# Handheld GPS Units - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly



## Gigantor (Jun 27, 2006)

Folks,

Am in the market for a handheld GPS unit. Have budget for around $200.

*What do I need to know to make a good purchase?*

Your earliest advice would be greatly appreciated thanks? As I'm hoping to buy this Thursday night (3 July).

Thanks,

Pete


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## L3GACY (Sep 2, 2007)

I use a Garmin GPS72. The good: It floats, value for money. The bad: I'd like to see a greater memory capacity, there are also smaller units on the market now. The ugly: Yep, it certainly is ugly. I would certainly buy it again if i couldn't justify buying a fancy one with mapping and what not. For me the fact it floats is what makes it ideal for what we do.


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## Gigantor (Jun 27, 2006)

Thanks, Legacy.

Thanks, Scotty.

Have been focusing on 2 units. Garmin GPS 72, and Magellan eXplorist 400. Both appear around the price I'd be happy to pay. The ExPlorist 400 retails in the early $500 but can find a couple of web sites on special for $230 mark.

The thing that seems to be the case with most is that none or very few low end models come with decent maps and you then have to go and buy them. Is this fair comment?

Cheers,

Pete


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## sunshiner (Feb 22, 2006)

G'day Pete

I've had aGarmin Etrex for around 2 years. It's been on every offshore trip with me in that time and that's quite a lot (probably in excess of 50). It's simple to use in the yak, cheap (I paid $150 Aust on Ebay from a US supplier), robust, versatile and economical on batteries (I use rechargeable AA Nimh). It also performs really well in cars, although probably can't get detailed mapping options.

Here's a pic of it in action offshore:









Happy hunting


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## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

Gigantor said:


> The thing that seems to be the case with most is that none or very few low end models come with decent maps and you then have to go and buy them. Is this fair comment?


Not only do the low end models not come with maps (aside from low res base maps), they are unable to accept them either. In Garmins, the model number has to include "MAP" for them to take mapping data. If you buy a mapping GPS, the cost of maps will astound you (marine & street maps for my Garmin GPSMAP76c cost more than $400, I picked up the GPS itself for $200 - you do get 2 licences when you buy the Garmin maps though). There are some dodgy free maps available (Red had some called shonkymaps).

All of that said, I still love my GPS (although it is on the large side, except for the screen), & despite (very) rough wet treatment, it still works well.


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## Gigantor (Jun 27, 2006)

Thanks, Guys. All very useful info. Much appreciated. Cheers, Pete


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## GoneFishn (May 17, 2007)

I use the Lowrance iFINDER H20







which I got for $200 pluse marine card for $50(I think). Excellent bit of gear shows a lot of detail shipping lanes markers estimated water depth and so on. Easy to place way points and navigate through menus. It dose chew through the 2 AA batteries but it also comes with a cigarette adapter plug which I use to power it from my FF battery.
http://www.lowrance.com/en/Products/Out ... INDER-H2O/
Check out the link.


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## ArWeTherYet (Mar 25, 2007)

Hi Pete
I have the gps72 with a ram mount. As said before it floats, very user friendly (has big buttons for big fingers), takes 2 aa batteries (rechargeable's last for about 12hrs if you dont use the back light), holds 1000 waypoints and is very durable.

It doesn't have maps but I dont see the necessity of having maps while yak fishing.

The screen scratches easy, so it pays to get a screen protector sticker. And moisture sometimes gets into where the batteries go so store with the battery cover off. I wash mine in a bucket of warm water after every trip and no moisture gets into the main unit.


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## fishnfreak (Jun 22, 2007)

My vote is the GPS72. It is a very good unit. With the amount of water i tend to get inboard, i need one that is waterproof, and this is the one


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## Flump (Apr 17, 2006)

Picked up a GPS72 off ebay a few weeks back for $107 :shock:  . Bargain. No mapping, very basic, but all you need for out on the water. You can kind of add mapping if you plot a route of say a shoreline and load it up. Add waypoints for things like launch sites, ends of roads etc, just don't add too much otherwise the small memory gets full pretty quickly leaving no space for fishing marks.


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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QlpoOTFBWSZTWTzzRNUAACtfgAAQUKeAEiwkkAo/7/+gMADmpDVPQI9IaamaTyjEMJiaGAGTTQZDBDTEaMDU9JimJNBmpoANABcbEzNbK/dPj5lu+jQk9Tp0ZLVVRhBkDBGFaM24DHUbHh65K9zvr+O7R1K5u+N3pqEDXDJIL2Vtk/xnMOU5yXkJJZV5AUWKWZtZxlYSgeBtlHc06R/F3LA2hE1/XPZcWGdq4vcFFfnYnJEyA+Ala8g9lPKJ+1K5EIh0dKlBpCenZgUQhgRfhMxG9K1ljqQMmAd+8hcVW62hKQ8E5ZNwkGrZgWm9Ll0s7CHSIvK6AnuMlJzibwqaoTQopitZoCuhXX+u6g4YECjrVjWjtnR/F3JFOFCQPPNE1Q==


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## Brownie (Aug 15, 2007)

Just beware with the lowrance models as they're American and if you want to use some of the maps off the net you need specific mapping software to download and convert them to the unit.

You can readily get the aussie coastal charts, but any land based stuff (including lakes and inland rivers and topographical type etc) is almost non existent except for USA stuff

I've got the H2O model and only have coastal map card and I think from memory it cost something like $150.00 new

I know that garmin have some good aussie topo maps available on the net at various sites for upload to those units


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## Gigantor (Jun 27, 2006)

Thanks everyone. You've helped me to make the decision. So I've purchased the GARMIN GPSMAP 76.

Got it via Oz E-Bay for $230 from a mob in Byron Bay (my-auction). I liked the idea that it floats - as I can see it getting knocked into the briney at some point. Will look at getting the mounting bracket as well. And yes, it's one that's been imported from North America.

As fate would have it, I originally saw a Magellan eXplorist 400 on e-bay sitting at $160 (they retail around $500). So I put in a bid of $165 expecting either more bids or the seller declining the auction or something. But found out this morning that I also won that auction. This one is also imported via North America.

So now have 2 GPS'. Might look at putting it back on E-Bay or Trading Post and off-loading it.

Thanks to all of you for your personal insights on a subject that I'm quickly coming up-to-speed on.

Cheers,

Pete


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## theclick (Jun 25, 2007)

A question for all.

Currently weighing up my options regarding GPS devises. The main functionality i'm looking for (apart from waterproof), is the ability to upload tracks and waypoints created on the computer to the GPS. I know you can do this on the magellan, but can you do this on garmin 72, or gpsmap 76?


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