QUICK QUESTION ABOUT HANDHELD GPS

[knotty by nature]

WHAT IS EVERYONE USING IN THE WAY OF HANDHELDS. IM LOOKING AT THE MAGELLAN MERIDAN MARINE VS THE NEW LOWRANCE H2O. I WORKED FOR WESTMARINE AND I KNOW THE MAGELLAN HAS BEEN AROUND FOR FOREVER AND A DAY. ITS A GOOD HANDHELP. I LIKE THAT NEW LOWRANCE THOUGH, ITS HAS ALL KINDS OF GOODIES AND A BIT CHEAPER. WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK?

[warthog5]

The leader of the pack is Garmin.

Megellian will always be the Redheaded stepchild of the GPS industry.

[ChuckB]

I had (and 3 buddies still use) the Garmin Map76, and we have all been completely satisified. I do not know the price or function differences between the 2 you mention and Garmin, but the Garmin has been very dependable and easy to use. We have only used as far as 60 miles offshore, but had no problems. With all fishing openfisherman these GPS's have been soaked many times and still work like a champ.

[alabat]

In Real Estate it's location, location,location.

I'll make it three in a row for Garmin hands down the best. I've got a old handheld that needed out of warranty service last year. they gave me a under $100 dollar flat rate and it was done very quickily and they updated the unit operating system.[]

[mubikS]

Garmin GPSMAP 76, and before that a Garmin eTrex Venture. The venture has been wet, crashed on a street luge, dropped several stories, etc. Still kicking.

[makemenuts]

Garmin GPS map 76...I have not researched if the unt can be connected to my VHF radio's DSC feature...could be one drawback of a handheld unit.

[knotty by nature]

Holy monkey,

Apperently Garmin units are the hands down winner in this forum. I will check into the gps map 76 and see what they are all about.

thanks

[hookshot]

I used a Garmin 72 on my last boat ($150 at Boater's World). It had no mapping, but it did have all the navigation markers in the ICW. Stores waypoints and routes, has tracker function and tide info., among other features. Very handy for a low price. You can get a data cable to interface with your VHF, although I couldn't get it to work.

[mako224]

Garmin GPS 12. I don't use it much anymore but it is a great backup to bring along. Back when that was all I had I could find the smallest of wrecks with it and it was right on every time. It is a very good unit.

[JWALKER]

My garmin 12 has worked for years. Id highly recommened a garmin product.

[gw204]

Garmin GPS48 for me. Four flawless years of use. []

[mubikS]

quote:

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Originally posted by makemenuts


Garmin GPS map 76...I have not researched if the unt can be connected to my VHF radio's DSC feature...could be one drawback of a handheld unit.

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While I haven't hooked mine to my Oceanus DSC yet, I do know this: you can get a cable to connect the two. I bought a 12V plug for mine that had the other two wires (there are 4 pins in the connection to the GPS) terminate inside the plug so you could wire it yourself.

Let's see if this link works: http://www.garmin.com/products/manua...t=010-00249-00

[Dunwell]

Dont count the H20 out. I love Garmin but the price point of the H20 is much better for the options you get....Just bought one 2 weeks ago and love it.....I bought mine at Bass Pro with a 10 day test drive. It is full of options and can hold a NAV card for 200.00

Hard to beat

Brian

[Davis]

My Garmin GPS-12 has been incredibly reliable on land and the water. Somehow last spring, the LCD faded out to almost nothing - thought I had cooked it in the sun. I called Garmin planning to get the instructions for sending it in for repair. The tech guy told me he might be able to help over the phone, and walked me through a bunch of commands and the display was fixed. Turns out some random bouncing around must have keyed the contrast down to zero. With tech guys like that to help me, I'll buy their product whenever I have a choice. Besides using the cig adaptor to power it, I have been having really good luck using rechargeable NiMh AA batteries in it... saves on energizers and they last a good long while before needing a recharge.

Win