i move from the internet it will not show the current location. is there a gps add on for the ipad?
 
alwhite00 said:
Is there a way to use Navonics on a Ipad without internet? I can load it on tje ipad but as soon as i move from the internet it will not show the current location. is there a gps add on for the ipad?
Click to expand...

There are two types of iPads. Cellular (3G) and non-cellular. The cellular version also has internal, standalone GPS capability (with cellular and wifi off). So, in other words, you must have a cellular capable iPad 3G to use Navionics without wifi. Hope this isn't confusing.
 
Last edited:
almostenuff said:
There are two types of iPads. Cellular (3G) and non-cellular. The cellular version also has internal, standalone GPS capability (with cellular and wifi off). So, in other words, you must have a cellular capable iPad 3G to use Navionics without wifi. Hope this isn't confusing.
Click to expand...
Well that sucks . i was hoping i could use my existing ipad 3 with navonics. i assume you need some sort of data plan with the cellular ipads?
 
You would IF you wanted to use the cellular function. Again, the 3G has an internal GPS capability that does not require cellular activation.
 
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