Best portable GPS
 

I want to add a GPS to my rig. I am not able to fund a lowrance or any other high end unit at this point. What is a good all around unit that will work well on the water? Handheld or mountable..

I could care less about SUV functionality, I wouldn't use it there. I go the same places all the time and haven't gotten lost yet.

Garmin used to make state-of-the-art handheld GPS units...bet they still do...we went straight to a wreck 35 miles off Charleston w/one YEARS ago...some handhelds come w/a mounting bracket, too...Garmin gets my vote...

hard to beat a garmin, the newer ones have a built in map, built in antenna, easy to use, just base your budget on the screen size. Add an S to the model and it gets you a sounder

I use one of the old GARMIN GPSMAP76 units and it still works after 8 years of pure abuse and to many dunks in the salt to list. You can hook it up to a PC and back up your waypoints and such as well as load charts into it. They have a newer GPSMAP76S I believe that is color with cards that you plug in for maps. They run about $200-400 dpending on which features you get, but it is money well spent. And they are SCARY accurate with the WAAS enabled, and still pretty good even in battery saver mode.

I have owned two upper end Lowrance units, and had previously owned both inexpensive Garmins.
Both of the Lowrance units had frequent issues and glitches. The inexpensive Garmin's never one issue.
I have now the past three years gone completely Garmin, one on my G3, one I had on my HydraSport which I just sold and now the 7" screen Garmin, never issue one with any of them.

I have the exact same Garmin unit and it has never failed me on land or water. I have used mine for hunting, riding my ATV, hiking, and boating. I paid $250 from Cabela's 6 years ago and it came with the Ram Mount, 12 volt adaptor, USB cord, & a carrying case. I bought a used Garmin 230 GPS Map as my main GPS but I still carry the Garmin 76 as my faithfull backup. Great unit and I would buy another without any hesitation.

Back in 05 I helped a friend bring his new to him 43 TORRES down from BOSTON to ENZGLEWOOD, and the new $3K STANDARD HORIZON plotter failed less than 5 miles out of port. We used the little GARMIN for the next week and made it home. She has never left me stranded. Anytime I go out with friends I always carry it with me as it has saved me on more than one occasion.

Don't know if they still sell these but....
My first GPS was a Garmin eTrek Marine. Size of a cell phone. $99 ten years ago. Had Navigation markers already in it. Mounting bracket and computer connecter were additional accessories. It worked great for getting me on wrecks. Punch in numbers and hit GoTo. Points you in the right direction and tells you how far. get on wreck with Sounder and mark a waypoint and save. Showed a trail so you know where you've been drifting. Just IMPOSSIBLE to use while driving the boat!

Used it for 4 years along with a $120 Hummingbird sounder. Got a color GPS/Sounder with a bigger screen & bigger buttons.

Gave the ETrek to my father-in -law when his 10 year old eTrek's buttons started acting up. He still uses it.

I have a Lowrance M56 GPS/Sounder that I love. Easy to use, never a problem. One word..reliable. On the other hand, I have a Garmin 330C automobile unit that I always carry, just in case. True, when I'm out in the water beyond it's landmap capability all it shows is a blue screen, but it always points me in the right direction when I want to go home, shows me my speed and when I can expect to reach the place that I designated as home (the launch ramp). And speaking of that... NO MATTER what GPS you buy..... always, always, ALWAYS have a good, working compass with you. Electronics are known to fail, sometimes at the worse possible time, but unless it's physically damaged a compass will always get you back to shore. :head:

ditto above, garmin wrote the book on handheld gps, early on i had a magellan because it was one of the first to convert loran to gps. piece of junk and very hard to use. i have a garmin 76CX now and it works great, the only problem is the screen keeps getting smaller and harder to see. probably my fault, not garmins. now their sounders are another kettle of fish...