GPS

[MedDreamer]

Looking for a GPS (on a budget as it is a chrissie present). As my boat is on Windermere it will be mainly a toy at the moment but I hope to put it to more serious use at some stage.

The two that look to fit the bill are the Garmin 126 and the MLR SP24XC.

Does anyone know anything about these or have other recommendations.

Thanks

 

[byron]

Garmin have a superb after sales service and as handbooks go an excellent one. Even on Windemere it will not be a toy it will give you an exact speed so you can keep below that soppy regulation they have /forums/images/icons/wink.gif
Personally I swear by Garmin products, damn me I do.

http://www.alexander-advertising.co.uk

 

[NorthernWave]

I must admit the Garmin's I use are very good too. Although I can't remember what model they are they weren't very expensive.

Chris

Relaxation starts at the pontoon gate

 

[MedDreamer]

Thanks for that Byron

Dont get me started on Windermere speed limits!! - I was thinking of buying an egg timer to keep me below the wonderful new limit (thankfully still two years away)

Martyn

 

[Piers]

Garmin - are there any other makes....????

Piers du Pré
www.playdeau.com

 

[ccscott49]

I have the older 120, it's a superb unit and I'm buying another, I swear by them aswell.

 

[ccscott49]

I have the older Garmin 120, it's a superb unit and I'm buying another, I swear by them aswell.

 

[tr7v8]

Definitely, I have a Magellan 320 and am very happy with it, not used it a huge amount yet and have only dabbled with others Garmins but I find it OK.
PS. Magellan are a damn site cheaper second hand on E Bay than Garmin hence why I brought it!

Jim
--------

 

[byron]

The later one has some excellent new features.

http://www.alexander-advertising.co.uk

 

[jfm]

Get a plotter, not a simple GPS. Much more fun.

 

[tcm]

£199 quid handheld plotter

Garmin 175 from mesltd.co.uk

These are now the old model (replaced by a colour thingy) but pretty darn good value.

The normal gps will give heading and speed, and position. But you have to plot that position on to a map to answer yourself "where's that then?". The plotter does this for you, and shows you your position with an on-screen map. Apologies if you know all this.

Oh, and of course, massive advantages of a handheld anything is that you can take it home, keep it safe and dry, get all the waypoints loaded before going and understand the thing rather than try and learn how to use it only on the boat, not drill holes in boats, use it on other boats, use it on liferafts (unlikely in windermere but anyway) and it's yours when you sell the boat.

 

[jfm]

Re: £199 while stox last (not long I hope)

Yes, while Garmin 175 isn't my favourite hh plotter, it is outstanding value at £199.

Dang. You see, those wishing to sell secondhand Mag NAV6000s are eagerly awaiting the time when stocks of 175 have run out, so 2nd hand prices return to normality, ahem...

 

[tcm]

Magellan prices fall thru floor to australia.

..with all the secondhand 175 garmins?

 

[EME]

GPS/Chart Plotter

...Translation of jfm / tcm verbosity re Chart/Plotters

a) MESltd Garmin 175 great deal ( I bought one...outstanding fun and loads of easy to use functionality), butyou do have to buy chart cartridges as well from Navionics
b) JFM has Magellan competitor offering from Magellan for sale now surplus ( also apparently great value if you see previous thread(s))
c) JFM/TCM do NOT agree on which system is superior/forums/images/icons/smile.gif

So Best Xmas choice is to chose between their different reccomendations..


<font color=black>I am WHAT I say I am

 

[tcm]

Re: ...and

The thing is, once you've bought one of them, it's a bit of a no-no to swap, cos of the massive investment in chart chips, bout 1500 quid in my case. Fortunately the market leader is now a new garmin 176c, thereby proving i was right about the usability. Unfortunately, the friggin old chips are useless, i think (?)

 

[EME]

Re: ...and

Yes , you are right about the chips. No compatabilitico .

But apart from SoF that I've already bought, my 'investment' decision was based on the fact that you'd give me your old chips when you bought the 176c , so I did't have to worry about that /forums/images/icons/wink.gif....

Have also seen occasional old style chips sold on 'For Sale' BB


<font color=black>I am WHAT I say I am

 

[tcm]

Re: aha: jfm/tcm massive profit opportunity

ooh yes cos of course there'll be loads of people with g175s and m6000s after thiv stopped making the chips. So, 200 quid per chip i reckon is very fair.

 

[EME]

Re: aha: jfm/tcm massive profit opportunity

nah...masters will be maintained, easy/peasy,

Navionics keep cutting them.

You might as well put them in the post this afternoon.....




<font color=black>I am WHAT I say I am

 

[jfm]

Got a new toy

Ahem the Garmin old chips (as used in 175) are to become obsolete soon, which is good because they were rubbish. The Magellan chips (CMap) are not at all obsolete, still going strong!

Anyway, guess what, I have just got every CMap chart ever, for the whole planet, possibly even the moon, on my laptop. 3/4 gigabyte. £20 grand's worth at new prices. Just bort it second hand, for a song. OK, dated 1999. but who cares. Fantastic fun, I can zoom into every marina in the world down to pontoon level. Fabulous fun.

 

[tcm]

Re: Got a new toy

ooh. Is it in colour? And has it got other bits of coastline too, or just marinas. Thirdly, has it got a "simulate" function for sad gits to pretend that they are zooming around at 100knots?