Help choosing a GPS unit

[charlie 1]

Would like some advice on choosing an affordable and easy to use unit. 

Thanks in advance

[masterbaiter99]

I have a Lowrance 520 unit and it works great as a GPS....just get a good map card and you'll be fine.

[FD.]

I have a garmin GPS Map 398 that is easy to use. It has been a good unit with an exceptional depth finder but the detail in the maps is not as good as the Lowrance GPS that my buddy has in his boat.  If I had it to do over again I would buy a Lowrance.  I would check with local guys to find out which unit offers the better maps in your area if that is important to you.

[Bigs]

Humminbird all the way. I read way too many complaints online from lowrance owners to even think of owning one. To each their own tho. Good luck.

[charlie 1]

Thanks guys 

I will be looking for lake maps from Wv to Fl might have to get more than one card.  I sure don't know anything about them.

[RoLo]

Bathymetry is one of the most important facets of fishing,

yet it seems to be one of the most misunderstood.

When you say "easy to use", that tells me that you're focusing your attention

on the chartplotter. Be reminded that the chartplotter is a piece of hardware

made by every electronic company, a device that makes very simple calculations.

The meat-and-potatoes of contour fishing is the "software" (the contour maps).

The software should always be selected first, because it's a simple matter

to cherrypick among the many brands of GPS devices.

Magellan, Lowrance, Humminbird, Garmin and Northstar are all examples of chartplotters

(GPS devices). Every GPS plotter however needs to be compatible with some mapping software,

a whole other science performed by the mapmaker.

With respect to "on the water" bathymetry (as distinguished from "over the road" cartography),

there are really only two major mapmakers: Garmin and Navionics.

Because I place great importance on contour analysis, I own and operate both Navionics

and Garmin cartography. The Navionics contour maps are plotted on my Lowrance GPS unit

while the Garmin maps are plotted on my Garmin GPS unit. I can tell you firsthand

that the difference in convenience and efficiency is like night and day, and Garmin takes the cake.

For instance, I recently upgraded to the "Garmin INLAND LAKES 2009 DVD".

Unfortunately, Navionics software is not available on a CD-ROM or DVD,

as their proprietary media is SD cards (secure digital). In sharp contrast, Garmin DVDs

provide total computer interaction, instant waypoint transfer (unit to computer and vice versa)

and far superior convenience & speed (no SD cards to shuttle between computer and device).

I could expound on every point, but I'm afraid that time & space would not allow.

Roger

[Wayne P.]

RoLo, you forgot all the appropriate mapping for fishing use that is available from Lowrance that are various media based:

Fishing Hot Spots PRO

LakeMaster Pro Maps

MapCreate

Enhanced Lake Maps

FreedomMaps

Some Lowrance users prefer the Fishing Hot Spots software to the Navionics for their particular on the water use even when both have the same bodies of water that they fish.

[RoLo]

RoLo, you forgot all the appropriate mapping for fishing use that is available from Lowrance that are various media based:

Fishing Hot Spots PRO

LakeMaster Pro Maps

MapCreate

Enhanced Lake Maps

FreedomMaps

Some Lowrance users prefer the Fishing Hot Spots software to the Navionics for their particular on the water use even when both have the same bodies of water that they fish.

Wayne, I own a Lowrance GPS unit, so I've tried most of their available software.

Perhaps due to the fear of piracy, Lowrance maps (Navionics maps) are not available on DVDs.

Consequently, patchwork software is constantly being introduced to compensate for

the shortcomings of SD cards. As I stated originally:

There are really only two MAJOR mapmakers: Garmin and Navionics.

"Navionics" is the major mapmaker for Lowrance plotters, it's their software anchor.

Lowrance also offers Nauticpath software for the budget minded,

which is essentially a knock-off of Navionics at half the price.

But again, the software should always be selected first without cutting any corners.

Since I use both Navionics and Garmin software, I've been directly exposed to the advantages

of Garmin DVDs versus Navionics SD cards. Spoiled by DVD disks, I have several patchwork

software disks and several miniSD cards just collecting dust in a drawer :

Roger

[gar-tracker]

Garmin user friendly.....Lowrance better maps.

[RoLo]

Garmin user friendly.....Lowrance better maps.

Lowrance does not make maps.

Lowrance does however, buy the rights to offer Navionics and Nauticpath maps for their plotters.

Many are surprised to learn that even Garmin used to farm-out cartography to Navionics.

They were called G-Charts but Garmin pulled the plug in 2004 (all their software is now proprietary)

With respect to "better maps", both Garmin and Navionics offer HD maps in one-foot increments.

As you'd expect, the Garmin HD map of Lake Kissimmee begins at the one-foot contour line.

Sad but true, the Navionics HD map for Lake Kissimmee begins at the six-foot contour line!

