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Looking at electronics for my new boat. I have a hand held GPS for backup and I have decided to get a combo GPS/ Sounder. Might get a separate bottom machine later after I have a little experience with them. Looking at the Garmin 178C and 188C. Anyone have any experience with either of these units. I like Garmin chartplotters but don't know about their bottom machines.

If your gonna get a combo Garmin, then maybe get a seperate bottom machine later why.. I know you said more experience, but if Garmin is good for you then why not a



and



You will be far happier in the long run not having to deal with split screen on the combo. It will cost a little more now, but far less if you add another bottom machine later. Also they are not hard to learn, read the post in tips and tricks on bottom machies and you will be on your way.

http://www.brokenlegdave.com/Manufactur ... garmin.htm

If i go separate units i am not stuck on a garmin sounder. Whats the best.

I've got the 172C chartplotter. I dig it...no complaints. Lots of bells and whistles I need to learn to use. Can't comment on the Garmin FishFinders.

IMO, garmin has the best mid range priced bottom machines on the market. The 250 or the 250C would be good choices. Go color if you can.

Glad RC posted this question, I'm in the same "boat" to speak. New boat (havent even put in the water yet) and intrested in a combo unit. Real intrested in the Garmin GPSMap 168. Does anyone around have a library of maps they load for a fee?
thanks in advance for any response.

Any of the "Map" versions of gps's come with base maps. But for around 100 bucks the Mapsource/Bluecharts are a great investment and are infinitely more useful.

My $.02 on the combo units is this. A combo unit is just that. A combo gps/plotter/sounder and in my opinion they each do their jobs OK when used in single function mode, but suffer when trying to use both at the same time. (Try trolling and watching for bottom as well as a gps track at the same time) But honestly I'd rather have full screen GPS/Plotter AND full screen sounder. It really all depends on what type of fishing you do. If you are strictly flats and never venture offshore I would put most of my budget in a good plotter (color if I could afford it) and less on a sounder. If you do offshore then do yourself a favor and get the best sounder you can afford and use a cheaper GPS. The reason for the difference is on the flats you'll do 3 times as much "navigation" as someone going offshore.

If you want to do both its really a toss up. If you are a "fair weather" grouper fisherman then I would still get the best sounder I could afford just so I could maximize my limited times I go offshore and get a lower end gps.

As for Brands, well for GPS there is only one and that is Garmin. They are the leaders in the field for a reason and their customer service is top notch. As tin can said they probably make the best under $300 sounder (Black & White) on the market. They also probably make the best mid range combo units as well. IMHO they do not do color sounders well at all. I've seen the cheapest to their most expensive ones in action and for me, they just don't do it.

For color sounders you cannot do better than Furuno. The 600L is the BEST sub $700 color sounder on the market and also IMHO, the best sounder for our area of the gulf. It makes finding new bottom a breeze. Furuno also has excellent customer service.

Whatever you decide to do, just make sure you don't "settle" for something because of money. If you need to save up, do it. Because I guarantee if you go "cheap" to start with, you'll end up replacing stuff in the long run.

I'm going 172c chartplotter and Furuno 600L bottom machine. Tom convinced me. Of course I'm old and my eyes are bad. Trying to get on the spot with the GPS and watch the bottom machine at the same time I need as big a screen as possible. Check out this link.

http://www.furuno.com/furuno/Doc/0/IMF9 ... r-2003.pdf

Tom,Thanks for the response, I agree with you as far as the sounders. What I should have made clear in my first post was that I am just flats fishing and and as far as sounder I just need to know 3ft. or 5ft and show some grass on the bottom. Also I'm either drifting or running so I don't I don't feel I would use the split screen feature that much. So the GPS function is more important to me and thats why I want Garmin, I'm familier with them and feel that they are the best. Also I have the med. console so room is at a premium on my dash, thats a consideration for the combo, its not really a money deal. The 168 doesn't take a chip and thougth some one locally might be in the business of downloading maps, scince that might save me some money over buying the CD-rom and and compatiable software that I really would have no use for other than the install.

Catchin, buy the bluechart. You load it on your computer to install it on your GPS. After installation, you can download your GPS to the bluechart software. This enables you to see your waypoints, edit your waypoints, manage and store multiple waypoint files, see your tracks on a larger scale, create and store routes, and create waypoints. It's well worth the money.

thanks for the input TC. Thats probaly what I'll wind up doing.

I've never seen a Garmin operate without a "Chip" . How detailed is the built in Base Map? Anyone?

New MAP76 built in basemap of coastline between Aucilla and Rock Island is really poor. After transferring all my points stored in the old 12XL
is reads better simply because I'm familiar with points.
Hope that helps!
I'm moving up to BlueChart quickly!