What would be a good handheld or portable Marine GPS?

[Whitewolf]

Hello,
I am in a state new to me. They do not post the name of a street you are on! Only the side street or cross street when you come to one. I guess they expect you to know the street you are on....most of the time I do not. Well, it seems they do not post signs at the rivers you cross either. Nor even lakes that I see. I am accustomed to seeing the name of a river when you come to it on a paved road.....

Anywhoooo....can you guess the name of this state? chuckle...uh....

Well the real question is could....would someone recommend a good GPS? Just want to know the name of a river, lake, stream when I come to it. Rather cumbersome to dig out maps and try to figure things out. Would also like this gps to help me return to where I launched my boat. I can get lost on a big lake sooooo easily...

Don't need a chart plotter or ocean thing.

thanks in advance

Jim

[TyroneFly]

Do you have a smart phone? They come equiped with GPS/maps that you have options for the amount of detail to be displayed.

[Whitewolf]

Thanks for the post Tyrone. No I do not have a smart phone.

[whatfly]

While smart phones are OK substitutes, they do have some significant drawbacks versus a designated GPS, biggest of which to me are durability and battery life. I tend to like Garmin even though their maps are pricey, and I've had both the eTrex and the GSMAP models. The bigger the screen the better, so I really like the GSMAP better than the eTrex, and it seems to be better at picking up satellites faster as well. You did not mention price range, but if I had to buy another, I'd probably just get another Garmin GSMAP despite the fact that I also have a smartphone. You do not really need a "marine" version because most are IPX7 or so, and can take the lake map packets just as easily as the topo maps. YMMV.

[Whitewolf]

Thank you for the information Whatfly. Is there a Garmin GSMAP would you recommend for my uses? I went to Garmin GSMAP and there are dozens of them.....

Price range? oh....say up to $500. I surely do not need the ones listed for thousands of dollars.....

Jim

[Jayatwork]

I have a Garmin Oregon series that I'm pretty happy with. The Oregon is a touch screen. IIRC the GSMAP has real physical buttons, which you might like but results in a longer unit with a slightly smaller display. Finding a store that has several models you can play with would be great.

[whatfly]

Thank you for the information Whatfly. Is there a Garmin GSMAP would you recommend for my uses? I went to Garmin GSMAP and there are dozens of them.....

Price range? oh....say up to $500. I surely do not need the ones listed for thousands of dollars.....

Jim

Jim,

I do not have a strong opinion per se, but I do prefer to have an electronic compass (course I usually carry a non-powered one too) and then it is just a matter of how much builtin memory you want. Scanning the options, the GPSMAP 64st looks like a good choice, lots of memory, compass, and even has 100k topo maps of the US. Of course I'd want to cruise the GPS boards for a bit before I bought, but based on my past experience, and I must confess I am not a fanatic GPS type just a fly fisher, the GPSMAP 64st would do everything I would need. Luck.