I am looking to purchase a Garmin C492 or C498 Chartplotter, does anyone have any thing to say about these plotters. Thanks, Gene
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Garmin 498
I got the 498 last year and love it. No problem with the internal antenna with the unit mounted on the pedestal.
I got the 498 last year and love it. No problem with the internal antenna with the unit mounted on the pedestal.
I have the GPSMAP 492
This was new last year and I use it for coastal cruising. It has eliminated the need to have charts in the cockpit. I still carry them for backup, of course. It does have some operational characteristics that I don't care for, and the data and software had numberous errors. Most errors were corrected during the season with monthly updates from Garmin. Nevertheless, this was not their first chartplotter on the market and I would have expected fewer issues. They were responsive to my error reports and I would often see an update issued that addressed my specific error report within a couple of weeks. I wish I could have afforded a larger screen and also that I had a place to mount a larger unit. Given the prices of laptops with screens that are many times larger than these chartplotters, I fail to understand why the chartplotter prices escalate so quickly as screen size increases. I suppose it's just what the market will bear, but Idon't like to hear that reason. I purchased a spare power/data cable so that I can look at chart data and plan summer cruises at home this winter. I expect to identify more errors in tide and current data and send Garmin error reports. Hopefully the data will all get corrected before Garmin phases out this unit in favor of their lastest-and-greatest product. I don't mean to sound negative, and I would buy the unit again. The feature of having all the detailed charts for the entire US coastline is a significent financial advantage over purchasing individual chart chips. I use an external antenna mounted on my stern rail and the display mounted at my helm.
This was new last year and I use it for coastal cruising. It has eliminated the need to have charts in the cockpit. I still carry them for backup, of course. It does have some operational characteristics that I don't care for, and the data and software had numberous errors. Most errors were corrected during the season with monthly updates from Garmin. Nevertheless, this was not their first chartplotter on the market and I would have expected fewer issues. They were responsive to my error reports and I would often see an update issued that addressed my specific error report within a couple of weeks. I wish I could have afforded a larger screen and also that I had a place to mount a larger unit. Given the prices of laptops with screens that are many times larger than these chartplotters, I fail to understand why the chartplotter prices escalate so quickly as screen size increases. I suppose it's just what the market will bear, but Idon't like to hear that reason. I purchased a spare power/data cable so that I can look at chart data and plan summer cruises at home this winter. I expect to identify more errors in tide and current data and send Garmin error reports. Hopefully the data will all get corrected before Garmin phases out this unit in favor of their lastest-and-greatest product. I don't mean to sound negative, and I would buy the unit again. The feature of having all the detailed charts for the entire US coastline is a significent financial advantage over purchasing individual chart chips. I use an external antenna mounted on my stern rail and the display mounted at my helm.
Hi Gene, I'm very happy with my Garmin 178C...
with external antenna. I purchased the 32 meg data card that holds two chart regions, or about 250 charts. You can get data cards that will hold much more, but what I have is enough for PNW cruising waters. I think the largest data card (all the same size-half the size of a book of matches) is 128 meg, which I expect will hold several chart regions. Terry
with external antenna. I purchased the 32 meg data card that holds two chart regions, or about 250 charts. You can get data cards that will hold much more, but what I have is enough for PNW cruising waters. I think the largest data card (all the same size-half the size of a book of matches) is 128 meg, which I expect will hold several chart regions. Terry
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