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Decision on which GPS unit to Purchase
I now have a small boat (17 ft.) on Lake Oachita in Arkansas. I have
Lowrance Sonar and need to equip this boat with a GPS Mapping unit since where I have my boat is very close to timber "Stickups". So to navigate into the clear waterway, I want to be able to have fairly accurate Mapping information. I have been looking at both the Garmin 168 and the Lowrance LMS-480M.. I would apprecite any suggestions anyone may be able to offer.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. Hayward |
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 |
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Dennis Pogson wrote:
snip Best sunscreen is the helmet used by F16 fighter pilots with built-in UV filtering and a head-up display! (Full colour) You should be able to pick up an old one from the USAF for around $10,000, and work out the connections! Your crew will be suitably impressed! No good. It will mess up your suntan! :) -- Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jacker at midmaine dot com |
You're using a laptop on a 17' boat? Why not just use a chartplotter program
like Nobeltec or The Cap'n? Hook it up to the cheapest Garmin GPS you can find for input. If you really want a GPS/Chartplotter combo, stick with Garmin, and get color if you can afford it. If not, good grayscale is fine. -- Keith __ "An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools."--Ernest Hemingway "Bill Rhine" wrote in message ... I now have a small boat (17 ft.) on Lake Oachita in Arkansas. I have Lowrance Sonar and need to equip this boat with a GPS Mapping unit since where I have my boat is very close to timber "Stickups". So to navigate into the clear waterway, I want to be able to have fairly accurate Mapping information. I have been looking at both the Garmin 168 and the Lowrance LMS-480M.. I would apprecite any suggestions anyone may be able to offer.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. Hayward |
On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 19:59:06 -0500, Bill Rhine wrote:
I now have a small boat (17 ft.) on Lake Oachita in Arkansas. I have Lowrance Sonar and need to equip this boat with a GPS Mapping unit since where I have my boat is very close to timber "Stickups". So to navigate into the clear waterway, I want to be able to have fairly accurate Mapping information. I have been looking at both the Garmin 168 and the Lowrance LMS-480M.. I would apprecite any suggestions anyone may be able to offer.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. Hayward I have a Garmin 168 which I just replaced with a Garmin 188. The old one is about 1 year old and is available for sale with mapping software and a computer cable. It works perfectly. However, I would be less than honest if I didn't tell you that I replaced the 168 because I could not read it with the sun in front of me. My boat is a Utopia 185, an 18.5' jet boat with an open cockpit of the "bowrider" design. If I put the top up, it was easier to read, but I like the sun. I am 63 and have reasonably good eyes (I wear reading glasses, but not while boating). The biggest benefit to color is the brightness of the screen. The 188 is much brighter than the 168. I don't think the accuracy of ANY GPS device is sufficient to navigate in close to obstructions. However, you can make notes and place them on the electronic charts, particularly with the mapping software. I am gone most of today, but will check email tonight if this interests you. -- Larry email is rapp at lmr dot com 10/18/04 10:49:20 AM |
Thank you very much Jack for your detailed information,particulary on the
Gray Scale levels which I was not awareof from reading the published specs. Thanks again-Bill Rhine, Hot Springs"Jack Erbes" wrote in message ... 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 |
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