Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Looking for a handheld GPS. Garmin has a 78 series. 3 different models. Anyone have recommendation on what make and model would be good for using around the lower Eastern shore of Maryland. Bay side and Ocean side? Thanks. Dale

i guess if you're looking for a hand-held, you aren't interested in a low priced GPS/sonar.... my 'mounted' gps/sonar <i think> was less than $150.00, and works well. it's certainly not fancy, but it does all i need it to..

instead of a hand-held GPS, why don't you just buy Navionics app for your smart phone? i recently spent less than $15.00 and got the app, and a 'add-on' feature... Only used it once so far, but it seems to be great. I use the iPhone 5, but I bet the app is available in android also...

Good idea but I want something waterproof and floats. I already have a sonar. Wanted something that I can take with me when I take out my antique car or sandrail. I would not have to worry about rain. A handheld would serve my needs better. Dale

Yes, there is a Navionics app available for Android phones. I just downloaded it a couple of weeks ago and I'm looking forward to giving it a try out on the water. It looks like it has the details I wanted but I hope its just not too small on my phone. We'll see in a month or so...

I highly recommend Earthmate GPS. They regularly win awards and also offer a technology called InReach. It is a device paired to the Earthmate PN-60 GPS that allows SOS and Messaging capabilities through the GPS unit. They are very reasonable, and I happen to sell them through our Consulting company Downtown Design Services in Tulsa.

This is odd... I picked up a Garmin GPSMAP 60c from Sportsmans Warehouse (new) a few years back for about $150. Now they're going for closer to $350. I have a Garmin in my car and that handheld - they both work great. I have a Humminbird 385 GPS/FishFinder on my boat. It also works great.

i'm with you. i prefer to have a waterproof gps that floats. my lake can be 300ft deep in places. doesn't matter if its waterproof or not at 300ft. i ain't getting it back. i have the previous generation garmin. its the 76csx. i can't find a compelling reason to upgrade. i loaded the lakes DVD which was around $90. i think the maps are better with the 78 series. if i were buying i'd get the 78s. i think the only thing the sc adds is coastal charts. not useful to me. i'd rather spend the money on local maps. a huge plus of the rugged handheld is you can take it anywhere. we use our hiking all the time and not only is it fun to store your hikes but you can measure distance, elevation and even keep track of your land speed to check your pace. its also saved us once when we took a wrong turn in the mountains in NC. when you are done your can plug your garmin in to your computer and upload your boat trip, car trip, hikes, whatever to their maps program or even export them to google earth. you can also download data to the garmin. the power company that runs our lake had a file of bass habitats that i sent to the garmin. now on the lake i have a little fish icon that shows the habitats. i'm still a bad fisherman, but its nice to know where the spots are.

i have a mount for my garmin on my pontoon helm and on my wave runner. the speedo on my pontoon is the crappy pitot type which rarely works and is never accurate at low speeds. accurate speed is a must if you are going to try to pull a skier and not have them completely frustrated with random speeds.

good luck.