"Jack Erbes" wrote in message
...
wrote:

Can someone direct me to to an explanation of the differences among
these three? I'm a coastal blue-water sailor with limited money to
spend but a willingness to spend where useful. I have a 24 foot
Wayfarer Islander and I'm considering buying a 28" Abbott cruiser.

Thanks in advance!

Here is a good place to find all the answers.

http://gpsinformation.net/

I'd briefly describe the three as follows:

non-mapping - Entry level GPS, shows your position in "white space" and
everything is relative to the fix location. This is the one that will
make you wish you had bought a mapping GPS.

mapping - Has a built in basemap with roads, towns and cities, maybe even
marine or aeronautical details. This is starting to get seriously useful,
you can see where you are relative to places you know and can picture
mentally. The primary purpose of the basemap on a mapping GPS is to give
you just enough detail to entice you into buying one or even several of
the optional detailed mapping packages (highway, topo, marine, etc.) so
you can get more detail.

chart plotter - Generally, a mapping GPS optimized for marine use. Bigger
display and many more controls and features. Has a basic marine built-in
basemap that may include some fixed and floating navaids. Again the
basemap serves to make you aware that you need to buy more optional chart
packages to have enough detail to navigate safely and with confidence.
From this port, the options become pretty complex and myriad as far as the
media used for detail charts, the way it is packaged for sale, etc.

A good idea is to look at the long term use or direction you think you
want to go before you buy one. If you're pretty sure you want a color
display, buy it to begin with. If you want to travel moderate distances
or get a lot of use out of detail maps without a PC around, look for a
model that uses SD or microSD cards to expand the detail map storage
memory.

For more details and discussion on the two major brands of consumer grade
GPSr's and satnav in general, check out these newsgroups:

alt.satellite.gps.magellan
alt.satellite.gps.garmin
sci.geo.satellite-nav

Jack


Those are all good sources of information above. You definitely want a
mapping GPS.

If you want to start learning about mapping GPS for a minimum amount of
cash, I recommend a remanufactured Emap for $125 from www.tvnav.com

http://www.tvnav.com/remanemap.htm You also need a memory card for the
Emap. Get at least the 32 megabit card for $38.


If you are willing to spend a little more to get better portable GPS then I
would recommend the GPSMAP 60 for $250

The Garmin 60 has built in map memory.

http://www.tvnav.com/map60.htm

The maps can be found he

http://www.tvnav.com/emapacc.htm
http://www.tvnav.com/map60acc.htm


I use the cheaper land maps mostly for shoreline detail on my Emap while
boating. Any points on the water I need come from getting the lat/lon
coordinates from:

http://map.marineplanner.com/mapping...chartindex.cfm

You can find your favorite marine chart here and click on the map to get the
lat/lon for entering into your gps.

If you really want the best then get the Garmin 2730 and bluecharts of your
area and the XM satellite subscription which puts weather radar information
right on the display. You can even listen to the XM radio music channels
while you are sailing.

http://www.garmin.com/products/sp2730/

http://www.xmradio.com/weather/

When not sailing you can take your Garmin 2730 in your car and get traffic
advisories too:

http://www.xmradio.com/xmnavtraffic/