Don, I’m assuming that you’re talking about the Garmin Fishing Hots Spots Data Cards? If that’s not correct, please let me know.
But compared to Garmin Fishing Hot Spots, their quite similar. One of the main factors to keep in mind is you can only run the Garmin Hot Spots on a Garmin unit, and if you have a Garmin unit, you can not run the Navionics cards.
The Navionics Cards will run on Lowrance, Eagle, Humminbird, Raymarine, etc.
Comparing the Garmin to the Navionics cards, at this time, I’d say Navionics has a slight edge. The main reason is the coverage area offered per card. You can see the coverage for Navionics chart #10 above (MN, IA). The Garmin Card only covers Minnesota and list these lakes:
Bald Eagle, MN
Cass & Pike Bay, MN
Chisago Chain: Green / North Green / South Lindstrom / South Center / North Center / North Lindstrom, MN
Clearwater, MN
Edward, MN
Fish, MN
Independence, MN
Island, MN
Kabetogama, MN
Leech, MN
Little Boy Chain: Wabedo / Little Boy / McCarthey / Cooper / Rice / Inguadona, MN
Medicine, MN
Mille Lacs, MN
Minnetonka, MN
North Long, MN
Pelican (Orr), MN
Vermilion, MN
White Bear, MN
White Fish Chain: Bass / Bertha / Trout / Clamshell / Clear / Cranberry / Cross / Daggett / Dewdrop / Duck / Fern / Four Acre / Grass / Henry / Hidden / Island / Kimble / Lilly Pad / Little Bass / Litte Beaver / Little Ox / Little Pine / Little Round Winnibigoshish, MN
Lake of the Woods, MN/ONT
Rainy, MN/ONT
Still, not bad. And if you only fish one state, it would not matter anyway. And, to give Garmin credit, their Card/CD is a little less expensive than the Navionics Card – $129 for Navionics versus $116 for Garmin (and you can often get a Garmin CD for as low as $75 when you purchase a Garmin unit).
As far as being accurate and the detail of mapping, both have a great reputation. Both will increase the accuracy of the GPS/Chartplotter being used.
Bottom line, like a lot of fishing products, they both have advantages and disadvantages, and both are good products. The warning I always give to folks is make sure you get the data card or CD Rom that is compatible with the unit you have or plan to get.
Hope this helps,
Wade
