I just bought a Garmin 740S at Christmas. I liked it because it is a touch screen. I friend has the same unit on his Sea Ray cruiser and he highly recommended it. It is on sale at WM now for $999

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...6#.UTQHile4mzk

just bought a 640. great gps. the 640 is loaded with US marine maps. also has all US roads and works great for car. the battery life is good for about 5 hrs of use. i use it in my boat without hooking up the power cord and still gets antenna reception inside the canopy.

i also bought a RAM mount suction cup setup and swap it around from 2 other boats and kayaking. the screen is big and works ok in the sun. and have had no issues with touch screen. i was going to get another hand-held but the 640 is more like a bigger dash mount that i can use in multiple boats and vehicles.

really like it, thumbs up from me!!!

http://www.tigergps.com

the i-pad is good idea and Navonics has free app and also a better version for something like $35. only issue with iphone and ipad is you need cell signal since they don't work off satellite signal like gps's

This is not true if you have a "3g" enabled iPad. They have a traditional GPS built in and as long as you download the maps ahead of time, it will work well outside cell coverage.

I've been 60 miles from land and still used the navionics app with no issues.

This is my plan:

http://zeenews.india.com/business/ga...hed_70944.html

Or the cheaper Pantech

http://www.pantechusa.com/phones/element

I run a lowrance hds5 combo depth and plotter. Love it.

Is there a way to tell if a tablet has gps? It seems as most do not come out and say this.

I bought one when they first came out and I used it on one of my boats, worked well I sold it after I sold boat. I would of kept it as a back up. Two thumbs up for it.

waterproof ipad
 

http://www.lifeproof.com/en/ipad/
For all of you iPad users. This is great, have it on my phone too

If your concerned about getting the iPad wet.....http://www.lifeproof.com/en/ipad/?path=TopNav