TrailerHook Posted July 28, 2009 Posted July 28, 2009 Hey, guys. Need some advice on GPS units. We are going on a mini-vacation in a couple of weeks and will be spending a couple of days fishing a large lake for the first time. I don't currently own a GPS unit so I thought it may be a good investment before heading out on a strange body of water. Also plan to do some hiking and mountain biking nearby so I am leaning toward a hand-held model that I can use in the boat and also on the trails and maybe even in the truck. I have never owned a GPS so I am more than a little clueless about them. I have heard that some of the handheld models are compatible with lake mapping chips available from Navionics and Garmin which would be a plus. Do any of you guys use handheld GPS's in your boat and can anyone suggest a good model? Thanks!!! Quote
Ellesar Posted July 28, 2009 Posted July 28, 2009 The iPhone! Seriously, Navionics has released a version of their Lake maps for the iPhone. Its not quite as good as the platinum chip, but its good some pretty good detail. Definately worth the $5.00 they are asking for it. Its got some neat features too. You can take pictures and associate the pics with spots on the map. It has waypoints, routes, fuel consumption estimations, distance between points, points of interest in a bunch of different catagories, etc. I have a Magellan in my car but I don't really use it much. I've found that my phone works better, and it has google so that I can find places on the maps without having to know their addresses. My Magellan usually requires me to know the address of hte place I'm going and I have to use my phone to look it up. So I usually just use google maps on the phone and use that as my gps when I'm not in the boat. Quote
TrailerHook Posted July 28, 2009 Author Posted July 28, 2009 Thanks for the suggestion, Ellesar. I hear the iPhone is a pretty cool gadget, but I already carry one phone for work. The last thing I need is another one to keep up with. I'm really just wanting a purpose-built GPS unit. Any other suggestions out there? Quote
ring fry Posted July 28, 2009 Posted July 28, 2009 I have the I-finder H20 from Lowrance. I put the Map Creat chip in it for driving/hiking and the Navionics chip for lakes. I would spend the extra hundred for the color one. The only drawbacks are that the screen is small for old eyes and if you are hiking, the batteries only last about 4 hours. Quote
Chris W Posted July 28, 2009 Posted July 28, 2009 Take plenty of batteries if you get one the handheld gps units eat them up. Quote
EastMarkME Posted July 28, 2009 Posted July 28, 2009 How bout an iTouch (ipod) so you can get the GPS app and your tunes to listen to and no one can call you. ;-) Much better than the iPhone. lol Mark Quote
Super User burleytog Posted July 28, 2009 Super User Posted July 28, 2009 Lowrance H2OC Screen is a bit small for navigation. Quote
Super User Long Mike Posted July 28, 2009 Super User Posted July 28, 2009 I concur with the suggestion for the Lowrance H2O-C. Yes, the screen is small, but the zoom feature allows for easy navigation. You will need a Navionics or Fishing Hot Spots chip to navigate on any lakes. Quote
dmac14 Posted July 29, 2009 Posted July 29, 2009 Does anyone know if the Hummingbird 727 has the capability to use navonics maps? Quote
Super User burleytog Posted July 29, 2009 Super User Posted July 29, 2009 Does anyone know if the Hummingbird 727 has the capability to use navonics maps? Does it have a SD card slot? Quote
TrailerHook Posted July 29, 2009 Author Posted July 29, 2009 Does anyone know if the Hummingbird 727 has the capability to use navonics maps? If you go to the Navionics website, you can access a list of compatible units from each manufacturer. Quote
TrailerHook Posted July 29, 2009 Author Posted July 29, 2009 Anyone have any experience with the Garmin GPS 76CSX or the Lowrance iFinder Expedition C? Quote
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