Hi All I am looking to buy a handheld GPS. There are so many on the market it makes for a difficult choice. My question is....what do you have, do you like it and why. Thanks for your suggestions. Happy Sailing!!
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joe phibbs
it depends...
I have an old Magellan that I keep at the house for geocaching ( a sport of its own...look it up!) and a Garmin. Both have been back and forth to the factory at least twice, at little or no cost to me. If you have a big-enough boat to marry your gps to other electronics, go for the high end of the line. If you just want something to tell you where you are, even though you know pretty much where you are, get one from the low end of the line. I would do a commercial for Garmin or Magellan: the service is that good. joe
I have an old Magellan that I keep at the house for geocaching ( a sport of its own...look it up!) and a Garmin. Both have been back and forth to the factory at least twice, at little or no cost to me. If you have a big-enough boat to marry your gps to other electronics, go for the high end of the line. If you just want something to tell you where you are, even though you know pretty much where you are, get one from the low end of the line. I would do a commercial for Garmin or Magellan: the service is that good. joe
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Scott Mathey
Hand Held GPS
I have the yellow Garmin E Trex and I love it. The price was very good too. Around 100$. I am amazed how accurate it is. I mainly use it for a compass and I enjoy seeing how fast I am sailing. I used it in the San Juans, Washington with way points and the memory system and it indeed worked well. Fog there can be on you quicker than you can head for the mainland. Another feature I like is you can change it from standard highway use to marine application hence, Knot w/ longitude latitude elevation etc etc. Good Sailing. Take Care.
I have the yellow Garmin E Trex and I love it. The price was very good too. Around 100$. I am amazed how accurate it is. I mainly use it for a compass and I enjoy seeing how fast I am sailing. I used it in the San Juans, Washington with way points and the memory system and it indeed worked well. Fog there can be on you quicker than you can head for the mainland. Another feature I like is you can change it from standard highway use to marine application hence, Knot w/ longitude latitude elevation etc etc. Good Sailing. Take Care.
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Glenn Greene
GPS
I have a Garmin GPS Map 76. I bought it when my knotmeter died. I found a new one on e-Bay for $250. The unit itself is compact and easy to use. I also bought the Bluecharts software for it. While the software is handy, the screen is too small to make the software visibile on the water. The fact you can enter waypoints on your computer at home an download an entire trip into the handheld is where I think the strength of the software lies. Most of the time I can see what I need to see, but there have been occasions when I put certain significant waypoints in when I've gone into an area new to me and would not have found what I was looking for without them. I would agree with what Scott before me said about getting the high end if everything is going to talk to each other, otherwise a handheld will give you all the info you want.
I have a Garmin GPS Map 76. I bought it when my knotmeter died. I found a new one on e-Bay for $250. The unit itself is compact and easy to use. I also bought the Bluecharts software for it. While the software is handy, the screen is too small to make the software visibile on the water. The fact you can enter waypoints on your computer at home an download an entire trip into the handheld is where I think the strength of the software lies. Most of the time I can see what I need to see, but there have been occasions when I put certain significant waypoints in when I've gone into an area new to me and would not have found what I was looking for without them. I would agree with what Scott before me said about getting the high end if everything is going to talk to each other, otherwise a handheld will give you all the info you want.
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Bob F
My Choice
I prefer Garmin. I've always found them to be easy to use and they perform well. The small handheld chartplotters are nice.
I prefer Garmin. I've always found them to be easy to use and they perform well. The small handheld chartplotters are nice.
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d j
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Charles Frick
Garmin GPS 76
Practical Sailor Magazine pooh poohs the concept of displaying charts or portions of charts on such a puny display, or for that matter, any display. Here is an instance where technology is NOT better than the "old-fashion" way. (Do you remember years ago when they were trying to make calculators as small as wrist watches, where you had to use a stylus to punch in the numbers. Real stupid).The ability to see the "big picture" on paper and then "zoom in" with your own eyeballs to that spot on the chart where you are, conveys megabites more info. Plus, you can make hand entered notations on the chart which contain far more significance. Then years later those charts become of history book of your travels. Once you have used paper charts for a while, get a GARMIN GPS 76, you will have the best combo. Good travels. Charles Frick, Boca Raton Fl
Practical Sailor Magazine pooh poohs the concept of displaying charts or portions of charts on such a puny display, or for that matter, any display. Here is an instance where technology is NOT better than the "old-fashion" way. (Do you remember years ago when they were trying to make calculators as small as wrist watches, where you had to use a stylus to punch in the numbers. Real stupid).The ability to see the "big picture" on paper and then "zoom in" with your own eyeballs to that spot on the chart where you are, conveys megabites more info. Plus, you can make hand entered notations on the chart which contain far more significance. Then years later those charts become of history book of your travels. Once you have used paper charts for a while, get a GARMIN GPS 76, you will have the best combo. Good travels. Charles Frick, Boca Raton Fl
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