# help me buy the best chartplotter gps for my budget



## cnc33voodoo (May 15, 2008)

ive had it with my old colourless garmin and my tiny screened handheld/waterproof magellan gps.im going to buy a new chartplotter/gps this weekend(probably tomorrow) and i want to keep it under $500 before tax(obviously not including the charts i need).so far i have seen a standard horizon cp180 and garmin gpsmap 420s and im leaning towards the standard horizon model as it seems to have a better screen than the garmin(i found the garmin's colours are not bright enoug so it makes it hard to dfine land/sea diference).
can anyone reccomend anything better and back it up with an explination? or if the models ive looked at are the way to go,why?
also i have all the charts of the area i use on an sd card for my magellan handhled which i also use on my laptop for viewing maps when on the water and im wondering if there is a possibility to load these into my new unit to save on the buying new cards.is this an option on any unit?
any help would be great.thanks.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

CNC33-

It would help if you said where you sail. The Garmins have either the Coastal US charts or the Inland US water charts built into many of their units, which makes them far more of a reasonable buy, since you don't have to buy charts to go with them. 

I seriously doubt that your SD card of charts will work in either the Standard Horizon or Garmin units, as most chartplotter manufacturers are pretty good at limiting access to their charts, and don't generally like cross platform compatibility. 

It might be wiser to go with what your total budget, for the chartplotter and charts is, rather than looking at the two purchases separately, since whatever chartplotter you buy is going to affect your ability to buy charts for it.


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## BarryL (Aug 21, 2003)

*Lowrance*

Hello,

You can buy a Lowrance unit for under $500 that is very nice. Here are some features (copied from a web site)

5" diag. 256-color SolarMAX TFT display for maximum visibility and widest viewing angles even in bright sunlight
480 x 480 pixel resolution for superb sonar target detail/separation and exceptional chart definition
Advanced fluorescent cold-cathode screen and keypad backlighting
5-pin Ethernet expansion port compatible for radar, video and satellite radio
If you order now, you get a free chart for the US on a chip.

I like Garmin units, but I think they are overpriced. For more money, the Garmin 440 has a smaller screen with less resolution:

Ultra-bright 4" diagonal QVGA display, 320 x 240 pixels - over 800 nits of brightness

Barry


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## cnc33voodoo (May 15, 2008)

sd-i would like to spend no more than $500 plus taxes ($575 can)plus no more than $200 tax in for the charts(which is what i paid for the charts i have already).this is a max number as i have seen quite a few for alot less and dont see a point in spending extra $ for options ill never use.
when i bought my last chartplotter/gps (when i was sailing on lake ontario)i spent over $1000 plus tax and now i cant even find cards for it(not that it would be worth it anyways)today i can get one a million times better for under $400.same goes for my magellan waterproof handheld-3 years ago i paid almost $700 for it and at the time it was the best model they made-today there are better ones out there for $200.its not that i dont have more to spend i just dont think its worth it as i figure in another 5 years there will be models a million times better for less money and ill be buying one of them.
i need the charts for georgean bay and surrounding areas Georgian Bay
my current garmin gps (a little outdated-6 years)has built in maps and they are utterly useless and inacurate.

barryl-the lowrance is a nice unit indeed,but the price is higher up here-$649-and the us map is useless to me-but thanks for helping out.
with most units out there the maps that they come with dont help me any so i just asume ill have to spend another $200 on way or the other.

the one thing i like about the standard horizon unit is all the accessories you can add on to it and the whole kit is ony $250 more.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

CNC-

That's kind of why I asked where you're sailing?...

*Do you care about routes and waypoints.*  The SH CP180 can have up to 20 routes with only 30 waypoints each and a total of 600 waypoints, where the Garmin 400 series can have 1500 waypoints with 20 routes with 250 waypoints per route. The SH has only 3000 track points and five tracks, versus the Garmin's 10,000 and 20 tracks.

The Garmin is IPX7 water resistant, the SH is only splash proof, which might make a big difference in the unit's longevity. Both units will do AIS and DSC. The SH has 2.5 (two in/out, one out only) NMEA 0183 ports, the Garmin has two (in/out).

If you like the screen on the SH... get it...


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## cnc33voodoo (May 15, 2008)

i actually was leaning towards the garmin unit due to the fact that i know from experience they last a long time however when i turned it on i noticed poor colouring on the screen.then i checked online reviews and found that was a common complaint,and that it was hard to determine land from shallow waters.also a few reviews mentioned the sreen is constantly pausing to load the next information.my old garmin unit does that and its pretty anoying.
the only standard horizon item ive ever used was a marine radio that came on a 27 footer my freind has and it took a crap in the bed.
kind of makes me question their quality.
is there a superior unit to both in this pricerange?


