Garmin GPS

Wade, my next buy for my boat is going to be a good GPS unit that I can use for lake maps such as those from Navionics, Hot spots and or Lake Master. What do you think of the Garmin 162? Is this unit a good buy for the money?
The other question I have relates to the Garmin V. Ford did a promo this fall,where if you bought a new F-150, they apparently were giving away free handheld Garmin V GPS units. It arrived at my doorstep Wed. I see the value at about $299, but not sure if this unit is useful for anything on the water. I already have a Garmin 12. I’d like to trade up for a counsole mounted mapable unit. Any suggestions? thanks dave

If you want a good GPS for fishing spend the extra money and get the Garmin 276c. I used a friends with the MMC lake chip and man that thing was great.It is color and you can mark spots and see it real good in daylight and it has a night mode. I also hace a garmin 12 and it was nice 5 years ago. The good thing about the 276c is you can use it ice fishing too..

Hey Coffee – I’ve been waiting for my Garmin V since September. How long did you have to wait? I saw a Garmin V instructional video at Gander Mountain. It supposedly fully explains all the ins and outs of the unit. Cost was $15.

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Wade, my next buy for my boat is going to be a good GPS unit that I can use for lake maps such as those from Navionics, Hot spots and or Lake Master. What do you think of the Garmin 162? Is this unit a good buy for the money?
The other question I have relates to the Garmin V. Ford did a promo this fall,where if you bought a new F-150, they apparently were giving away free handheld Garmin V GPS units. It arrived at my doorstep Wed. I see the value at about $299, but not sure if this unit is useful for anything on the water. I already have a Garmin 12. I’d like to trade up for a counsole mounted mapable unit. Any suggestions? thanks dave

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Dave, The 162 has been discontinued and will be replaced by the Garmin GPSMAP 172 . That’s going to be a nice unit. I don’t have the pricing info yet but it should be similar in price to the 162. Remember though, Garmin units can not run Navionics chips. They do have their own Lakemaster Pro Maps and Fishing Hot Spots Maps , but I don’t put those maps in the same class as the Navionics Premium Maps at this time. If I’m looking to put a GPS on my boat right now, I’m looking for a unit that runs the premium chip. Here’s the nest-priced options:

GLOBALMAP 3500C – Not yet released. Color screen, 480×480 pixels. Will be around $475 when released in 2005.

Lowrance GlobalMap 4800M

Eagle Intellimap 500C – Should be shipping soon.

Eagle Intellimap 480

The GPS V is a nice unit for auto navigation but isn’t going to be a whole lot of good on the water. It’s not a bad little unit for doing what it was designed to do.

Take a look at the units above and do a little comparing. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, Wade

Comanchero,
I bought the F-150 10/1. The Garmin V, arrived yesterday. Frankly I forgot all about it as part of the Ford Promo.
There must have been a boat load of these units given away. I now see them on e-bay for $225. In any instance I doubt if I’ll use it. It would make for a nice Christmas present.
Coffee

I ran the 172, it is a sweet unit. Well worth the money. Get the external antenna though, much better signal! Wade will hook you up.

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I ran the 172, it is a sweet unit. Well worth the money. Get the external antenna though, much better signal! Wade will hook you up.

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Scott’s is the Garmin 172C which is a color unit, very simlar to the 172 mentioned above of course. If a guy wants to go with Garmin, that 172, 172C, or the Garmin 276C would be great choices. All three will run the Garmin Hot Spots Maps and Garmin Lakemaster Promaps, noted above.

Scott, glad to hear you enjoy that 172C. I’m still waiting for MY share of your tournament winnings.