Garmin Question

I’m looking at buying a GPS unit. I mostly want a unit for speed. Does the larger units(Garmin 162) have the same quality as the hand held units (Garmin 72) when it comes to speed ?

ecnook……..what I know about the GPS is that it takes an average over an amount of time and they display it as SOG (speed over ground). I have a handheld garmin 45 and it works that same way as does my LMS 350a……..

So your saying there is no difference ? I see no need for me to get a full size unit if the hand helds do the same thing, when it comes to speed ?

Dave,
I am saving up my pennies for a Garmin Rino 120, good for multiple uses like fishing, hunting, traveling, ect……

Dave

There are some advantages to a handheld over a dash mount… portability, small size come to mind. BUT, do consider the screen size as a major point to ponder before just going for that handheld. Ever try to read a plotter trail or even a simple SOG off of a handheld in 2′ chop? That little screen and those tiny little numbers and letters just jump all over creation and they become impossible to interpret. Trust me, this IS an issue. How often will you be in that situation will help determine your course of action. I know I personally would not consider it on option with the time I spend on Mille Lacs. I mean its heard enough to see speed and course on my X-15 when I’m running in chop and that bugger has a large screen and large characters. At trolling speeds it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. A thought…

James has made a good point. Yes the small screen would be a difficult to read in the waves……and as we get older we do lose some of that vision (I’m now using reading glasses)………….getting damn hard to tie hooks these days!

Dave, the key points have been made above. If you went with a handheld you can get a mount for it as well. You might be okay with a handheld since you do most of your fishing on the river and I imagine the waves are not as much of an issue as they would be on the big pond. But, James’ point about the screen size is something to consider.

Another consideration is versitility. If you plan to use the GPS for other purposes, a handheld can be an advantage. If you plan to use it for hunting or vehicle navigation, a handheld might make sense.

Finally, I would think about power. You will of course need a power supply for the GPS. The handhelds run on batteries, or you can use a cigarette lighter adapter if you have that capability on your boat.

Has anyone ever tried rigging a handheld GPS to your boat’s main battery system? I have not heard it being done but I suppose it is possible. One thing’s for sure, you don’t want to have to keep changing batteries in your handheld unit or lose power when you need it most.

There’s much to consider and pros and cons on both sides.

Good Luck!

Very good point about screen size!

I have a map 76 hand held that mounts in my boat. This unit is a must for me as it reads speed very accurate, even under .5 MPH. I have the unit mounted on my bow but I can easily read the speed while driving the boat. I would consider looking at this unit, especially if you are looking for a mapping unit. The price is a little higher then some of the other Garmin units but the screen is bigger and the extra features are worth the extra money. I am very glad I went with this unit.

They now make a Map 76S that give you a few more features but may be overkill for what you are looking to do with it. The main feature on the 76S is the barometric altimeter,which I would love to have.

Gol’Dang guys !! awesome information !!!

Thanks a ton !!

I highly recommend a power cord for any hand held unit you get. I go through so many batteries in a weekend, it isn’t funny. Everytime I stop at Gander or whereever, I forget to pick up the darn power cord. If you don’t have cigarette lighter in your boat, they are easy enough to install. One other consideration for the handheld, even if you buy the RAM mount, tether(sp?) it to something. I’ve got a buddy who lost his on big water. He was running too hard, and it bounced right out of the bracket into the lake.

Another good point. I went with the cigarette lighter type of power cord. I ended up wiring a 12 V adapter on the bow of my boat. I also have mounts in my truck, on the dash and bow of my boat. I can move the unit around anywhere I want, just plug it into the 12V adapter.

I also have a GPS on my x-15 but the Garmin handheld is more accurate and updates faster. It is a very impressive unit. I did a lot of research on these units before I bought one.

Dave and I have been doing a little digging. Here’s a little more information on what we’ve been discussing here…

If you go with a handheld Garmin unit (at least with a GPS 72, GPS 76, GPSMAP 76, GPSMAP 76S) you can hard wire the unit to your boat’s battery system using an optional cable. And/or you can get an optional cigarette lighter adapter. You can also get a Marine Mount to hold the unit. Some helpful links are below.

Garmin Marine Mount pic and description #010-10300-00

Garmin Power/Data Cable (bare wire) pic and description #010-10082-00

Garmin Cigarette Lighter Adapter pic and description #010-10085-00

And, here’s the Garmin GPS 72 we’ve been referring to here.

These accessories will also work with the Garmin GPS 76 , the Garmin GPSMAP 76 , and the Garmin GPSMAP 76S .

We carry all of these units and all Garmin accessories for each unit. I don’t have all of these accessories listed on the website but I will be getting them on there with pricing information as well. Hope this information is helpful. If anyone has any questions, please post or send me a note.

Thanks, Wade

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Another good point. I went with the cigarette lighter type of power cord. I ended up wiring a 12 V adapter on the bow of my boat. I also have mounts in my truck, on the dash and bow of my boat. I can move the unit around anywhere I want, just plug it into the 12V adapter.

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Scott, that sounds like an excellent suggestion. Makes the unit very versitle.

Good info. Thanks, Wade

I went with the garmin map76 a couple of years ago. It works great for me. I use it in the boat, in the car, and use it a lot for hiking. It works great for hiking, being portable. I can just mark the position of the truck, turn it off, and take off through the woods. When I get ready to come back I just turn it on once in a while and it leads me within 30 feet of the truck. In the car, you can plug it into a laptop, and use a regular map program. The gps will show up on the map software as a pointer. I like the larger screen of a laptop for long trips. I think the big thing is to get a garmin, and get as much memory as you can for downloading maps. I believe the map76s has more memory than the map76.. Hope this helps anyone in the market for a gps..

I have a hand held Magellan 320.I do not have the power cord yet but have been talking to Wade about getting one.So yes you can really go through the double A’s.I also have had problems with my unit bouncing out of the mount during rough conditions.I love the hand held unit during the ice fishing season-a real plus for me.
Ryan Hale

Ryan and Dennis – you guys make some good points about handheld GPS units. They are so versitle and can be utilized in so many ways: open water fishing, ice fishing, hunting, vehicle navigation, hiking…

I have recently put together an Ice Fishing Package including the Garmin GPSMAP 76 and the Fishing Hot Spots CD. I’ll probably post it soon as the cold is drawing near but you can see it at Jolly Ann Marine & Outdoor .

Thanks for sharing your opinions and info here guys!

Wade

The Map 76 is awsome. I have it with the above mentioned power sources in boat and car. The newer map 76s also has electronic compass and 16mb more memory than the map 76. I have found the extra memory would come in handy for storing all the map information. I have the smaller 8mb unit and must load different map sets depending on where I am traveling. Not a big deal but one sometimes forgotten.