Here's the upshot, the lion's share of vegetation and best bass fishing in the Big-K is under 6 feet >

Roger

[5bass]

[movedhere] Southeast Bass Fishing [move by] five.bass.limit.

[Wayne P.]

Are you guys saying that Lowrance MapCreate and Hotspots is Navionics supplied software?

For me, DVD or CD based software for boat use GPS units is cumbersome at best and involves taking the unit to the computer or taking the computer to the unit for corded interface. The least cumbersome transfer of data is via media cards.

Is there a GPS mfg that utilizes removeable CD-RW or DVD-RW media internally for data transfer without a direct connection to a computer?

[RoLo]

For me, DVD or CD based software for boat use GPS units is cumbersome at best and involves taking the unit to the computer or taking the computer to the unit for corded interface. The least cumbersome transfer of data is via media cards.

I'm really not sure what you mean.

An SD card and DVD disk are two forms of storage media.

While an SD card resides in the cardreader or in the GPS unit, the data from a DVD disk

is downloaded directly onto the resident drive of your computer. In other words,

once you download the software onto your computer, you may never see

or work with that DVD again (mine is buried somewhere in a drawer with the passcode).

Since Garmin MapSource resides directly on your resident drive it is fully interactive

with your computer without any intervening software like MapCreate.

You are free to load all or any part of the cartography into the memory of your GPS unit,

where it'll remain indefinitely, without the need for any SD card.

In sharp contrast, a preprogrammed miniSD card cannot be loaded onto your computer, in fact,

if you attempt to copy a preprogrammed card you'll receive a self-destruct warning.

Furthermore, you can only read the SD card that's currently inserted in your unit.

With Garmin there is no miniSD card to shuttle between your GPS unit and your computer,

so renaming, adding, deleting and editing can be done at any time on any dataset.

On the contrary, my Lowrance GPS which uses Navionics SD cards is a basketcase.

I can only edit waypoints that I load onto a separate SD card, otherwise

I'm forced to use some patchwork software disk to circumvent this shortcoming.

Because the Garmin GPS requires no cardreader cord between the computer and GPS unit,

the handheld Garmin plugs directly into my computer via USB or serial port (my choice).

In addition, the Garmin GPS does not need a transformer or cigarette lighter, but runs directly

off computer power without any batteries installed. Since there are no SD cards to shuttle

back and forth, waypoints can be instantly created, renamed, edit or transferred in either direction

(computer to unit or unit to computer)

I have thousands of waypoints for dozens of lakes in my computer, so I usually reduce

the number waypoints I take afield. To streamline waypoint selection, I generally delete everything

from the GPS memory, then download from my computer only the waypoints for the lake or lakes

I plan to visit. It all takes about 60 seconds, much quicker than the explanation.

Roger

[BobP]

Lowrance, Eagle and Humminbird (plus a few others) all use Navionics cards.  The Navionics Hot Maps Premium series is the most popular for bass fishermen.  They cost $150 each area, and you'd need 2.  You can also buy H'bird units with comprehensive Navionics data pre-installed for a discount price.  Hot Maps Premium includes quite a few popular lakes with "HD" 1 ft depth intervals.  You can go to the Navionics site to see the lakes on each area card.  The coverage is pretty comprehensive.  The maps are updated yearly and you can trade in an old card for $100 if desired (no reason to unless they come out with more detailed maps of the specific lakes you fish).  Now, there is also Hot Maps Explorer, a DVD of the lakes compiled by Fugawi.  It sells for less than $50 but you have to pay a few bucks online to download really detailed depth maps of each lake (one is free with  the DVD).  Explorer allows you to "prospect" on your home computer and transfer waypoints back and forth to your GPS.  I've used Garmin and like them but am wary of having a unit that can use only software sold by Garmin.  I've been happy using Hot Maps with my Humminbird 987C.  It's straightforward and easy to use.

[Fishbone]

Rolo, you are teaching me a lot. Why would you load only a portion of the DVD on the Garmin rather than everything. Would it be memory capacity?

[RoLo]

I've used Garmin and like them but am wary of having a unit that can use only software sold by Garmin.

I'm running two GPS chartplotters on my boat, a Lowrance plotter running Navionics software

and a Garmin plotter running Garmin software. I much prefer the Garmin hardware AND software.

Garmin was the GPS employed by the US military in Desert Storm, Afganistan and Iraq,

I think the recreational boater should be okay

Roger

[cart7t]

thanks for the info on Garmin Rolo.  I've just gotten into GPS myself this year and the interface between the computer at home and the GPS via mapcreate is the weak link, IMO of the navionics stuff.

Their paranoia of piracy cripples the whole deal.  I'm surprised Garmin isn't making a bigger deal of that deficiency in their advertising.  What you're saying you can do with the Garmin mapping software is w-a-y more user friendly than  Navionics.