Greetings.

I must be getting stupid as I grow older. I can't seem to figure out
the difference between the Garmin 298 and 498 chartplotter / sounder
combo units.

As best as I can tell, they both do the same thing... Maybe the
cartography is different, but I honestly couldn't tell you for certain
if it is or isn't the same....

Of course, the question might be raised "Why Garmin and not X brand?"
My answer is "Hell, I can't figure out the differences or advantages
between to models from the same manufacturer, how could I ever tell
which manufacturer is better???"

Needless to say I'm a little frustrated at the moment

I thought I was a fairly smart individual, but making a decision on
which chart plotting sounder combo I want to spend my money on is
simply beyond me at this time. I'm half tempted to keep the nearly
unusable sounder that's on the boat (display is missing vertical
lines), and just use my hand held GPS to keep me from getting too
lost...

At the moment, I think I want the Garmin 498, because it looks like it
will fit on my center console, it might do what I want, Garmin is a
name I'm familiar with, and I can buy it locally. Is it the best
price / performance? Hell I don't know..

BTW, if it will help here's pictures of our boat:

http://lerch.no-ip.com/Scout_177_SportFish/

We live in Tampa Florida and intend to fish the flats, the bay,
rivers, and inter coastal water ways.. We'll probably be trailering
the boat all over florida, but for the most part staying in coastal
areas..

Any Thoughts?


Take Care,
James Lerch
http://lerch.no-ip.com/atm (My telescope construction, Testing, and Coating site)
http://lerch.no-ip.com/ChangFa_Gen (My 11.2Kw generator project)
Press on: nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
Calvin Coolidge

498 appears to be a 298 preloaded with BlueCharts.


"James Lerch" wrote in message ...
Greetings.

I must be getting stupid as I grow older. I can't seem to figure out
the difference between the Garmin 298 and 498 chartplotter / sounder
combo units.

As best as I can tell, they both do the same thing... Maybe the
cartography is different, but I honestly couldn't tell you for certain
if it is or isn't the same....

Of course, the question might be raised "Why Garmin and not X brand?"
My answer is "Hell, I can't figure out the differences or advantages
between to models from the same manufacturer, how could I ever tell
which manufacturer is better???"

Needless to say I'm a little frustrated at the moment

I thought I was a fairly smart individual, but making a decision on
which chart plotting sounder combo I want to spend my money on is
simply beyond me at this time. I'm half tempted to keep the nearly
unusable sounder that's on the boat (display is missing vertical
lines), and just use my hand held GPS to keep me from getting too
lost...

At the moment, I think I want the Garmin 498, because it looks like it
will fit on my center console, it might do what I want, Garmin is a
name I'm familiar with, and I can buy it locally. Is it the best
price / performance? Hell I don't know..

BTW, if it will help here's pictures of our boat:

http://lerch.no-ip.com/Scout_177_SportFish/

We live in Tampa Florida and intend to fish the flats, the bay,
rivers, and inter coastal water ways.. We'll probably be trailering
the boat all over florida, but for the most part staying in coastal
areas..

Any Thoughts?


Take Care,
James Lerch
http://lerch.no-ip.com/atm (My telescope construction, Testing, and Coating site)
http://lerch.no-ip.com/ChangFa_Gen (My 11.2Kw generator project)
Press on: nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
Calvin Coolidge

I've can't figure why anyone would want a
device with a sounder and inland charts? Either something they did to
confuse people like James OR a decision taken by the same Garmin fool that
decided to disable the tracking function in the PC version of Mapsource when
connected to a Garmin device.


Why not? We have many lakes, and lots of them are not well mapped.

I don't understand what changes Garmin made in Mapsource. Anyone?

yea, I'm replying to myself,but.

1st, a thank you to the posters that replied, even the ones in jest

2nd, I gave up and purchased the 498 with the AirMar P66 Sounder,
water temp, and water speed sensors. Basicly, I'm pretty sure I fell
for the Marketing Ploy Garmin put into play! :-0

As far as I can tell the hardware is the same for the 298, 398, 498
series. The ONLY difference is the cartography included.

The 298 has the "Basemap" aka no detail
The 398 does fresh water lakes an drivers
The 498 does Sal****er coastal areas..

If you get the 298, you either purchase Garmin's Mapsource, and a
blank memory cartridge, and upload maps from your desktop. OR you buy
"MAP CHIPS" with the map areas you want.

In any event, I sure enjoyed having the 498 on the helm last night
after a great day of fishing. It was SOO nice to "Know" where we
were, even in unfamiliar territory.

One thing I can see as a problem, I have to train myself to do a
visual scan routine. It is real easy to become fixated on the moving
map while underway.

ALSO, what's up with freaking sail boats having anchor lights so dim,
they look like a candle flame?


Take Care,
James Lerch
http://lerch.no-ip.com/atm (My telescope construction, Testing, and Coating site)
http://lerch.no-ip.com/ChangFa_Gen (My 11.2Kw generator project)
Press on: nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
Calvin Coolidge