We have a 22' boat. Already have a GPS, the basic
hand held Garmin - no mapping - no color screen.

I'm thinking I'd like to get a hand held unit that
has charts/maps with depths. I'd like it to have a PC
interface.

Any good models you can suggest?

What features, etc. should I be thinking about?

Thanks,
Gary

Let me know if you want to sell the Garmin.

tim at grandamregistry dot com



"jabadoodle" wrote in message
reenews.net...

We have a 22' boat. Already have a GPS, the basic
hand held Garmin - no mapping - no color screen.

I'm thinking I'd like to get a hand held unit that
has charts/maps with depths. I'd like it to have a PC
interface.

Any good models you can suggest?

What features, etc. should I be thinking about?

Thanks,
Gary

Good thread. I'm equally curious as to others opinions as well. GPS for
small craft is hard to decide. I was looking for a model similar to
what Gary is looking for, but also, portable, versatile and the ability
to upgrade and add on features.

I'm seriously considering the Garmin GPSMAP 276. I'm hearing a lot of
good things and the versatility is a big plus. Not to hijack the
thread, I'd like to know if others have opinions on this product or
other like it.

Not bad for the price either...
http://www.gpsdiscount.com/products/index.html?p=808

Joe

jabadoodle wrote:
We have a 22' boat. Already have a GPS, the basic
hand held Garmin - no mapping - no color screen.

I'm thinking I'd like to get a hand held unit that
has charts/maps with depths. I'd like it to have a PC
interface.

Any good models you can suggest?

What features, etc. should I be thinking about?

Thanks,
Gary

Everywhere I looked says the Raymarine RC400 is no longer in
production.

Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
On Sat, 5 Aug 2006 21:16:13 -0400, "jabadoodle"
wrote:


We have a 22' boat. Already have a GPS, the basic
hand held Garmin - no mapping - no color screen.

I'm thinking I'd like to get a hand held unit that
has charts/maps with depths. I'd like it to have a PC
interface.

Any good models you can suggest?

What features, etc. should I be thinking about?

Raymarine RC400.

Joey916 wrote:
Good thread. I'm equally curious as to others opinions as well. GPS for
small craft is hard to decide. I was looking for a model similar to
what Gary is looking for, but also, portable, versatile and the ability
to upgrade and add on features.

I'm seriously considering the Garmin GPSMAP 276. I'm hearing a lot of
good things and the versatility is a big plus. Not to hijack the
thread, I'd like to know if others have opinions on this product or
other like it.

Not bad for the price either...
http://www.gpsdiscount.com/products/index.html?p=808

I got the 276C a couple of months ago, including the land/sea package of
charts on CD. (The optional maps & charts are currently free after
rebate from West Marine.) The charts for regions you select are
downloaded via USB from a PC. They look exactly like the NOAA charts,
with depths, buoys, etc. I selected this unit because its color screen
is a bit bigger than the cheaper units, which helps my old eyes. It
looks great to me and I'm real happy with it. (Impressed, actually.) The
manual is good and I was comfortable with operation after playing with
it at home a couple of hours. (This is my first GPS.)

I was going to install the boat mounting bracket and wiring, but it also
comes with a "bean bag" mount and built in rechargeable battery that are
working out just fine for me, so I'm not going to bother with the
permanent mount and wiring.

I was surprised and pleased that it also shows today's tides. Where
does it get that info!?

"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On 6 Aug 2006 05:33:42 -0700, "Joey916" wrote:

Good thread. I'm equally curious as to others opinions as well. GPS for
small craft is hard to decide. I was looking for a model similar to
what Gary is looking for, but also, portable, versatile and the ability
to upgrade and add on features.

I'm seriously considering the Garmin GPSMAP 276. I'm hearing a lot of
good things and the versatility is a big plus. Not to hijack the
thread, I'd like to know if others have opinions on this product or
other like it.

Garmin's are good units, but they are a bear to just do something
simple like change from knots to mph for example. Six separate steps
to get to the right menu and even then, you have to have a degree in
interpretive English to understand what they are telling you to do.

Recently, I was doing some boat handling instruction and the owner had
a Garmin 276C. He asked me to set up the GPS for him and unlike my
Raymarine stuff which is intuitive and easy as hell to change and set
up, I had to use the book to get to the menus and set up the way he
asked.



I agree with the RayMarine recommendation. I've used Garmin, Furuno and
RayMarine systems and although all are all good, the RayMarine was the
easiest to learn and operate, for me.

Eisboch

I have a Lowrance 17M. it takes all the navionics charts and can use
mapcreate 6 to make your own charts.

"jabadoodle" wrote in message
reenews.net...

We have a 22' boat. Already have a GPS, the basic
hand held Garmin - no mapping - no color screen.

I'm thinking I'd like to get a hand held unit that
has charts/maps with depths. I'd like it to have a PC
interface.

Any good models you can suggest?

What features, etc. should I be thinking about?

Thanks,
Gary