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## JimsCAL (May 23, 2007)

Sail magazine did a review of 5 small chartplotters in the April 2008 issue. They liked the Garmin 478, but the Lowrance 5300c was a close second and was rated as having the best screen. And the Lowrance is about half the price of the Garmin, even after you buy a chart cartridge.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

The screen on the 478 is a bit small for use as a full time chartplotter. It's main benefit is that it does both terrestrial and marine navigation.


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## alan_21_us (Feb 13, 2006)

*Lowrance*

Does anyone have any reference on the lowrance brand. I read the article in the magazine also and am curious about the past quality.


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## SEMIJim (Jun 9, 2007)

cnc33voodoo said:


> i actually was leaning towards the garmin unit due to the fact that i know from experience they last a long time however when i turned it on i noticed poor colouring on the screen.then i checked online reviews and found that was a common complaint,


We haven't had that problem with our Garmin 498C. In fact I was quite pleased to find it easily readable regardless of lighting. Yeah, it's a bit more difficult when the sun is low over the stern, but not too bad.



cnc33voodoo said:


> and that it was hard to determine land from shallow waters.


Haven't had that problem at all. (Damn good thing, too, because the lake we sail (so far) is a shallow one.)



cnc33voodoo said:


> also a few reviews mentioned the sreen is constantly pausing to load the next information.my old garmin unit does that and its pretty anoying.


Haven't had that problem, either. Have noticed that occasionally when "scrolling" quickly to a location other than our current location, but nothing particularly annoying, even then.



cnc33voodoo said:


> the only standard horizon item ive ever used was a marine radio that came on a 27 footer my freind has and it took a crap in the bed.


Odd thing for a radio to do. Did you swat it with a rolled-up newspaper and show it where it's supposed to go?



cnc33voodoo said:


> kind of makes me question their quality.


Don't really know anything about Standard Horizon's quality. Saw some of their current radios recommended in a recent thread. Kind of considering a Standard Horizon Quest-X GX1500S from that.

The Garmin 498C is from something like season-before-last's product line. If you can find one somewhere you ought to be able to get it for a song. We're quite pleased with ours. We paid $626 for ours, from Hodge's Marine, shipping and all, but that was nearly a year ago and included the through-hull sonar transducer.

Jim


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

If you can find the 498C.. get it... it's a decent unit, with a larger screen than the 4x0 series of chartplotters. I have the predecessor to the 498C, a 192C and it's a solid unit. Also, the 498c has the older keypad setup, which is better than the new soft-menu setup on the 4x0 series IMHO, at least until Garmin works the bugs out of them.

It is also one of the earliest model GPS chartplotters with G2 chart support.


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## cnc33voodoo (May 15, 2008)

o.k, so last night i went to radioworld and viewed all of their models and the guy there was saying i should get this one as its a great deal and above and beyond all of its features it did have the best screen ive seen so far GlobalMap 5300C [LOW-GLOMAP5300C] - $485.00$475.00 : Radioworld Canada Amateur Ham Radio GPS Marine VHF SSB radios Shortwave Wideband Radio Scanners CB FRS Central Toronto Ontario Canada

he said at time of purchase he would give me this
SD-14XG [NVN-SD14XG] - $219.99 : Radioworld Canada Amateur Ham Radio GPS Marine VHF SSB radios Shortwave Wideband Radio Scanners CB FRS Central Toronto Ontario Canada

for $180.
aparently lowrance is made by eagle or vise versa.
later, i went to a local marine store to view a few more as radio world doesnt carry every brand.
that marine store offered and in stock standard horizon cp180 including the charts i need for $600 plus tax.
heres all the details Welcome to StandardHorizon.com
they also had a couple garmin units for about the same price but the one i really wanted is $750 plus the card so thats not really an option.
so basically its between the standard horizon or the lowrance.
going to buy one tonight.what do you guys think?


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

I'd go with the Lowrance.

Why? It has a NMEA 2000 port by the looks of the specs on it... the SH does not. It is also less money...being <$500 for it and the free card. Be aware that there is a firmware update that you may need to download, which you can find *here*.


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## Idiens (Jan 9, 2007)

Difficult choice isn't it. I went for the SH CP300i because it has more of everything compared to the CP180 and was dragged towards SH because its the compatibility with the 1500E version of their radio - which got some best-buy reviews. I wanted an AIS interface too, as well as more outputs for NMEA for radar, Yeoman, etc.. The local C-MAP charts were packaged half price with it too. It was a bit of a tug, because I had preferred Garmin from previous good experience.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

One point...the Lowrance doesn't say it supports AIS, while the SH does.


