GPS Units

[Jay Murakoshi]

I'm looking for a hand held GPS unit for one of my captains in baja. I have no idea where to start. I do know that I need maps of the sea of cortez. Is that a separate. My GPS unit is spelled MAPS.
I see on Amazon they have a garmin marine 60cs.

OK I need some feed back on what too look for

Thanks

Jay

[Jay]

I have used the Lowrance H20. Pretty good handheld unit. Has Navionics capability.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Garmin is a top pick for GPS.

Not sure what models you should consider.

West Marine has lots of them in stock and usually has someone there who can talk about them.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=161&ra=true

[Jay]

If you do go Garmin, stay away from the Etrex series at all costs. Been there.

[FISHEYE]

Jay you might try a website like www.cnet.com and see what their reviews are, although it might not be marine GPS units. I imagine there are others out there too.

[FISHEYE]

Try this: http://reviews.cnet.com/marine-gps/ I have a garmin combo GPS fish finder gps for my boat. I love it and have never had a problem.

[Bob Laskodi]

Jay, I've got the Garmin GPSMAP 76CS, and it's incredible. Waterproof and it floats, handheld size, large color display readable in sunlight, and full mapping capability with the additional GARMIN MapSource Topo software. Has USGS topographic map resolution with additional MapSource. Downsides, sucks batteries down like candy (optional plug in for battery) and is pricey (most waterproof handheld marine units cost $$$) (don't even think about going cheap with a not waterproof unit, it won't last a week). And yes, you will have to buy separate maps software for Sea of Cortez.

[Pound]

I have the Garmin 60csx (which has the expandable memory, cs does not. I would not get the cs – I have 1 gig card in it). Overall, I love it. I have mounted a marine holder on my watermaster and an auto mount in my rig. With the expandable memory, I have both topo and road maps loaded on, but it can only fit part of the country at a time; albeit, a very good size portion… They have since replaced it with the 62csx – more memory, not sure on expandability, and more bells and whistles.

Pro’s:
Waterproof (tested in the Trinity), shockproof (tested by way of butter fingers), expandable memory, both topo and road/driving maps loaded, handheld, color, it’s a garmin.

Con’s
Smaller screen compared to other full size gps’ (but it is also intended as hiking unit as well), you have to buy both topo and city-maps ($100 each, but topo you would not have to every buy or update again), and if you want to add another portion of the country on the GPS memory, you will have to reload the whole mapset - maybe an hour to upload.

Not sure for your friend’s need: what kind of mapping do they have for the Sea of Cortez?

But if this will be a permanently mounted on a boat and never removed, then I would probably look for something with a bigger screen than the 60 or 62. If he wants more versatility, then it is hard to beat the 60/62 series.

I hope this helps.