I can't fit an 8 or 10 inch gps in the center of my dash and don't want to mount it on top of the dash. So I have about 9"wide x 6-6.5"h to work
with. I was considering a garmin 172c,182c,192 or 420. Or a Lowrance 5300. Any comments or comparisons between the two manufactures? Thanks mike.

I had a 550s installed, it has an internal Antena, and worked really well.

I am very happy with the 5500 I installed . It's a lot more visible than the Garming 176 I had mounted on top of the dash. But the GPS seems to lag in updating speed compare to the Garmin. It takes 4-5 seconds for a change in speed to show up on my speedo. I am going to look at the manual to see if there is a way to change the info transfer rate.

Garmin 182c here and love it. Great support and free updated on software. Can upload different charts to the chip or buy ready loaded. Lots of options and upgrades available.

Garmin 545. Be sure to go to a marine store and actually look at and play with the GPS you're considering.

Between those 2 - Id pick the Garmin. If you have ever used any navigation before you probably be able to jump into a garmin boat and just use it- its a very well though out ui and the screens are excellent.

Note- Lowrance is coming along very quickly and you should take a look at the latest review I saw on one.

Go to Panbo.com and check out some of the links and tests.

The update lag is an issue almost all smaller units suffer from and its not really anything you can fix, although certain settings will minimize the lag any specific unit will only ever have so much compute power, and when you start doing advanced things like overlaying the radar onto the plotter screen youll really see what any specific unit is made of.

As with most things there sure way to fix lag is with more money!

Dashs and Gps' are a real pain I had a completely custom piece fabricated for my rig to fit the Furno navnet 3d systems.



Uncle Dave
2750 LaveyCraft Ilmor 710
20.8 LaveyCraft 406 SB

Garmin.

I own a bunch of Garmin and swear by them.

I have looked at Lowrance, and while they have
good equipment, I recently met their western region
sales manager.

Talk about one crusty, abrasive, full of himself individual,
if he truly represents Lowrance I'll never buy another.

Pesky Varmint

I have a 11 year old Garmin 220 that still works great. The only bad thing about it is not being able to see the screen in bright sun light. I am considering updating to one of the new Garmin 500 series GPSMAP plotters which have a sunlight viewable screen. The other thing I like, and have been told by others is how user friendly the Garmins are, where you don't have to have the instruction manual open to use it.

Ebay has a 182c with a $10 bid on it right now. Sounds like a steal. Thanks, now you've got me looking to upgrade my Garmin. Kinda interested in the 192c (updated 182c) reasonably inexpensive with good software.

thanks, this is the kind of info I am looking for. I see that the Lowrance has more pixles than all but the newest Garmins. But update rates and such are what I do not know.what about the bluechart g2 feature?