currently have a garmin 3 handheld great unit, poor map quality
but Im looking for one with nice detailed maps
like 162/168 176 182 ect dont know what to get
need depth too seperate to all in one
I travel the 1000islands, onedia lake, ontario and the finger lakes
I want to stay with garmin cause this one I have is tough

Got the 162 with internal antenna and love it. BIG screen!

well the boat I have now has no gps/depth finder and the stepped hull has 0 Zero scratches on it, and I intend on trying to
keep it that way, does the 162/168 display depth or upload
charts with depths. I know the 168 has a sounder but I want
chart depths
Im just tired of charts blowing around in the boat
I always check a good chart before setting out but using
while underway is difficult at most.

I have the 180 . I love it ! I haven't gotten too technical with it yet but I think it is great so far . It has chips for it that show everything including marinas ,depths, etc. The only thing that stinks is it doesn't have the top speed memory like my Garmin 3 has .

We have the 176, very nice unit also.
You can due a model comparrison on the Garmin website.
Good luck.
Bryan

Bryan. That is the model we are looking at, They say you can remove it from the boat and use it in your truck! How are the graffics to view at hi speed in the Donzi and were did you mount yours?

I do the same thing with my 162. That's why I got the internal antenna.
The 162 does not show depth, but I believe you can upload charts and other maps and such.

I have the internal antenna on my 182 and also transfer it to the Suburban for road trips. Blue charts while boating and down load the Garmin Roads & Recreation data to a blank chip for road trips. I have it mounted ona a RAM mount and have two bases, one in the vehicle and one in the boat. The power cord in the Velocity is hard wired and use a cig lighter plug in the truck.

I initially purchased the 176C, the color when on the boat sucked, , the yellow charts were unusable. So I exchanged it for the 176 16 shade greyscale, MUCH BETTER.
It as two modes, land/water, so on trips I switch to land and she mounts on my dash in the truck. In the Donzi it is just to the right and slightly forward of the high speed compass, I temp mounted it a bunch of places to find the most functional, now the bracket is through mounted, I drilled a special hole and hard wired the power ro the power strips on the forward bulkhead under the dash. I use the Cartography chip also, I feel it iw worth the extra money.

This unit will also flush mount.

Lastly, most come new with version 2.2 software, the latest downloadable version from Garmin is 2.6.
Bryan

One thing...If you guys want something with official NOAA charting capability with, depth soundings and contours along with all navigation markings, get one that is compatible with Garmin's "BlueChart" line of software!