Handheld GPS, a thing of the past?

I was at the local Fleet Farm and asking questions on certain brand handheld GPS. I was surprised to hear that he said next year handhelds are no longer going to be made and that all lakemaps will only be downloadable to smart phones. He was explaining that lake chips are going to be a thing of the past. No company has a manufacturer that will make them. Does anybody know the truth to this story that I was told? I don’t own a smart phone and don’t wan’t to because over the long run I will save money with a handheld GPS. Call me old fashioned I guess.
Ray

Better hang on to your calculator Ray!

That is total BS if I have ever heard it. Was he trying to sell you that GPS right then before they were all gone and not being made anymore?

you mean abbacus.

No he wasn’t try to sell it to me, I just wanted to just look at it. If he was trying to sell it to me, he sure didn’t do a good job by telling me they were going to be obsolete.

I really have a hard time trying to believe they will stop producing handheld units. My smartphone battery would last about an hour outside in the cold and searching for a signal or tower! I would definately be pissed if I lost my phone or damaged the screen on my smartphone.
Did the salesman smell like alcohol?

Not alcohol, but something sure smelled funny about that sort of talk. Maybe Fleet Farm is going into the cell phone business!

Just bought a Garmin GPSMAP 78sc for $224 + tax an hour ago. West Marine One Day Sale.

I think that’s nonsense. Handhelds beat cellphones in water resistance, ruggedness, and battery life.

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I think that’s nonsense. Handhelds beat cellphones in water resistance, ruggedness, and battery life.

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This. Not even comparable right now.

yeah i don’t buy it. Even if the battery life were better on a smart phone, apps are not transferable so when you get a new phone you have to buy the app again

Someone might want to call LakeMaster, Contour Elite and Navionics and tell them that they should stop making maps on chips because we can’t use them any longer.

So the dude at FF is telling us that Garmin, Magellan, TomTom and Lowrance are all going to closeup shop and quietly bow down to the cell phone industry.

Sounds like a load of horsesh1t to me. Fear factor is not a good selling technique in my book.

I have no doubt sales on handhelds have dropped immensly, but there is still a niche out there for those that need something stronger and more reliable than a smartphone. They’ll remain on the market, though likely less options available in the coming years. I don’t need one, i have one, used to need one, but am glad i do have it for when i will need it again.

A huge factor is the western market. There are SO MANY places out west where you will get NO cell phone.4g (or 3G)) service. Here in the more populated area of WI/MN…. cell phones can/will work. but there is a huge area that is still not covered.

Since most fruit phones are afraid of the cold, your only other option is a hand held.

Great responses everybody, I feel the same way and was questioning the salesman.

I am thinking of getting a 5 inch garmin, for my lakemaster chip.. that 3 inch is too small.. and for $100 bucks, I can really upgrade..

I don’t think handhelds are going anywhere until a smartphone can match the runtime and accuracy of a good handheld. I am not aware of any WAAS enabled smartphone so accuracy just can’t match a WAAS enable handheld.