GPS Chartplotter Purchase Advise Please

[AussieYank]

I need to get a GPS for my boat...

We barely leave the bay waters in San Diego, every now and then we venture out a couple of miles into the ocean. We're not into fishing (yet!) so thats not important to me, I have no idea which unit to look at buying.

I would like something that connects to my VHF but aside from that I have no clue. I would like to go with something reliable but dont need all the bells and whistles. Something effective and inexpensive.

Any help/advise would be appreciated.

Thanks

[glazingguru]

check out the Raymarine A70D
I put one in my 32 foot Chapparal a few years ago before I sold it and was very pleased with it

[waybomb]

You will get at least one response for every brand there is. So start with a budget - how much do you want to spend for the hardware? Then go shopping. Me, I'm partial to Furuno, even though my current boat has a Raymarine RADAR. I do have a Furuno GPS, chart plotter, fishfinder all-in-one, though I do not fish (my neighbor does all the work and filets them for me; I cook them and eat). But I do like to see the bottom

Read the manual on your VHF, to see what system it uses for communication. That will narrow down your choices as well.

Once you decide on what you want, do a price check on ebay for a new one same model, then shop local. At least you'll know what the thing is really worth when shopping.

[Ondercin]

I just installed the raymarine a97 with chirp and sonar and love it!
I personally just compared garmin and raymarine and felt raymarine was a better option for me..
I agree with Fred, get your budget and figure out the options you really want to make your best educated decision. FYI I paid about 3000 with platinum charts.

[waybomb]

I always watch ebay for boat stuff. I've been seeing handheld marine GPS units, used, for 100 bucks or so.
Can't get any less expensive than that.

Fog can roll in pretty quickly in SF, correct? I'd be looking at radar with a gps/chart overlay.I've been caught in fog with our first boat. Bought a radar that winter and installed it, and have had one on every cruiser since. I do not ever want to be stuck in fog again, especially when you know you are near a large shipping lane. Pucker factor for sure.

[After Taxes]

You would be very happy with any GPS that uses Jeppesen marine Chart Maps.

Jeppesen is also great to deal with for annual updated charts on new memory cards.

I've used them in three boats. My Air Canada pilot friend uses Jeppesen in the air.

Good luck in your search.

http://ww1.jeppesen.com/marine/commerci ... gation.jsp

[Lyndon670]

You may want to consider a tablet with a ram mount. There are many offerings for tablets that are inexpensive.

[AussieYank]

Thanks for the replies, I think I settled on the Lowrance Elite 5... I think I got a pretty smoking deal from Walmart... WestMarine is selling them for over $550, Walmart had it for $460 plus Lowrance has a $100 rebate for it at the moment, so $360 seems like it's work the risk.

[Low Flyer]

Let us know what you think of Lowrance Elite 5!
I was looking at it also since my Fish Finder doesn't work anymore.
Cheers