Bill Rhine wrote:

snip Also is there any major benefit to Color over Greyscale.I would be
using a Laptop to record all of my routes. Thanks for any insight you may be
able to offer.

I have not used a Lowrance yet. The Garmin 168 uses 4 levels of gray to
differentiate details whereas some of the newer models like the 188 and
238 use 10 levels of gray.

The 10 gray level models show details better than the 4 level. Of the
two, I like the 10 level grayscale models best and find both the 4 and
10 usable in daylight or at night. For use at night, the grayscale
models have adjustable backlighting that works well.

The 188 and 238 can also use dual frequency transponders which is a nice
feature. It gives you some options for covering broader areas or going
for better detail at deeper depths.

Color is nice. It seems sort of like an eye candy issue at first but
after you use them a while you'll probably find you can discern certain
specifics more quickly at a glance because of the color distinction.
You can come to like them more real quickly.

I would try to look at the color model in direct sunlight if I could
before I bought one to make sure it is bright enough to work well in
direct sunlight. If you will be using it at night, see if the
brightness is controllable, the ones that work good in daylight need to
be turned way down at night to keep from overwhelming your night vision
and just being a general annoyance.

If you're wearing polarized sunglasses, you will have trouble seeing
things on any LCD. You will pretty much have to take the sunglasses off
to read the LCD.

Downloading marks and routes with an accessory PC cable works well, the
newer ones (188, 238) also use a data card (proprietary to Garmin) that
can be used for up and down loads. You can get a USB port reader/writer
so that you can use the data cards to move map data, waypoints, and
routes, between the GPS/sounder and a PC.

If you go for the Garmins with the data cards you will be locked into
buying your charts from them (on CD-ROM's or pre-programmed data cards)
if you're going to be on waters for which charting is available.

The prices on the Garmin 188 and 238 are coming down some since they
introduced the newer, bigger, color displays. If I were going to buy a
new GPS/sounder now I'd compare the cost difference between a 168 and a
188 or even 238 to see if I couldn't gain the 10 level display, dual
frequency transponder, and data card features at a nominal increase in
price. Check the internet prices or eBay for the best deals.

Good luck!

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jacker at midmaine dot com