Chart Plotter

[out2sea]

Hello All. It's time to upgrade the boat to include a chart plotter.
My initial position is to go with a Garmin 172C, 182C, or 192C.
I fish out of Newburport and the boat's a 23' WA. Any opinions or advice is appreciated.

[chainsaw42]

first off, i would stick with Garmin, as you suggest. not say there aren't a lot of other good brands out there, but in the less than $1,000 machines, i think garmin is the clear winner in terms of user interface/ease of use & reliability. they are generally more expensive for a given screen size, but worth it in my opinion. now, which garmin, that's the question.

with a 23' boat, i'm sure space is somewhat tight, and a lot of it depends on your budget. but, it is cheaper to spend more up front and buy the unit you want than it is to buy the wrong unit now and upgrade down the road. i think you have it right by looking at all color screens. it makes a huge difference on the water. also, the bigger the screen the better (duh). but, the other big thing to consider, especially in the less than $1,000 units, is the processor speed. with all of the map data loaded, and set to a reasonably high level, how fast does the screen redraw when zooming and panning?? that makes a big difference on the water.

now, i'm not sure how the three units you mentioned compare on processor speed, so more investigation is needed there. but the other unit i think you should consider is the new 3005c. it would make sense if you were thinking there's any chance you might add radar down the road. since it's brand new, i would bet that it has a faster processor too (but i'm not sure). i'm sure this is more expensive than the other units you mention, but if you think there's a chance you'd want to add radar, sonar, or even the new xm weather, it would be worth the extra money now.

lastly, consider the mapping software. since they're all garmin units, they will all have the blue chart software (which i love). the 192c has it built in while with the other two, you need to buy it separately. i'm not sure what the price difference is between the 182c and 192c, but i think i would rather have the software separately as you then have it loaded on your pc and can view charts at home (or work) and review your last trip & plan your next one. i use the pc software all the time. anyway, that's my two cents, good luck.

[out2sea]

Chainsaw42: you are absolutely right about space limitations and I'd like to keep the cost under $1k but at the same time I don't want to have to upgrade in a year. I'll check out the processing speeds. Thanks for the input. :-%

[medburd]

I picked up the 178c at the beginning of the season, I absolutely loce it and was allowed to use my blue charts chip with it which is what I had in my old device so it saved some $$. It was pretty inexpensive as far as comparable units are concerened. It also came with the dual frequency transducer. I took the best price I could find on the internet and went to West Marine as they price match...food for thought.....I saved like $240.00 from their price.
good luck

[Toby]

I bought a Lowrance 337? color for my new boat. It's a combo GPS/Fishfinder. It was about $700 and I love it. It seemed like one of the lowest price combos out there. I was worried about the small screen size but the resolution is great so it easy to read. The way my helm is it's close to your face anyway.

[Ken Catch]

I added the Garmin 2006 color this summer. It was an upgrade from an old b&w 210. I love it I use many different units from all manufacturers on customers boats. Garmin is the easiest to use while providing all the bells and whistles. Their products last and are not overly priced. Quality and value. the mak of a great product. Good Luck with your choice.

[Jim Miller]

Like the other guys said:
Go Garmin!
I put the 2010 color on my boat after having a B&W Raytheon 10 " unit. The garmin is much faster, intuitive & clearer. Nice mapping & Super display. :) WAAS or Dgps!
Haven't used the FF option (have a separate Furuno FF). Would be curious as to the qualities of the Garmin Fish finder if anyone has used one?
Good Luck!

[Ken Catch]

The ff feature is nice. The drawback is screen space. It's ok on a 2010, Tight on a 2006, and tough on any screen smaller. I would think with the proper transducer setup it's fine for most needs. I personally like my Furuno Crt as a stand alone.