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skippa
08-11-2005, 08:22 PM
Time to upgrade the old lowrance hand held gps, just too small to read on a bumpy sea. Would love to hear any feedback from current owners of chart plotters. Plus which charts are better.

Partial to lowrance products atm, had many sounders (and the old gps too) so have good knowledge of the lowrance menus etc

Thanks guys,
Tony 8-)

ianspain
09-11-2005, 04:41 PM
Hey, Im new to boating so cant offer an expert opinion, but i just bought a lowrance 3500c with full east coast maps from Bias boating at Tingalpa and i am well pleased with the unit. It offers about the best resolution of anything in the price range, and even a novice like me has been out in the bay a few times using it and returned home safely!!..Dont know if this is any help to you mate...ps..anyone spots a little blue/white haines half cab bobbing about off wynnum/manly..feel free to pop over and show a pom how to fish!!
Regards
Ian

skippa
09-11-2005, 06:24 PM
Thanks Ian,

Actually thats the unit I was looking at 2. Went to Bias at tingalpa today but they had closed, bugger >:(

If ya don't mind how much was the unit?

If I see ya on the water I'll give ya a yell

Thanks,
Tony 8-)

HOOKLINEnSINKER
09-11-2005, 08:10 PM
iam looking for a unit as well. so rang around for the model i want a gps/sounder garmin 178c. but they all have the same fixed price and costs 600 bucks less if i get it in the states. so if i were you and you have a price limit , go via the states youll get double your moneys worth. one of them said if it breaks i have to send it to the states to get fixed...who cares at a $600 saving i could get someone local to fix it and still save loads. good luck daniel

skippa
09-11-2005, 09:03 PM
Yeah thanks Daniel,

Considering all options at the moment. A few of the guys here buy direct from the states, will have to investigate a bit further. Still like the lowrance tho.

Who have you gone thru and what are the pitfalls I should be aware of?

Cheers,
Tony 8-)

longtail
09-11-2005, 09:10 PM
tony ,

i have a navman 5110i chart plotter , very happy with it easy to use and read and good detail on the map. when i see ya next come over and have a look.

cheers
jason

pic of my unit

Daintreeboy
09-11-2005, 09:15 PM
I've heard the navionics chart system they use now (instead of Cmap which they used to have) comes in a distant third to Cmap (Navman among others) and BlueChart (Garmin). Because of this and the fact I've seen Moffy's Garmin GPSMAP 172C in action, I got my brother to get that over a Lowrance. Garmin appear to have one of the best reputations around for reliability also. You should be able to pick one up with external aerial for around 1200 bucks including chart of your area.
Cheers, Mark.

dazza
09-11-2005, 09:15 PM
hi tony,
will be watching this thread with interest. currently looking for a new gps. will probably stick with garmin as the software seems very user frendly. very easy to upload marks etc. and reasonably priced. havent had a play with other brands yet.
will be interested to see what people recon
cheers
dazza

skippa
09-11-2005, 09:58 PM
Thanks Jase,

Yeah I'll certainly love to have a look, like something simple to use. what sort of price would I be looking at for the Navman?

Thanks Mark,

I don't know much about the plotters, thats why I thought I'd ask here, to get some 'non salesman' advice before I started hunting around the shops. Just thought of the lowrance first because I've used their products and familiar with the menus etc.

Dazza,

Have you bought from overseas or just local?


Cheers,
Tony 8-)

longtail
09-11-2005, 10:17 PM
tony , the black and white unit like mine will set you back around $1000 with the colour unit a couple hundred bucks more.

navman website - http://www.navman.com.au

cheers
jason

Tony_N
10-11-2005, 06:31 AM
MODIFIED

I've deleted this post because I decided it was pretty hard to understand (poorly written). #I think I've done a better job of explaining what I was on about in another thread in ELECTRONICS :

MOTION TREND VECTORS ON GPS UNITS


thanks

Tony

ianspain
10-11-2005, 06:38 AM
Thanks Ian,

Actually thats the unit I was looking at 2. Went to Bias at tingalpa today but they had closed, bugger #>:(

If ya don't mind how much was the unit?

If I see ya on the water I'll give ya a yell

Thanks,
Tony #8-)




Tony

I got my lowrance 3500c plus the full east coast map from Bias at tingalpa for $1300 on the nose. Like i said, im a complete novice, but the high resolution won me with this unit. The guys at Bias were real helpful so it was informed choice.

Ian

hempy
10-11-2005, 05:22 PM
Tony

I got my Navman 5110i for $699 from whitworths a month or so back

Hempy

bazzaman
10-11-2005, 06:40 PM
garmin 172c and i cant fault it, very easy to use and plot points !! Highly reccommended!!


Shane

vertico
10-11-2005, 07:05 PM
have to agree with shane

sempre
10-11-2005, 07:35 PM
I use Raymarine , excellant . I've had them all , this thing is better than most , but it all depends on what those highly qualified salesmen tell you.

skippa
10-11-2005, 08:21 PM
Thanks guys,

Gives me something to go on now. Will have to check out a few of the other brands too I think.

Any thought on buying from the States, any pitfalls I need to be aware of, or is it just better (safer) to buy locally ?

Didn't want to spend more than a grand, still got some work to do on Mrs Skip yet #::)

'What do ya want one of them for, ya never get any fish anyway' .... 'and you've hit every sandbank in the bay, so you should know where they are by now' .. exactly my love .. #:-* # ::)


Cheers,
Tony # 8-)

bazzaman
10-11-2005, 08:22 PM
. I've had them all , this thing is better than most!!


Thats a big call!! "IVE HAD THEM ALL", MUST HAVE PLENTY OF MONEY! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;) ::) ::) ::)

sempre
11-11-2005, 02:46 PM
For those people who have nothing better to do than take everthing word for word ,it means i've had 6 different brands . I'll try and be more accurate next time.