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## cnc33voodoo (May 15, 2008)

SD-sorry if this sounds stupid but....
what is NMEA2000 and AIS?
IDIENS-thats one thing i thought of aswell.i have a shakespear marine radio that came with my boat and im thinking of replacing it in the near future.secondly i like the idea of all the acessories you can add to it.
Welcome to StandardHorizon.com
i found a kit for $250 that comes with all the available sensors/transducers listed.


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## Idiens (Jan 9, 2007)

AIS - Automatic Identification System - legally required on all SOLAS ships and optional for us guys. Very handy for seeing big guys coming - and knowing what their names and MMSI numbers are.

NMEA 2000 - a better faster replacement for NMEA 0183 - a serial data system.

I'll leave it to the experts to explain the rest.

I am legally required this year to carry two VHF radios, Belgium decided dual-watch did not count as watching two channels simultaneously. So I got a SH 1500 to add to my 31 year old Sailor RT144. - I bet the new one will not last as long, too much plastic.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Idiens-

Plastic actually does quite well in a marine environment...since it doesn't rust.  

CNC-

Most future equipment will be coming out with NMEA 2000 connectivity, which is designed to be easier and less confusing to work with than the NMEA 0183 stuff is...and higher bandwidth. If you can get a Chartplotter that will interface with NMEA 2000 specification gear, it would make sense to do that rather than one that is only NMEA 0183 capable IMHO.


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## JimsCAL (May 23, 2007)

One additional point on the Lowrance. The 5300C has an internal antenna. The 5200C is identical and is same price but has an external antenna. Depends on where you want to put it.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

BTW, I've used internal antenna GPS units, and on most fiberglass boats they're okay... but YMMV, getting the external antenna is safer, just in case your boat is one that doesn't work with an internal antenna.


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## Idiens (Jan 9, 2007)

sailingdog said:


> Plastic actually does quite well in a marine environment...since it doesn't rust.


Well the old Sailor radio has not rusted much but the plastic knobs need replacing. Most plastic gasses and turns brittle on a 30 year timescale. However, at my time in life, another 30 years will be very welcome.

(Do old sailors rust, or do they gradually sink?)


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Idiens said:


> (Do old sailors rust, or do they gradually sink?)


They just sail away..


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## cnc33voodoo (May 15, 2008)

i had my weekend ruined by furling issues and my wife went out and surprised me with the sh 180 with external reciever to cheer me up.she also got the cmaps of great lakes and maritimes with it.
she bought it at our marina's store and supposedly they gave her a really good deal for the combo.
now if i could just get my boat fixed so i could try it out.


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## modul8 (Oct 26, 2008)

I bought an older Raytheon/Autohelm chartplotter, and now I'm wondering how often I'm actually going to use it. It's a huge thing, perhaps too big for my boat (10" monochrome lcd)
and I'm wondering if I should go ahead and mount it, or just forget it and put it back out on ebay, and find a smaller colour one. I nabbed this one for 120, thinking that I would be more likely to use it if I can see it... but will probably spend twice that putting it in a navpod behind my wheel. Is it worth it? Is it a necessity? Will it suck my battery power like there's no tomorrow? SO many questions.


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## funsailthekeys (May 15, 2008)

I bought for my wife's boat a Standard Horizon CP180i. It is color, 5" screen, DSC hook up, has waas (10') has 3 year warranty and is waterproof. Cost was $399.00. Uses C-map MAX or NT+.


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## Sailor-man (May 11, 2003)

I'm considering the CP300 that is slightly larger than the CP180 Standard Horizon. Can anyone with the CP180 comment on how the screen performs in bright sunlight. Is it clearly visable.


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## scottyt (Jul 19, 2008)

you all are lucky i dont even have a gps on my boat, except a 10 Y/O handheld. i am looking at getting a small fishfinder/gps for my boat but i want an auto pilot first, then a new genny, and then .... 

the combo unit i am looking at is black and white because i dont really need either. 

but if any of you are throwing away an older chart plotter let me know, i might buy it from ya


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## geraldartman (Apr 9, 2007)

On a real budget, check out a Magellan Cross over. It has low def marine and topo charts in addition to street maps. I picked one up for about a c note. It will take Navonic3XL for about $250 for very high def charts of the fresh water seas. easy to use and definitely won't be a power drain on the batts.


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