Garmin GPS

[SkiDeep2001]

West Marine has a Garmin GPSMap 440Chartplotter regularly $499.00 for $299.00. Is this a good unit to have and is it a good deal :?:Could I do better i have a 98 Garmin with just the dial and arrow that came with my

[Hamin' X]

The biggest problem with the Garmin and some others, is getting updated charts requires buying proprietary Garmin chips. There are ways around it (check the web), but they are technically illegal.

~Rich

[Divecoz]

I hope I can help you.
I own and use a Garmin 545s and I had a Lowrance... dont get me started on the lousy customer support for that $2000.00 unit.
#1. Garmin is the absolute leader in the field for GPS,Chart-plotters, Fish-finders and Sonar and will soon be the leader in Radar as well.
Garmin is leading the way because they have bought all the best technology and by buying and now owning everything and most everybody out there worth having, they have become #1
#2. the 440 has a 4" diagonal screen believe me when I say bigger IS better! My Lowrance had a 9" screen but picture quality was lacking. It was bigger than my Garmin 545s which only has a 5" screen. I feel the screen is better quality on the Garmin
#3. Most will tell you if they own.....a chart-plotter and actually use it, that Garmin is by far the simplest to operate as well.
Our Family has had Lowrance Raymarine and Garmin. We all now run Garmins Exclusively. my brothers Shamrock purpose built dive vessel has 3 Garmin on-board.
#4. My 545s is so much easier to use and to set up there is no comparison to the Lowrance or the Ray units. Again I wish I had the 9" screen but screen = money so buy the biggest screen you can afford.
#5. Hand Helds.... IMHO and the opinion of numerous divers using them almost every weekend going 40 to 100 miles off the SW Florida Coast... are a little better than nothing. If you honestly need a GPS Chart Plotter Sonar? What do you honestly expect to see on a split screen the size of an open book of matches, when you really need it? I used mine every day for more than 30 days this winter in SWF. I was in fog and rain and confused seas all at once and more than once, and I was Elated I was not trying to navigate with a hand held. Well not all the while trhyingb to stear the boat, while trying to find my way between markers, that I couldnt see, knowing full well , if I varied too far off my plotted coarse, I could run aground and damage my boat.
I hope this helps a little . Its just my opinion , well and that of a half dozen other fellows I was hanging out with for a couple months in Florida.
Fellows who use these units a lot....
I was where your at right now, last Dec. I needed a new unit for my Florida Adventure and The choices where many and I...didn't want to buy twice or settle for 2nd best.
I , Don, Danial,and Terry will all tell you the same thing. We each own a hand held and its somewhere down there in a drawer.
I let my grandsons play with mine. IMHO its worst money I have spent on my boat.

[SkiDeep2001]

Thanks guys, and me doing something that's illegal no,never ever Oh, I think I have something in my eye.

[Divecoz]

Thanks guys, and me doing something that's illegal no,never ever Oh, I think I have something in my eye.

Hummm what was the name of that " FREE" music down load site??? Like the IRS they wait for the load to more than bare the cost.

[dutchwinter]

how do you like the 545s? its on my list and my wife knows i want it, and my birthday is coming up, so im pretty sure thats the trifecta of me getting one. i wanted to get the external antenna so i can overlay info from xm weather. anyone know if i can use the same antenna for regular xm radio, or will i need another? if imnot wrong the big difference betweenthe 545 and the 540 is the super nice screen right?

[Divecoz]

how do you like the 545s? its on my list and my wife knows i want it, and my birthday is coming up, so I'm pretty sure that's the trifecta of me getting one. i wanted to get the external antenna so i can overlay info from xm weather. anyone know if i can use the same antenna for regular xm radio, or will i need another? if i'm not wrong the big difference between the 545 and the 540 is the super nice screen right?

as I remember 545 has a greater number of pixels the definition is great for the bucks...it always comes down to the bucks.
I dont have the aux antenna.

[Kelly Hanson East]

but they are technically illegal.

Further clarification - remove the word "technically" if its unclear..

[Hamin' X]

I inserted "technically", because there is still dispute in the courts over "Private Use" vs. "Distribution for Profit".

~Rich

[Divecoz]

I inserted "technically", because there is still dispute in the courts over "Private Use" vs. "Distribution for Profit".

~Rich

and those frivolous disputes are clogging our courts and costing us all Billions $$$$$$ If it belongs to someone else ( its theirs not yours)and you take possession of it and use or worse yet sell it and without their knowledge or permission and without payment ... unless they offer it for free ..well it seems pretty simple doesn't it

[mikelinmon]

In defense of other brands. I've installed many diff brands of electronics over the last 30 years. The one conclusion making sense is newer is better, bigger is better. Thinking brand is in third place for choise of GPS or other.
Just recently had telephone conversation with fellow wanting wind instruments on his Mac. Making my usual recommendation that wind instruments require constant maintenance and will not work when you need them; he said the wind speed and point on his friends race boat was indispensable to their racing (I always agree with that but not for us powersailors due to repair/warranty needs and my personal wasted time fixing their wind stuff) and he also said it always worked! Got to rethink stuff all the time to stay abreast. Loved my Ray sport pilot, stuff that Garmin, have a color Garmin GPS on my boat, still working after all those years.
Still think; number onemost important factor is most recent design, number two size of screen, last place manufacturer
Mike Inmon

[Russ]

My suggestion would be to go with the 440S. It's $40 more but includes DEPTH finder.

That's the model we have and it works great. I have nothing to compare it to, but it's simple to use and comes with plenty of built in charts. Highly recommend it.

[SkiDeep2001]

On that subject (personal use) I was using Napster back when it was wide open and had d-loaded over 5000 songs. I have over a 1000 albums in my record collection (all genres & generations) anyway I was getting clear copy of most of my albums, you know that snap,crackle, pop? even though mine were in excellent shape (use a studio turntable) and to have CD's to take skiing,traveling, etc. I had downloaded Roy Orbison's library which I have most of on vinyl and out of the blue I get notice of a personal lawsuit filing from R O's widow. Well, shiver me timbers, i informed them I had paid royalty fees when I purchased the albums and would be happy to duke it out in court, knowing that I would be in the clear and countersuing if need be. OH, and then computer geek nephew (was manager @ CompUSA) wiped hard drive when working on my cpu 2-3 years of time and effort searching and d-loading down the drain. Oh well,such is life.

[Paul S]

I have the 440s which is just awesome. great support from garmin when some bugs crept up (solution was a free download to bring the software up to date)

The best thing about the 440s (and others of this generation) is they include ALL the charts IN the unit preloaded. Not sure what the update cost is, but not having to buy regions anymore is nice. The cost of the 2 regions for my last gps was close to the price of just buying the 440s.

Can't say enough good things about it. easy to use. fast refresh, easy to read in ALL lighting conditions.

[bastonjock]

ive recently ordered a Standard horizon CP,there has been a recent up grade with the software so the new unit is taking time to get here.I have had a Navman 550 prieviously and all i can say is that the unit did not stand up to getting wet,Navman has now been badged as Northstar and despite the Northstar unit being a lot cheaper i will never buy navman again.I cant give an opinon on garmin but although bigger is best,there is not a lot of room on a mac pedestal for large chartplotters.After ive finished my next set of mods,i intend to have my wind instruments,dsc vhf,Chart plotter,Fish finder and Auto pilot all linked together.I will later add a splitter box for the vhf/FM/Ais signals.