Opinions on Handheld GPS

[Fish_on_fly]

I'm looking for any opinions on handheld or portable GPS units. Mainly to get me to exact fishing locations off shore and get me home in the fog.

My Question: Is it worth the extra $ for the units that can display downloaded charts (i.e., Garmin GPSMAP 76 or 176c)? Or should I save my money and get the Etrex mariner and program all my key routes (for fog) and destinations myself?

[Bob Parsons]

I used a handheld unit for years hooked up to my boat battery and it was excellent for getting me back to port when needed. I did go a few places in the fog based on punching in numbers from a chart and that worked well.

I had to replace it and now have one with a chart.

neat feature is point and click and you have your waypoint.

If money is a concern than the handheld non charts will do the trick.. I had mine fixed and it is now my backup unit.

[dskins]

I am in my first year with a Garmin GPSMAP76 and so far I like it alot. It comes preloaded with marine navaids which work very well - until you get up into an estuary and you and the bouys appear on land.(minor problem) It also has tide cycle data-one less book for me to carry around....I have mine in a quick release mount that is hard wired to my boat battery (mount and cable =$60 extra) which I would suggest as the unit eats batteries. I also invested in a BlueChart CD which I have mixed feelings about.The charts are great to have on my pc and the ablilty to set up tracks and points ahead of time and transfer them to the unit is great but sometimes I feel like I have too much information for the small screen in my hands and if you are trying to scroll ahead to look at the map there is definetely a lag time for the screen to redraw.
All in all I really like the unit. Its software seems stable, it didn't mind being dropped in the water - it even floated, and it seems to take the banging around between my boat. kayak and backback pretty well

[jhurd]

I have a GPS76 from Garmin. I wish I had spend the extra $70 to get the Map version. At any rate, as GPSs go it's still pretty good. I looked at a bunch of others, but this one took the cake. Big screen, WAAS enabled. I also spent the extra $80 for software that has maps with all the buoys etc, so that I can easily enter way points and routes from my pc - those GPS keyboards are small and very difficult to use when entering waypoints and routes. Perhaps one of the best features of the GPS76 is the tide chart feature. When I go to a spot now, wherever it is, I just tell it to locate the nearest tide station. Bang, there it is, with the little wave style chart, and an x-y axis of where I am in the tide stage, what time high and low are and their heights. I love this feature, because I don't have to deal with getting tide charts ahead-of-time.

Good luck.

[Blackjack]

I have the Garmin 176 - this is my second season with it. It has been absolutely fabulous and has totally enhanced my confidence - I will fish around rocks etc at night and in the fog now, whereas before I was shorebound. Now if it could only pick up those lobster pot buoys before I ran over them...

[SamRiley]

Ditto on the MAP76. Love the charts and it floats too.