i never had a GPS and looking to buy one for the upcoming season , i boat on the hudson and mainly want one for a speedometer just wondering the dos and donts thanks...

I use a Garmin GPSMAP 378. It's portable and can be used in the boat and car. Works great and we really like it. Pics are in post 12 of the attached thread. It has an internal antenna, so you don't have to worry about mounting one, but it must have a clear path to the sky. Don't know many dos or donts on gps as this is the only one I have owned. There are a lot to choose from, but this one fit our needs and I didn't have to do any cutting/drilling to mount it which is a plus.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/f...?highlight=gps

I have a GPSMAP 392 (Discountinued) came with my 292 when I bought it. A little too big and bulky for my liking but it was free, just need a data chip to show the depths. It blocks my one trim guage, just need to lean forward a bit to see where it's at, but once I set it I usually don't touch it. I usually don't even set it up on most days just cruising on the river, the channel is really easy to navigate. I use it all the time down the shore on the Bay.

GPS128 (discontinued) it came with the boat. I'd like to upgrade to one with maps, but I can't find one with the dimesions to fit my dash.

W always use Northstar 557 units with Livorsi frames

fits perfect in the space left of the steering wheel of a 353

the screen has high resolution and can also display smartcraft data - it uses C-Map NT Max charts which are available for several intracoastal and extracoastal areas worldwide

In Europe it is the only system that covers all lakes and rivers

Best deals for the money are probably Garmin first, then Northstar second. Either of these are great for plotters (except for their update speeds)

All kind of custom bezels available for the Northstars- like the ones pokerrun shows above- very cool and the displays arent huge.

Best GPS/plotter period is Furuno. Lots of guys dont know the name but its the sh-ite. They've been selling marine electronics in the US for 50+ years ad this is what the guys betting their life on gear use.

Problem with those units is that the plotter update speeds get pokey as does zooming around if you load up sattelite imagery- the more stuff you have running concurrenty the slower they get. If you want more sophisticated features like radar, radar overlay on top of the plotter- split screen etc- consider upgrading

Picts didint "take"

Looks like blue isottas are popular