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DoferGofer
02-09-2007, 12:35 PM
I am planing to purchase a new GPS this spring. What are the Pro's and Con's of the Lowrance verses the Garmin?
Also, which unit is mostly used by the Scream And Fly members?

:D

Mastercraft241
02-09-2007, 01:33 PM
Well, my first question to you would be what are you going to need it for? When I was looking for a gps, i simply needed it for the odometer. I purchased a g60 for 100 bucks rather then buying a $200-$500 indash

DoferGofer
02-09-2007, 02:02 PM
It will be used to replace a Garmin GPSmap162 chart plotter. I use my Garmin for fishing and crabbing. Most of my fishing and crabbing will be done on the coastal waters of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, Virgina and the sounds off the Atlantic coast of North Carolina.

:)

Mastercraft241
02-09-2007, 02:03 PM
how much are you looking to spend? the garmin etrex is a great unit. If your looking for that extra mile you could go for the color version.

DoferGofer
02-09-2007, 02:08 PM
Under a thousand.

Fish
02-09-2007, 03:57 PM
I ahve a garmin 60c and have been extremely happy with it. It is color and has something like 50mb of storage. this works well for saving a lot of points and also has the space to add blue charts for my region and city streets which gives detailed mapping of what ever region I choose to add (all of north America is included). It comes with good maps, but the software gives excellent maps if you want to spend the extra money.

Blue charts gives depth, wrecks, markers, marinas...ect

I use mine in my boat, has every fish and dive spot I know of saved, and also in my car since I am on the road a lot.

I bought a refurbished magellan on ebay not too long ago that had a larger screen (was gonna just leave it n the car), and it was complete junk compared to the garmin maps IMHO.

Also the 60c is water proof and the battery life is about 36hrs continuous use according the the specs. I tihnk it is a bit less, but it is nice to have that much time on a set of batteries

Fast Fig
02-25-2007, 03:59 PM
Garmin is a better product and has kept up to speed with the market and has better detail than the Lowrance. Back in the day Lowrance built some awesome units, but did not advance with the technology or the competition and found a niche in the bass boat market, focussing more on the inshore cartography/lakes etc. The best advice I can offer you is for you to walk in to a West Marine type Marine store in your area where they will have many different units for you to sample hands on for yourself, nothing better than to try it out before you drop your hard earned money.
Good Luck.
Peace! FIG

yachter55
03-16-2007, 09:02 PM
Garmin hands down.I once smashed the screen with my power seats. so I sent it to them . for 100 bucks they not only fixed it, they updated the unit to there newest model.not bad for a 6 year old unit.not to mention it has over 700 miles of snowmobile time on my handle bars.I trust it so much i used it on my 14' rib and crossed lake michigan 85 mi [dead head]

DoferGofer
03-17-2007, 01:57 AM
Thanks to everyone. I will be leaning toward the Garmin. I have be very happy with my present Garmin. I just want a few more bells and whistles. :)

Regards,

Mastercraft241
03-17-2007, 10:40 AM
i have a garmin xtrex venture for sale if your interested

The Big Al
03-17-2007, 11:09 AM
Lowrance has more features.
Also if you ever get a smart craft compatible engine your Lowrance can display info.
Also if you ever install a GPS speedo your lowarance can hook up to it to supply the info for it so no extra antenna needed.

I like this feature!
http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/6754/1000078imgkg0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)