Gps chartpolter help

GREYWOLF

GREYWOLF

Junior Member
HI GUYS. I am in the market for a new gps chartploter , or chartploter combo. When I sold my 22' CRESTLINER last fall my old black & white HUMMINGBIRD unit went with her , our new V20 need a good new color unit , we dont want to spend over $900 TOPS ,The needs are depth range is max. of 300' , clear easy to operate & a 5" min. screen size 7" would be great are key features we are looking for. I went to CABELAS in EAST HARTFORD CT. and was totaly overwelmed by the ($ PRICE $) and diff. features. The salesman (mabey 20 y/o ) even confused me more, he kept showing me $1400 units & up despite my telling him the budget was $700 - $900 MAX. He couldnt even explain the features and how they worked ?? So what do you folks recomend & why ? I do a lot of night fishing and the fog gets real snotty , A clear steer to follow unit is what I am realy in need of. Thanks GUYS
 
GW,
I am fan of Garmin products.
The Garmin 546s is a nice unit with sounder.
http://www.boemarine.com/marine-nav...ap-546s-dual-frequency-combo-w-tm-transducer/

The 740s is super but a bit over your budget.The 740s has a sounder with a touch screen and a very fast processor. However the 740s would give you the ability to add radar in the future.
http://www.boemarine.com/marine-nav...armin-gpsmap-740s-gps-chartplotter-w-sounder/

Can't help with other companies choices. I'm sure there are many otheres and some that might be better priced.
 
Garmin X2!! I love there stuff, I just had to sell my unit and they got a great deal!! I payed over $2000 for the GPS, Sonar, Radar and sold the unit for $1500, Had a 10" screen also! That thing was awesome!
 
I cant make specific recommendations (I am still using a Sitex CVS-106 from the 80's) but I have found a real good tactic for shopping for most anything is to:

Get out a note pad to keep up with the overload of information.

Search on the internet for what you are looking for (that $1400 unit at Cabelas if probably $800 on ebay).

Read as any "customer ratings" as you can, they seem to be the most helpful to getting a feel for how good or bad a unit is...and read at least 10 reviews of every one unit you are looking at.

Once you narrow down what you need/want, go to whatever retailer near you has the units in stock so you can check it out in person.

Just like computers, marine electronics are advancing fast so a year or two old model may do what you want but be much cheeper.
 
garmin is tops in the gps market, i think not as good in the bottom machine. furuno seems to be the top dog there. i also am not a fan of the combo units. don't know your age, but i have found out the older i get, bigger screens are a must.

also like rmb, i have not shopped in a long time ( i finally took the loran c machine off the boat about a year ago). i used to find some really good deals at a local marine electronics dealer who took in trades and offer support for older units.

good luck
 
I used to recommend garmin(specifically the 441,541s) as a good decent gps/sounder to all my customers, but garmin has gotten stupid with their prices, if you find one, make sure it comes with a transducer as they normally price that separate now. I just put a Lowrance Elite 4 gold on my McKee. I got it locally for just over $350. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, so i can't give opinions of it, but from what I've seen playing with it, I think it will do the job. Don't rule out using a note pad if you have one, more people are switching over to note pads as they have much better resolution and greater detail than 99% of the commercial available GPS'
 
Looks good but not even $100 off a new in the store unit? For less then a hundred I would go to the store and have the warranted and all just in case.
 
yea MJ I felt the same way I am going to see if I can beat the man up on the price a little . I wonder if there might be a warenty card in the box? then it would be like a new unit right ????
 
I went with a Lowrance HDS-5 a couple of seasons ago. While I can't say that it is better or worse than Garmin's current models I am very happy with it. I added fuel flow and tank level senders s now I have MPG, DTE, etc. all on the GPS.

I bought mine from BOEmarine.com

Getting the right pieces was confusing and Jim there talked me thru it on the phone and helped me put it all together . Since at the time network components were on backorder he found them at other dealers and shipped them direct to me.

You will find their price is tough to beat too.

Jim sponsors the electronics forum on thehulltruth.com and you can get advice there or call them direct.

No financial interest, just a satisfied customer
 
BOEmarine.com nice with great prices thanks. I contacted the guy with the new unused GARMIN 541 S on CL he has the sales reciepet and the box is unopened and will take $450 for it pluss there is a transducer also . I said I will pick it up thursday . He is only about an hour an a half from me so I think the price is OK . guess I found a good deal
 
GW,
I think you will be happy with the Garmin. We have an old Garmin 192c with an internal GPS sensor that we use on our Wellcraft and love it. I bought an extra power cord that has a cigarette/12 volt plug so we can move it from boat to boat if we want/need to. It's works awesome.


Jim at BOE is a great guy. I have done business with him many times. One time we purchased some stuff from BOE (thru the website) and changed the shipping address to have it shipped to my in-laws on the west coast. Jim called me on the phone shortly there after to make sure everything was correct and not a fraudulent charge. I was so suprised when I got the call...(Hi Barry......this is Jim from BOE)! You don't get service like that from everyone.
 
I use a Raymarine RD70 Radar/chartplotter unit and love it. But the truth is I also take my cars Garmin GPS with me as a backup. I don't think you can go wrong with a Garmin. They are known for quality and reliability.
 
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