I'm looking at a new handheld Lowrance with GPS DSC and all the bells and whistles. The fixed mount in my boat is OK but my hearing stinks and I am thinking why even bother with the fixed. The only downside I see is making sure it is charged. Has anyone gone to just handhelds and nixed the fixed?

Generally speaking, hand held VHF radios have neither the power nor range of fixed mount units. I keep a hand held as an emergency spare on my boat, but depend on the fixed mount. If you have trouble hearing, try adding a remote speaker closer to your ear as I did.

VHS is so 80's.

Ditto. Any hand held unit is going to have a max output of five, maybe six, watts. A fixed unit is going to be a minimum of 25 or most likely 50 watts.

Plus, throw in the tiny antenna on the hand held which further limits range. The 8' antenna most folks use on the fixed mount really helps on range.

Thanks, I see the point. I will stick with both