Need New Handheld Backup GPS - Thoughts?

P

Pat Anderson

New member
Well, our trusty GPS76 (not a C) purchased in 2002 finally crapped out, first it was just a line on the screen, and now the thing does not start up at all, not a battery thing, she is just dead. Also the GPS176C that I bought used - it beeps but the screen stays blank. I assume these guys can't be repaired economically, and realistically are too old anyway.

I think we absolutely need a backup GPS for when the old Raymarine C80 on Daydream or the new Garmin (forget the model) on Crabby Lou do what all electronics seem to do periodically...

So what is the best value in a new little handheld? Pre-loaded coastal cartography seems like a must. Needs to run on AA batteries, ability to plug into a 12 volt recepticle would be nice. Recommendations?
 
Pat;
Have you looked at the Garmin 550. It is supposed to be a combined road and marine GPS. I have just started looking for a GPS that can be used for both Highway and Marine that will take a memory chip and can connect to the computer.
wapiti
 
I have been looking at the Delorme PN-30 or PN- 40 They will do about everything including accept Navionics SD cards. You can have exactly the same map as the C-80. You just have to also have it on SD size. I have an old Raymarine 400 that uses the Navionics cards, but in CF size, same as the C-80. The Raymarine 400 is out of production and has served well as a backup on the water, but it doesn't have any road or topo maps available for it. The Delorme units do it all.

Brent
 
If you were happy with the models you had, check with Garmin on the cost of repair. I've had two repaired by Garmin in the last five years. Both times it was less that $100 and took about 2 weeks.

Bob
 
The Delorme PN-40 allows unlimited download of all NOAA charts for a fee of $30/yr. It has many capabilities. I use it for a backup on my boat and for geocaching and road navigating. It was my only chart plotter on the Erie as there are no NOAA charts west of Syracuse.

When I had problems with the Li-ion battery and the AC charger, Delorme sent replacements the next day with no questions or hassle.

The Delorme forum site provides tech advice.
 
For all US coastal charts the 400C is an excellent choice. I picked up the Topo charts on DVD and then downloaded those which I wanted on an SD card, so I have both Topo and Coastal Navigation.

Slightly larger is the 76 C SX--nothing like the older 76 versions. I happen to still feel that Garmin gives the best screens, and coverage/features in these sizes and price lines.
 
Pat, 76CSX is what we use for backup. Has the altitude module too. Can't understand why it always shows us at sea level. Guess I gotta go faster and get the landing gear up! :shock:

Charlie
 
Pat,

I recommend that in addition to a handheld, you have another fixed GPS/SONAR for Daydream. We use a Humminbird 757 in addition to the C80. I typically keep the sonar on the C80 off, and use the Humminbird for finding fish and the bottom (before it finds me). I have a Garmin eTrex Legend as a handheld that also goes along. For the portable, if you are building your own maps, get the one that can handle the greatest amount of memory possible.

Steve
 
Pat,

I use a Delorme PN-40 as the primary GPS input to Coastal Explorer through a USB port. My backup is the NMEA output from a Lowrance and my third is a Delorme USB gps puck. The Delorme is more accurate most of the time than the Lowrance and my wife can look at the NOAA charts on the PN-40 from her seat. She can also toggle over to looking at topo maps that come with the PN-40. I have found it to pretty versatile and easy to use. The only downside is that it will draw batteries down to nothing over the course of a month since it always powers its internal clock. If you are going to store it, take out the batteries. You can put virtually all the maps available on 16 GB SD card. The software for managing maps is a little clunky and sometimes hard to understand what it wants you to do.
 
I really like the looks of the new Garmin Nuvi 500/550!

Sharie has a Nuvi 255w and the interface on it is great. I'll likely be purchasing one of the 500/550 models as soon as I get the boat running for an interim solution while I save up for the chart plotter.

The battery on the 255 lasts a couple hours or so.
 
bob-kir":2bfdyruv said:
If you were happy with the models you had, check with Garmin on the cost of repair. I've had two repaired by Garmin in the last five years. Both times it was less that $100 and took about 2 weeks.
Click to expand...

X2.

Between my Dad and I, we've had more than a dozen Garmin units over the last several years. Reliability has been pretty decent, but we've each had a failed unit repaired by Garmin that continue to work to this day.

Should my 76C ever fail, it will definitely go back in for repair. Not only is it the ideal unit for me (car, boat or motorcycle, insanely good battery life off common AA's, waterproof and small), but the Blue Charts are tied to the unit - I'd have to buy new cartography if I replaced it.
 
Well, got us a handheld backup now.

Went with a Lowrance iFinder Expedition C, from West Marine at $199, I wonder if it is a close-out, as a lot of sites are showing "sold out" on the Expedition C - and the price on most other sites is about $50 - $80 HIGHER than West Marine (when did that ever happen?). Got an old MapCreate 6 CD set with the SD reader/writer from Warren (Doryman), have made up my map sets. Looks good, not as much detail as some (no spot soundings for example) but overall it looks more than adequate. It uses AA batteries (I HATE rechargeable batteries with a passion) and a 12 volt adapter, just ordered the RAM mount, so should be good to go.

Mobile phone is a BlackBerry STorm, no can do ActiveCaptain, which is too darn bad. All the other handhelds seem to be $350 and up, so I am reasonably happy with this result!
 
Unit on the boat died- guide couldn't figure out his handheld (did find 3 25# kings) - pulled out my IPHONE - typed in the coordinates - on the road again -worked like a charm
$9.99 for Navtronics charts for east coast inc Bahamas -ITOUCH will have a 9+" screen -the tech junkie will get back with a CR on it - For $499 it looks like it will do some cool stuff
Hank
 
yep, if the iPad has real GPS and uses the apps well (want to see it, not hear theory = vaporware), at $499 for that 9" screen maybe unreal for this use. See how fast a waterproof, shock resistant plexiglas holder comes to market. Almost sounds too good to be true. We know what that means!!

I'm still waiting for handheld, waterproof, battery/rechargable, VHF/GPS Plotter to be available, ultimate ditch bag and backup. Maybe with satellite abilities
 
May be wrong, but I believe Pat said sometime in the past, that his dislike of the Garmin 640 was due to not being able to hold a set distance on the screen.

I was going to buy the Garmin 400c, but due to mixed reviews some very bad had decided to hold off. After Bob's positive review am rethinking the decision. Have seen them listed for much lower then suggested retail in Bizrate comparisons. It has a good sized screen for its overall size to fit in a shirt or jacket pocket. Sure miss our pocket sized old Garmin E-map that ended up in the bottom of Mirror harbor, Chicagof Island, Alaska, but they have come along way since then in both price and what they can do. The proprietary SD card in that unit alone cost $309 and that was a blank card you had to download even more expensive maps info into with no marine charts avialable at the time. I had it full of Western US, Canada and Alaska Topo with a total of approximately $1300 in the little hand held unit. Now for less then a third of that the Garmin 400c comes with detailed charts and clear colored screen and is much more user friendly. Of course the competition to Garmin is too.

Jay
 
Good to hear the chat about the Garmins. Reminds us how lucky we are - a few years ago, on the way up to Sitka, we anchored in a snug little cove on the island Sitka sits on, and in the morning pulling up the anchor we found a nice little unit embedded in the mud gripping the anchor. Tried something we had heard about - rinsing the electonic gizmo in fresh water, to get out the salt, and after it soaked we dried it out and stuck in a couple of new batteries - and bingo - it lit up and even had all the charts of Alaska, western Canada, and the western US. It was compact and worked like a charm for years - only thing wrong with it, every time we popped up a chart from Wyoming it made weird moaning sounds ....
 
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