Handheld GPS Recommendations?

A

Alyssa Jean

New member
It is time to buy a reliable handheld to use on the 16, back-up for the 25, to take along on boat deliveries AND be capable of doing US roads for car trips if possible.

I have looked at the Garmin Colorado 400C. At $350-$400 it looks to be a unit that can do everything I mentioned above if you get a second pre-programmed US Roads chip.

Any recommendations from the pub?
 
We have a Garmin 478 which is portable. Has land and sea with voice prompts for the street side. It is best for using on the boat or in your car.If you are going hiking the Colorado is probably better. Price is about the same.
 
Garmin is the benchmark of the consumer GPS market. Why waste time and energy when you'll end up with one in the end? :wink

Don
 
Most of the new Garmin units require the G2 Vision card. These are very expensive, I think around $400 per card. The marine units (and 400C come with US cartography, but for those of us on the US-Canada border that spend quite a bit of time in British Columbia, Garmin is not always a great value. Just something to check out before you choose what to buy.
 
I agree on the lack of Canadian charting on the Garmin. First think I noticed when I was playing with one at WM. I agree also the Garmin IS the benchmark for GPS. I'll just have to weight the pros and cons before I buy.
 
I have the high end Garmin for the cars/trucks, but I love the Lowrance H2Oic = the color version. You have to buy the "fishing map" disc for inland lakes, but the standard one came with most of the major sea lane buoys, etc. all mapped.

Also, the groceries, deli's , marinas, motels, whatever store there is can be found on it for browsing ashore.


We had to rely on it up the the San Juan Islands a few years ago when our new built in GPS got shorted out. It is an amazing, small unit.

It does not have the audiobooks, and other options found in the high end Garmin.

Cost about $250 plus a detail disc if you need inland info. Works on reg batteries, rechargeable batteries, and 12V

I keep it in the ditch bag and use it on the kayak all the time since it is pretty much waterproof, which my Garmin is not.

John

John
 
For a backup GPS, you can't beat the new Delorme PN-40. Besides coming with Topo 7 Program which has not only all US roads, it has topomaps for the entire US.

Best of all for boaters, if you pay $30 for a 1 year subscription to their service you can download all the NOAA charts on to the GPS chip ( up to 32 Gigs), or store them on your PC til you need them. A one time cost of $30 to get every NOAA chart to be able to display it on your GPS.

You can also download unlimited ariel photos and other more detailed 7.5 minute TOPO maps.

It also allows routing either direct point to point, as you would on a boat, or by Roads, if you want to use it as a car GPS.

If you ever do Geocaching, you'll find it has every feature you'd ever want to do paperless geocaching.

Rick from Maine
 
Anna Leigh":3ufwy8w7 said:
It is time to buy a reliable handheld to use on the 16, back-up for the 25, to take along on boat deliveries AND be capable of doing US roads for car trips if possible.

I have looked at the Garmin Colorado 400C. At $350-$400 it looks to be a unit that can do everything I mentioned above if you get a second pre-programmed US Roads chip.

Any recommendations from the pub?
Click to expand...

I don't know about adding the road data -- but I LOVE my Colorado 400C for my 22. I bought it as a backup chartplotter and to feed the VHF DSC -- but I find I use it as my primary most of the time when in familiar water. I got it for about $300 with a rebate.

Matt
 
I have both the 76Cx and the Colorado 400c. I got the CD Topo, which includes all of the roads, plus top's and an SD card, and put in all of the topo I need for the US, lakes etc. The Colorado works a bit differently than the 76 CX--which is similar to units like the 376/476/498 etc....The 400c uses a wheel, and routes seem a bit harder to program, but I think that the size is a real plus.

On the other hand, the 76Cx does allow a 12 volt power supply plus NMEA in and out--the screens are the same size. I have tried other brands, but for the hand helds come back to the Garmins....
 
1. Marine Hand Held - Garmin GPSMap76CSx
2. For Road Navigation - buy a super cheap Nuvii or other brand with integrated Blue tooth speaker that way you can talk to all your friends while towing the C-Dory
Unfortunately, There is a huge compromise if you want one that can due both Marine and Road Navigation - I recommend buying a very advanced and full featured Marine hand held unit and then get a low cost one for your car.
 
The new series is the Oregon 400 that is touchscreen and there is a 500 model coming with built in camera. The Colorado series had some issues. Check the forums for details
Les
 
I checked the known issues on the Colorado Garmin Wiki site. Most of these seemed to be ref geocaching. We have had no problems--the battery life is perhaps shorter than I would like. But with rechargables, it is not a problem--and a few alkalines are in the bag.

My personal preference is for hard keys vs soft keys in a boat. Its easier to hit a hard key. Sort of like when my wife accidently hit one of the keys on her oven just as we were going to leave for a party and the door locked--leaving the Taquitos simmering and we had to hold a 30" fan next to the oven door to cool it down and get the auto lock on the door to open!...

I don't think that any of the handhelds are as good as larger chart plotters for boating navigation--but work fine in dinghies, kayaks etc. You just cannot use a 3" screen as well as a 7" screen when going 20 knots in 3 foot seas!

I agree that the car units (Nuvi) are easier to use in the car--but for hiking the Topo features are great in the small units. But I am the kind of guy who does well with a paper topo map and a compass...so any GPS is a luxary.
 
David, good to have you safely back. Quite an adventure.

For three years I've really enjoyed my Garmin 60CSx. Sweet little thing. Take it just about everywhere. It's the glamour-free workhorse of their handheld lineup, and remains relevant while new generation units are introduced. Price has come down, too.
 
I have owned the Garmin 76S and the newer updated version the Garmin 76Csx (the color one...which I lost in a hotel room clean up).... and if I had to buy again today, I would go back to the 76S.

Do not know if they even still make it, but I just like some of the things better, and the color did not help me that much either. I could be getting older and disliked the updates and operation of the newer color version....who knows.

I like this size for a couple of reasons. It too is my back up, and, I liked just dropping it in the pocket of a jacket when going places/towns where I did not know my way around...and it has come in handy finding my way back to the boat/truck/hotel at times too....if of course, I remembered to plug in where I needed to return to. :mrgreen:

I have never up/downloaded any additional software on either and was happy with what they provided me.... a back up.

Byrdman
 
My portable is a now very old Garmin V+. Small, portable, B&W, but will run about 24 hours on a set of batteries, but is also 12VDC capable. Also, waterproof, and works on both land and water, with routing capabilities. I would really miss this if it died. Have seen used ones on e-bay for $75 with some down-loadable disks. Mine is going on 10 years old now and still works fine. Just my $0.02, for optional ideas.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
One might remember that the newest GPS hand held receivers (specifically Garmin, but many others also) use the SiRF StarIII Chipset.
There are multiple advantages to this chip set, but it will acquire signals in side vehicles, houses, under dense cover etc. (Does not require direct clear line of sight to the satellite--of course there are materials which shield the signal) This chip set has very fast acquisition and update times. It is 20 channel (vs limited number--as little as 4 in very early sets), It receives all of the WAAS satellites (many of the hand helds do not after the change of the WAAS satellites a couple of years ago. This chipset uses only 62 milliwatts, and has a very high sensitivity of -159 dBm.

Also some of the older GPS will have internal memory batteries which have to be changed out at some point. Certainly the older units will give a Lat and Long, but the new units are far superior in many ways.
 
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