chartplotter purchasing advice

[xs 400]

I am toying with idea of getting a chart-plotter for my boat budget £3 to £400 ish pref new

It would need to be;

• easy to see
• easy to operate
• capable for setting routes
• charts for uk water and pref inland lakes and lochs
• have depth and speed

I have a 4m rib with centre console, no electrics on boat at the moment, so would have to get a small 12v battery.

Any recommendations guys and girls?

ps no rush, as I need to sell a couple of Omega watches to raise the cash

[xs 400]

bump

[PeterM]

Need to find what matth put on his various sr's. Neat little Garmin jobs. But there are so many numbers out there I can't recall.(and its properly waterproof!)

[A1an]

The Garmin 451s is a good basic plotter with the ability to add sonar to it by purchasing the optional transducer.

[PeterM]

Originally Posted by A1an

The Garmin 451s is a good basic plotter with the ability to add sonar to it by purchasing the optional transducer.

Which could well be what I'm on about on matts sr's.....

Yes it is..he's just texted me..when he should be finishing his boat....

[whisper]

Garmin 451s with optional transducer - try Peter - boatsandoutboards a member on here...

I had one on my old SR4.7, great bit of kit:

Gopro Hero2 RIB Boat Southampton to Poole - YouTube

[matt h]

BHG sellin them for £250! 451s and with sounder £290. had loads, great bit of kit for smaller ribs

[whisper]

Originally Posted by matt h

BHG sellin them for £250! 451s and with sounder £290. had loads, great bit of kit for smaller ribs

At that price and with full maps of UK and Ireland it's a no brainier

[A1an]

And with one of these for circa £30 itl be a cracking little setup for the price.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Garmin-Blu.../321253746301?

[willk]

If the lakes are important to you, best check out if Garmin compatible charts are available. I saw a recent fitout here that used Lowrance kit as they needed charts of a particular stretch of freshwater.

[9D280]

Yeah, inland lakes are a grey (or beige/ green depending on your chart!) area in the UK when it comes to E-charts......

Do a search for "Loch Lomond" or "Lake Windermere" on here to get a feel for the problems you might encounter - plenty of previous threadage to peruse on the subject!

[Barrowboy]

Originally Posted by whisper

At that price and with full maps of UK and Ireland it's a no brainier

Such a no-brainer that at 17:15 the item is showing 'out of stock' on the BHG website!

Oh well, have to find something else for Santa to bring....

[Chris Caton]

Originally Posted by Barrowboy

Such a no-brainer that at 17:15 the item is showing 'out of stock' on the BHG website!

Oh well, have to find something else for Santa to bring....

451s is £280 on here

Garmin GPSMap 451S, GPS, Radar & Plotters | Mailspeed Marine

just noticed, they are out of stock

this looks a good buy, and a 5" screen too

Garmin echoMAP 50s, GPS, Radar & Plotters | Mailspeed Marine

[whisper]

I'm not sure but I think there is a new model coming out so these units are cheep until they run out?

[Chris Caton]

Originally Posted by Barrowboy

Such a no-brainer that at 17:15 the item is showing 'out of stock' on the BHG website!

Oh well, have to find something else for Santa to bring....

Originally Posted by whisper

I'm not sure but I think there is a new model coming out so these units are cheep until they run out?

you could be right there Whisper, I looked at the 750 / 750s recently, seems the 750 has already sold out and not many 750s left either, replacement model is 751 /751s and is around £1200

[Barrowboy]

Blimey, even Santa thinks that's good value!

She's asked one of her usual supplementary questions though which had me chuckling inwardly yet again at the way the female mind works: why are they three times the price of a SatNav? They do the same thing and there's far less info on them.

You gotta luv 'em, aint ya!

(It's for a boat luv so the fact that it's only 3 x the price makes it a bargain, obviously!)

[whisper]

Yeah I just bought the 750s as the new model was loads more £££'s

[Chris Caton]

Originally Posted by Barrowboy

Blimey, even Santa thinks that's good value!

She's asked one of her usual supplementary questions though which had me chuckling inwardly yet again at the way the female mind works: why are they three times the price of a SatNav? They do the same thing and there's far less info on them.

You gotta luv 'em, aint ya!

(It's for a boat luv so the fact that it's only 3 x the price makes it a bargain, obviously!)

hmmmmmm .......... yet again looks like I've missed an important life moment, I didn't even know we were supposed to be aware of the workings of a female mind, do I need to go back to start yet again

Originally Posted by whisper

Yeah I just bought the 750s as the new model was loads more £££'s

yeh, I was looking at the 750s for my SR4 but when I tried some templates on the console it just looked far too busy with a chart plotter, VHF, gauges, switches, oh nearly forgot the steering and switches so I've gone back to basics for now, just fitting a compass and brought my old Garmin 276c out of semi retirement, thanks to Dave Manning I've got a nice chart for it now, thanks Dave I owe you a or three and gone for a Garmin handheld instead of a fixed VHF

[PeterM]

Originally Posted by whisper

Yeah I just bought the 750s as the new model was loads more £££'s

Oooooh..for the whispermax?.......

[MikeCC]

Originally Posted by whisper

I'm not sure but I think there is a new model coming out so these units are cheep until they run out?

Yes, 451/551 models running out now for new echoMap and GPSMAP 557 units now on the market. Can't get 551S now and suspect the others won't be far behind.

No doubt there will be some factory overhauled units come on the market in future months as they recycle any faulty ones.

Garmin fans might like to know they will be releasing side- and down-imaging units next year as well. Finally catching up with Lowrance and Humminbird in that area.