We're taking our 353 Formula down South to Cape Coral, Florida this Fall and am wanting to get a garmin GPS that will work the best in the intercoastal/KW area.

I want to get it now to learn how to use it here at LOTO before we bring the boat down.

I've been researching the 531s/541s (5" screen) or the 720/740 (7" touchscreen), does anybody have any opinions or suggestions about which one will do the best for the buck.

Thanks, joey.

i want to try a car gps on ICW. i wanna hear the girl in the gps crying "off route. recomputing. why are we in the ocean?"

Buy and IPad and get Navionics USA HD Costs about $79 for the Ap and your screen is about 11" Works great I use it all the time when we are on the Gulf and ICW

You want lhe latest,latest. I have a 541 Garmin. It works great even in direct sunlight. My only complaint is the crumb trail memory. It fills up. Last trip to the keys it lost the trails from a couple years ago, not very handy! I talked to garmin at the miami show. I could save the trails on to a chip, but its not automatic. I told them I wanted to just buy a big sd card and leave it in the slot, not so said them.. The IPAD is the future. You can do all the Nav and sound system for sure, Soon enough it probably will display all the engine systems. How waterproof and durable are they? Will the app store huge amounts of crumb trail data?

Will store more than I can use I have an otter case but it is not waterproof We cover it when it rains Much easier to use than our E 120 and we take it from boat to boat

wgg..

does the app give you depths and channels?

Yes. As detailed,accurate and up to date as my Raymarine E 120. Had a bracket made so I can move it boat to boat. They also have the same app for an I Phone You can also store all your routes and waypoints and download to your Mac to view your trips They also have an aviation app

wgg...

Thanks for the insight.

you could also buy the charts and input several waypoints into the GPS. it's always nice to have charts when in uncharted territory and a new GPS.

i always keep a portable gps by garmin (not sure of model #, but if you want to know, pm me and i'll look the next time i'm at the boat) that has maps loaded and runs off of battery, cig lighter or wall plug --- just remember to charge it before heading out boating for the day. JS!!!

Thanks for the input guys, I don't think I'm ready for a ipad yet, does the ipad have a sounder, speedo and it's not waterproof.

I'm probably going with the 546s which is the same size as the 541 but it has the high resolution screen and processor and has everything the 740 series has but the larger touchscreen.

Also, the 546s comes pre-loaded with all the maps and the tranducer is included, Garmin has a $200 rebate now that the 546s qualifies for, so the cost of the whole unit after the rebate is about $700 bucks, that's a good price for a great GPS.

If I get rid of my crappy stock speedo the 546s will fit on my dash with only minimual changes and it'll be in a great location to operate.