HAND HELD GPS

[freddies]

Howdy all I need some advise re hand held gps.What make and how much . Thanks.

[davo]

This will stir up some others but go the Garmin. The reasons are simple. They are easy to use,very reliable,they are compatable with all free GPS software. I'm on my 4th Garmin GPS and have two sounders and have had no problems. Some of the free software is EasyGPS and Trackmaker. PC connectivity is important to me as I can save,edit and update waypoints easily. It took me 30seconds to up load all my old waypoints on to my new one. I always ask people what would they do if their GPS died tommorrow? My answer is that everything is backed up on PC. A mate of mine has a non PC capable GPS and wrote all the waypoints down. He bought a new GPS and had to manually insert all of them into the new unit, what a pain!

For me the other reason was that I live in Brisbane and GME are in Brisbane so if I have problems back service is very close.

I had heaps of problem with Lowrance stuff and found their serveice poor.

In basic model go a model 72 or a 60. The 60 is a USB connection and the 72 is a serial but you can get convertor cables if you don't have a serial port

[ShaneJ]

I would also have to say the Garmin. Very good quality and well priced. Speaking of which, if you decied to go with a garmin unit, let me know and i'll get you the bestest price ;)

[Bowser]

Brand is up to you but unless you are going to get a lot of use for it out of the boat consider a fixed installation. By the time you buy a hand held, connectors for you boat battery, mount, etc etc etc, you end up with a tiny little screen that is difficult to read and for not much less then a basic plotter with much larger, more readable screen and generally a heap more features.

[JB]

Trust what davo has said, he gave some good advice. I have had a lowrance globalmap 100 and its been nothing but problems, turns off for no reason, cig lighter stopped working, computer connection cords cost a fortune. I have had the luxury of using a garmin gps 72 (thanks DC your a legend) and it has been a godsend. Very reliable, uses less batteries and they last heaps longer, computer connection is easy and affordable. Gps is very easy to use.

thumbs up from me. (i will be tossing the lowrance and getting a garmin.)

Jas

[DaneCross]

Yes JB has become quite aquainted to my Garmin... You know I'm gonna want that back soon ;) Go with what davo said, couldn't have said it better myself :)

[SundownMarine]

DC,

The Garmin handheld product is by far the best value on the market in our opinion.We use them ourselves out on the water.
Great to use with very good back-up service to go with it.

We have them here all day everyday to play with.

Sundown Marine.

[ShaneJ]

DC,

The Garmin handheld product is by far the best value on the market in our opinion.We use them ourselves out on the water.
Great to use with very good back-up service to go with it.

We have them here all day everyday to play with.

Sundown Marine.
What about a GPSMAP 3005C, dont happen to have one of those there to play with?

[SCOTTYGC]

i have the smaller garmin "legend" easy to use and save on to your pc

if i can use it anyone can

scotty

[2DKnBJ]

Have to agree the Garmin 72 is a great little unit.Easy to useand does everything you need.Only had my unit for a couple of months and i am still finding more features i can use.
Cheers Dazza

[redspeckle]

Go that garmin 72 GPS [smiley=thumbup.gif] had my now last three years no problems so far
I taking it caming & fishing (bay + offshore ) and been oversea's with it use correct world time zone's for where I was over their works a treat
Can also put in GPS marks while siting in lounge Chair while watching TV [smiley=laugh.gif]

Mitch

[fnqbunyip]

garmin gps map 76 for me , love it . it got wet once and they just replaced it no worrys . they float .. ezy to use its been all over the cape and now its starting to go further off shore ...
cheers bunyip

[SundownMarine]

What about a GPSMAP 3005C, dont happen to have one of those there to play with?

ShaneJ,

We have the Garmin range available here in store.
Call in for further information reguarding GME products.

Sundown Marine.

[roz]

I have a Garmin Etrex, it is a few years old now but does the job well, I have said this before but it is very user friendly.

I also find it to be economical re battery power but will take a 12 volt attachment.

Roz

[devocean]

Had my 72 for two years now awesome unit

[DaneCross]

I will say one slight negative about the 72 - it holds 500 waypoints, sounds like a lot but when you have a bunch of points from Tweed to Frazer to store, I'm beginning to find I'm running low :-/ The way around this is of course to use the PC Connection and store/load waypoints depending on the area you're fishing. (I should also mention that I have multiple marks for the same spots, I have to spend some time deleting the crap marks and the duplicates ::))

[JB]

(I should also mention that I have multiple marks for the same spots, I have to spend some time deleting the crap marks and the duplicates ::))


HA! , you mean "JB has to spend time sorting through it and cleaning it up" ;)

[DaneCross]

Consider it payment for me letting you use it ;D

[JB]

hahahaha, :-[ , u win.

;)

[SCOTTYGC]

if you have to many DC you can allways share them ::)

scotty

[stu68]

I"ve got a lowrance ifinder don"t get 1 these not much good.
I was sucked in by the salesman.

[madman1]

What sold me on the Garmin72 is that it is apparently waterproof to a depth of around one metre and it floats. I must admit I haven't tried it out but it gives me piece of mind when the kids are on the boat.

[Mick_the_Fish]

Garmin 76 or 76Map is an excellent choice for all the reasons already given above, 8-)

[finga64]

there's a cheeap Garmin on ebay with stand and power cable starting at 99 cents

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/GPS-Garmin-45XL-c-w-manual-stand-and-power-cable_W0QQitemZ4587785573QQcategoryZ102811QQssPage NameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Might be good for someone
Scott