I miss my Garmin hand held GPS

[Piers]

Started with a 45, then a 48, but neither now work. Which hand held is now considered best for boating?

 

[julians]

I use a Garmin GPSmap 276cx - GPSMAP 276Cx | Garmin

Its possibly a little bigger than you were thinking about, but it works very well as a handheld, with excellent (and rechargable or regular double A ) battery life, a screen that is fully readable in the brightest med sunshine, and the ability to use the proper garmin charts.

 

[Piers]

This looks good. Thank you. Looking at the various maps, I'd choose the bay of Biscay where there's a choice between Bluechart G3 and Bluechart G3 Vision. Am I right in thinking the Bluechart G3 Vision is unnecessary for nav use?

 

[julians]

according to garmin :-

BlueChart g3 Vision. Is a premium option that offers all of the same mapping and features as BlueChart g3, with extra features such as high-res relief shading, 3-D views, and aerial photos.

 

[Kawasaki]

I use a Garmin GPSmap 276cx - GPSMAP 276Cx | Garmin

Its possibly a little bigger than you were thinking about, but it works very well as a handheld, with excellent (and rechargable or regular double A ) battery life, a screen that is fully readable in the brightest med sunshine, and the ability to use the proper garmin charts.

Proper piece of kit
I use one too
Great when Instructing on 'own boat' Gigs
Half the time the Peeps have just bought the vessel or fitted a fancy iece of kit they can't use!
I like Garmin anyway
Intuitive for me, easily understood
Some newer kit is beyond my pea brain capability!

 

[ashtead]

Maybe a second hand Colorado version is worth a look?

 

[volvopaul]

Someone out there has mine , stolen off my Corniche when I had it for sale some years back , the best bit of kit I’d ever bought value for money incredible , had the cigarette lighter plug cradle as well.
Had all my routes around the Solent and Weymouth to Torquay in it.

 

[Refueler]

Started with a 45, then a 48, but neither now work. Which hand held is now considered best for boating?

One of the problems with the old 40 series Garmins and the old Magellans ... is the firmware is not up to the standard of the newer sets ... the workaround - if it still switches on ... is to power it from an external source and leave it switched on with clear view of sky ...

My Magellan took over 12hrs to sort itself out and now works again. It's still very slow to start up but once its initialised - it works.

 

[benjenbav]

I’ve still got a Garmin Map76 somewhere. That was a good bit of kit. Perhaps I’ll see if I can find it.

 

[alt]

Garmin 276c was the dogs b0llix when it comes to handhelds. I still have my one from 15 odd years ago. I fear the day it dies / I lose it, as they don't make them anymore.

The CX is the replacement and I was playing with one only last week - When my 276c eventually dies, i'll change to a 276cx

 

[guernseyman]

I've been looking at it - does it ever really need the external aerial if mounted, say, below a hatch?

 

[Piers]

Thanks for all the guidance. A Garmin 276CX it is, then. Now I need to wait for the ban on boating in Guernsey to be lifted.

 

[julians]

I've been looking at it - does it ever really need the external aerial if mounted, say, below a hatch?

I think it depends on many factors, I suspect it would work fine in a lot of cases, but an external aerial would be best.

Mine gets a decent signal indoors when sat in my lounge just using the built in aerial.

 

[Reel Time]

I use a Garmin GPSMAP64. Bought as a reconditioned unit fro the Garmin shop online.

 

[julians]

if you do get a gpsmap 276cx, make sure you update it to the latest firmware from here

Garmin: GPSMAP 276cx Updates & Downloads

It fixes quite a few bugs that were present on the earlier versions.