Garmin AIS 600 or 800?

[Bertie1972]

I went to the boatshow intending to buy a Garmin AIS 600 to go with my existing GPS Map 750 and 100i radio.

I spoke to a guy on the Garmin stand who said I should go for the 800 as it has superceded the 600. The 600 model show prices I found were the same as those online inc. postage, so I thought I'd wait and look in more detail when I got home.

My technical knowledge of AIS specs is limited, so before making the choice - am I right in thinking I should buy the 800, or is it a higher spec than my existing kit warrants?

 

[Momac]

Is the newer one higher transmission power ? Perhaps that means it is seen from a greater distance and uses more energy .

 

[mersey]

The AIS600 is 2W, where as the AIS800 is 5W and uses the SOTDMA Class B specification, the AIS600 will update every 30secs above 2knots. The AIS800 will update every 30 secs at 2-14knots, every 15 secs 14-23 knots, and every 5 seconds over 23 knots.

At the same cost I'd take the AIS800.