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I have a cheap, cheap magellan 100 series. ( orange, no map). I've told the wife that I'm about to upgrade, so that I can mark waypoints much easier. Anyone care to elaborate on their's, what they like, what would you do if you had to do it again? Went to academy sports today, and the idiot sales clerk said they "didn't demo any of the gps's". I swear, if you don't know what you need, or need an "expert", these chain stores are not the place to be. Any advice?
I've recently bought the Garmin Map76S, it is the same as Map 76 but has a compass and altimeter...I think... The reason I bought this one is that I have been entertaining the thought of hunting again. It is WAAS capatible... which is an acronym for ..wide area augmentation satellite...I believe... just more accurant...sp... I love over kill so this GPS is more than I'll ever need or use.
I really have no pros and cons about it other than I have not used it alot in real life situations. But I have used it to mark waypoints and it gets me back to where I want to be.
At this moment the only thing I dislike about it is when you power it up, you have two little pages you have to "page up" to get it to the area where it is acquiring the satellites.
For 170 bucks you can't beat it. Also several members here have these GPS's and they are willing to help you out. I almost have this down pat as far as settings and doing what I want it to do. Though, I must admit it has taken me about 10 to 15 hours now learning the thing...:eek:
Hey Randy:
I really like my Garmin Map76. You can get one at www.jandhproducts.com for about 157 bux - http://www.jandhproducts.com/_e/loc/...4377&sp=map+76. You'll also want a power cable - http://www.jandhproducts.com/_e/Garm...0_10085_00.htm - and probably a marine mount - http://www.jandhproducts.com/_e/dept...p=marine+mount - which will run about another 50 bux. You can spend a lot more money if you want color and additional features you'll probably never use but the Map76 will bring you right back to your condos every time.
I use the cheap Garmin Etrax and it works fine just to locate condos. But it's directional arrow works only while your moving. :D That's not bad as I'm moving to find them anyway. It will store 500 waypoints which is more than I'll ever need.:D
I have the Eagle Cuda 250 which is a GPS and Depth-Fish finder all in one. I love it. You just switch screens to go from the GPS to the Depth finder (real easy). You can go to the eagle website and download a simulator mode to your desktop and you can play with it all you want before you ever buy one. I got mine at Academy for about $250 which sounds like a lot but when you get the GPS and the Depth finder all in one, it is not a bad price. I will probably be buying a second one soon. Another nice feature it has is that it automatically tracks where you have run so it is almost impossible to get lost.
Here is a link to the simulator download for the Eagle Cuda 240 which is almost the same as the 250 except the 240 doesn't have mapping cababilities but all else is the same.
http://www.eaglesonar.com/Downloads/...PS/default.htm
I just picked up a Magellan 100 last night and still wandering if it is what I want. Did go out today caught 8 before the waves sent me in. Of course still learning the G.P.S. unit. Know bigger is better and yes it can from Academy (Fort Smith) you would think they would get sales people not workers to explain and demonstrate equipment. So is this unit pretty accurate? and I will test more when I can for accuracy.
TT
I think the magellan 100 is fairly accurate. The problem with it is no map, and you can't plug in waypoints very easily. I had a friend send me some waypoints to fish, and for some reason, I can't plug them into this unit. So, I've decided to try & upgrade. I really appreciate all the input for what to buy. Thanks everyone.
The way I put in manually givin way points on the etrax. First mark any spot and then go in and edit the coordinates to the ones you want. This is slow but can be done. I'm looking at getting a second unit and a firewire or whatever to download information. Mainly for a back up if this one fails.:DQuote:
Originally Posted by randybenham
I can figure out the marine mount, but what does the power cable do? As you can tell, I don't know anythings about these things.
I USE MY CABLE TO PLUG INTO THE 12 V. BOAT BATTERIES INSTEAD OF USING THE INTERNAL BATT.---SAVES MONEYQuote:
Originally Posted by blairarnold
well i've got to say that the garmin 72 is a pretty acurate unit. I was driving my 1972 ford truck checking the speedometer the speddometer was showiing 70mph and the gps was showing 76mph. I had a highway patrol pull up be hind me and turn on the lights. the officer ashed me if i new how fast i was going and i told him that I was checking my speedometer with my gps to see how far it was off and i said it showed i was going 76mph and he said the gps was right. he then told me he had an old ford truck that his speedometer was off on it too. i told him that i had been driving this truck for 4 years now and had no idea the speed was off on the truck and he said now that you know its off just try and stay within the limit and you'll be ok. he didnt give me a ticket and i was on my way. i would like to have the map 76 because it has more memory and you can load maps. i use the Easy gps program thats free on the web( easygps.com) to load and unload files to the computer and its very easy to do.the 72's wer on sale just before Christmas and my son got me one for 75.00 and i'm very pleased with it sofar.
the power cable is great for in the boat to keep you from using up you batteries. there is also a cable that I have that has the computer data plugin and a 12 volt adapter that you can plugin to a cigarette lighter style plugin that alot of boats have on them or you can easly install a 12 volt plugin if you dont have one. it will save several dollars over time.Quote:
Originally Posted by blairarnold
Randy it took me a whilre but did manage to edit POI so if I get cords. I will just edit a POI and rename so I will mark present location and then edit and rename. Also thanks for info.
TT