Well, I didn't mean to start a fight or anything -

These are some of the reasons I'm so happy with my recent purchase of a
Lowrance iFinder H20 Colorg ps, over any of the GPSMap76* line that I
have long lusted after. With the plug-in NauticPath USA memory card
(or other comparable cards made by several companies), I have detailed,
color charts of the entire US, with no mussing with any hardware,
software, accessories, or computer connections, for about 60 bucks,
loaded on to my gps automatically just by popping it in.

The Garmin Blue charts consistently get reviewed as being the standard
by which others are measured. I have read reviews where they liked
some of the features on other GPS's better, but those units could not
use the Garmin Blue Charts, so the Garmin unit was judged as better.


The BlueChart solution is better, but definitely more expensive and
complicated, it seems to me.


The Garmin
Bluechart CD's are in the 1 to 200 range to purchase, I believe, and
then 100 for each region you want to "unlock,"

Retails for about $125, including unlocking a region.... The regions themselves are
pretty huge. MIne covers from the northern side of Delaware Bay, to Cape Cod, and
includes the Hudson River, and several other major rivers going well
inland.



Right, still sounds like quite a difference compared to $60-$65 for the
entire US, plus no time-consuming futzing with a computer. Admittedly
I've just made on on-water trip with the iFinder but the detail level
was very impressive to me, I had depth readings, detailed info on every
navaid, restaurants and marinas pointed out, tiny little offshoot
creeks of the bay I was riding in. True, my previous experience was
just with a MapSource cd-rom (not BlueChart) loaded onto a Legend; I
know the BlueChart is even more literally an on-screen replication of a
real paper chart. Still, I found the NauticPath map useful enough for
any need I've ever had so far and more, I thought it was cool that it
showed the name of each inlet I went past, I never saw anything like
that on my Legend!

and then you have to
make sure the usb connection port on your unit never gets any
corrosion,

Or the map socket, or battery terminals on yours.


Well, those are deep inside the unit (and the garmins have battery
terminals too so that's a wash). The usb port I mentioned getting
corroded on my etrex legend was not just a theoretical concern, but
something I always had to actively guard against by spraying down the
area after every ride, and still in time it showed corrosion which
would mean trouble next time I had to try to have it talk to the
computer.

you don't lose the cable or (much worse!) the cd, the
software continues to work as your computer ages and hard drive gets
filled up...

Sorry Rich, but you are just exagerating everyting for effect. These
are not real issues.

For me they are. Well losing the pc cable is not a huge disaster but
losing the cd (or anything!) is always a worry for me, and the fact
that computers and software seem to always get slower, less reliable,
freeze up in time, is a real-world reality and I'm happy not to have to
deal with it now to find my way around on the water on a foggy day.

and I got the whole setup going, new color gps and memory
card with all the maps effortlessly loaded for about $275 total.

I'm glad you like it, but now how much is it going to cost you to
replace the charts as they go out of date? I get a whole new set of
charts for $75.


I have to admit I guess I'm not a serious enough mariner for that to
become any real problem for a long time.....as long as the shapes of
the coastline and the location of the navaids stay the same I'll be in
pretty good shape...but anyway to answer your question, to buy a new
map chip, again of the whole US, would cost me about 60-65 dollars.

Can you do all your trip planning including distances, tides and so
forth?

YES, and I did that on Memorial weekend. Planned a good-sized route,
could see all the distances between legs, etc. I think there's a
feature on my MMC card, or if not, on one of the other competing cards
that's available on the same price, to see the speed and direction of
the tide on screen as well.

I can try routes in a matter of seconds on the PC, and if they
don't work out, I can try others as fast as I can click a mouse. Not
being able to prepare charts, and add custom labels, waypoints, and
comments on the computer is a MAJOR disadvantage.

It does take a few more minutes to set up and name the routes and
waypoints on the gps without a computer (although I thought the user
interface to do these tasks on my lowrance was slicker than on my
etrex), but like I was saying, for me, I actually prefer the simplicity
of being able to do it all on the gps as a standalone unit - I'm
happier NOT having to interface it with a computer at all, but I
recognize that's that just me. (It's not that I'm scared of computers
or anything, in fact I design and develop Windows software for a
living!...but again, to me, the extra hardware and software involved
just gives more things to lose or to have fail eventually.)



My
experience show far also shows the battery life on the color lowrance
to be way longer than that on any of the Garmins I've owned, even using
it with the backlight on for long stretches at a time.

Were the Garmin's color? Color displays use far less power than
monochrome. Seems odd, but that's the way it is. The Garmin 76
monochrome units use two AA batteries, so every 8 or 10 hours you pop
in a fresh set. I use rechargebles, so this is a non-issue.

I didn't know that, thanks! Yes the Garmin I was comparing it to was
black and white, a pair of AA's seemed last 8 or 9 hours; on the new
color unit I seem to have gotten somewhere between 12 and 14 out of the
first pair.


The Lowrance H2Ocolor claims 14 hours on a set of two AA batteries.
The Garmin 76 color model gets up to THIRTY HOURS on a set of two AA
batteries. Who's your daddy?


Well okay, like I said, I didn't mean for it to be a ****ing contest,
man. For my purposes and preferences the Lowrance seems to be a
better and more economical choice. The Garmin 76 color model is still
about $125 more to purchase than the iFinder and I have gotten the main
features that I always envied in the GPSMap76C but found out of my
price range for a handheld....namely, a color screen and detailed,
chart-like map displays with depth readings and navaid #s (all stuff I
never had on my eTrex Legend which I also recommended to people as a
good compromise between affordability and functionality, and which also
wasn't BlueChart compatible).

Guess I'm
becoming kind of a proselytizer for the lowrance, I just hope people
will find out about it and consider it, since the garmins and magellans
are usually the only ones you hear talked about much.

There may be significant reasons for that Rich. Starting with the
quality of the charts.


If you're saying you suspect the lowRance sucks, I haven't seen any
feedback to that effect from any owners in the research I did before
buying my new one...one of the things that attracted my interest was
the number of posters I saw who said things like "downside: none," and
that's what I've found so far too. THe charts are pretty useful and
high-quality, it seems to me; like I've already granted, the BlueChart
charts are better, but, again, much more expensive, as is the hardware
to take advantage of them.

I don't say everyone should forget about the Garmins and buy the
lowrance instead; but I don't think I'm wrong in saying that for a lot
of people besides me, it would probably be a good thing to at least
know about them and look into them and not stop the search at the
Garmin. If you can find negative feedback from anyone who's used the
model I have and can speak about any issues of poor quality of limited
usefulness, I'd be interested in reading it.

Oh... The Garmin isn't just waterproof to IPX7 standards - it FLOATS!

Good stuff, no doubt.

richforman



richforman