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looking for ideas on a hand held gps for the boat


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would depend on what your trying to do with it. any of them will give you lat long # if looking for that to use in conj with a radio for emergency. if you get one with a track feature which i belive most all have now you could use it to follow if looking to repeat a troll. there does seem to be a conspiracy about handhelds and not having compatable lake mapping software.one with topo maps in it will show you on a lake but they dont make one that has any depth charts. i looked around alot last year as i wanted something for ice fishing as were driving around on the wheeler. hope this helps.

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Go with Garmin. They made the first hand held GPS (which was huge, and I still own and use on my small boat) and they still lead the industry today.

 

I also own a newer Garmin Colorado that I bought for hiking, snowmobiling, 4 wheeling, and mountain biking. Both of my handhelds have card slots for maps. I have Lake Michigan maps for both, and snowmobile maps on the newer one.

 

Handhelds evolved into very small screen devices that are difficult to see and don't lend themselves very well as a primary GPS on a boat, but would be smart insurance as a backup.

 

My Colorado is decent. It has a touch screen that is gimpy (which I heard they fixed in newer models), an altimeter, and an electronic compass so you can tell what direction you are facing when standing still. It also has a camera as well for taking pictures along the way. Most of them have Geocaching capabilities if you're into that kind of thing. 

 

I found mine for cheap in the bargain cave. I recommend checking there if you have a Cabelas nearby.

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Carol - my son has this one https://g.factoryoutletstore.com/details/467063/garmin-eTrex20x.html?category_id=31188&catalogitemid=429674

and he loves it and it takes map cards etc. I have the older  (and cheaper) Etrex 10 model I use for ice fishing but it  doesn't take the cards and isn't as handy.

Edited by Sk8man
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I have the Garmin GPS map 64st that I use for hunting and Waypoint marking when I'm out fishing on other people's boats. Lol. I like the unit though I think it was $250 through Cabela's

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I also have a Garmin and I love it. I think it might be an ETREK, it has a color display. For fishing though I mostly use my phone now with the Fishing Points app. It's a great app, and for a few bucks a year you can get the premium version. It basically turns your phone into a handheld GPS, and it also gives you access to tide and weather forecast data.

Edited by Slack High Sportfishing
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Lowrance makes a unit called iFinder h2o that's all I ever used till the price of the finder/GPS units came down and even before they were available in 1 unit.

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