Want to buy a handheld GPS, any ideas?

[klee]

I didn't know where to put this thread nor could I find one about it. If it doesn't belong here please move it or direct me to one that has already been made. I am looking to buy a handheld GPS for ice fishing and hunting. I've looked at the Lowrance Endura but have mixed thoughts about it. I do like the Garmin 450 or 450t, but also heard theres extra money going into it like updating programs and such. I want opinions on what is good and what I should look for. I will be using it for ice fishing. I would like to use lakemaster chips, and also will be using it to mark tree stands and loading mn dnr hunting lands and boundary's. I don't understand the lingo of the gps world, so be nice. What I am looking for is easy to read maps, accuracy, detail of the maps,waterproof, good reception. And anything else I might need to know when looking or reading about these units.

[MN Mike]

I run my Lakemaster chip in my Nuvi 250 and it works very good, the Nuvi's will zoom to 80 feet, the Garmin handhelds will zoom down to 20 feet. There is one screen that is missing on your 255w ( and for all Nuvi's except the 500 and 550 ) and that is the compass screen:

Without this screen it kind of makes it a pain to get back to your exact waypoint, it can be done but you'll have to play with your 255 and figure it out and see what you like best. If your just out bouncing around fishing the structure, then it's no big deal.

The Lakemaster contours look great on a Nuvi screen, no complaints there.

Last year I was shopping for a new handheld, I already had my Nuvi 250 so I went ahead and bought the Lakemaster chip knowing I could use the Garmin Lakemaster chip in either my Nuvi or the new handheld I was going to get. I'm not sure if anyone had pointed it out but the Garmin Lakemaster chip is a MicroSD card that comes with the regular sized SD adapter so you are covered both ways just incase your 255w takes the regular sized SD card.

Mike

[klee]

Mike,are you always spot on when you go back out to fish again? or do you have to kind of round off like the handheld by a few feet? So, when you use a handheld gps you have to round it to some feet to get to where you last saved your way point? Please clarify because I have read something about this, and the sales guy at the store had mention something about rounding to some 10 ft or something on some handheld gps.

[MN Mike]

What they are probably talking about is your position error, meaning these handhelds will not put you back on the exact square inch you marked. Garmin says their Oregon 450 is accurate to within 10 meters ( 33 Feet ) without WAAS on and with WAAS on you're looking at 3 - 5 meters.

Personally I wouldn't sweat it too much, these devices are accurate ( better than advertised in most cases ) and will get you very close to where you want to be, even without WAAS on they will get you close.

Hope that answers your question.

Mike

[Ed Carlson]

Ed,

Do you know when the Garmin Nuvi 500 or any other road style navigational units will become Lakemaster chip ready? It would be awesome if you could get one of the bigger screen units compatable with the Lakemaster chips.

They run LakeMaster,/Garmin, Garmin, and NDTRAX, MNTRAX, MTTRAX data cards now. They accept the Mico SD cards, the data card will go in the Garmin 500 under the battery in the waterproof compartment.

You can also load the same data in mapping CD disk formats of the same mapping to the internal memory if that is your preferred option. This process would required a Garmin Nuvi USB data cable. The Garmin Nuvi data cable is an accessory you would wish to add anyway for overall convenience of data management with a computer or laptop.

[JbuZZo]

Just bought my Lowrance Out & Back (Endura Series) tonight along w/ the 2011 (v.4) Lakemaster chip for LOW/Rainy. Going up to the big pond on Thurs. night and fishing a full 3 days. Can't wait to play around w/ the GPS and map...Ed, do you work at GM in Fargo? I enjoy reading your posts, great info and insight

[klee]

Thanks Mike, it makes sense to me now.

[klee]

I've set my mind on buying a garmin, and in today's sales ad for the big "C" they have the oregon 550t for 399.99.For the price of a 450, I think its a deal, but is it worth buying? I want to use it mainly for ice fishing and some hunting, but I haven't seen it with the lakemaster chip yet. Maybe this weekend I will have to go test it out before purchase. Hopefully its not sold out by than. What do you guys with handheld gps experience think about the oregon 550t?

[Ed Carlson]

The "T" version will come in handy in areas where lake mapping is not available to fill in details...and that is a great price on a 450.

[tom fellegy]

i got my wife the 550t for christmas. she is a geocasher and this unit is great for that. i have played around some with it and so far haven't found any dislikes. there is a learning she had a h2o expedition and that only lasted about 5 years. she likes how much easyer it is to download geocahes to the 550t than the h2o. used the 550t snowshoeing a few times and did not notice any problems with the touch screen in the cold. i did keep the unit in my coat pocket and only took it out to check information as needed. i just hope that it lasts a little longer than the h2o did, haven't downloaded any maps yet, but looking at the garmin web site it looks easy and no chips to fumble with or keep track of......tom

[merkman]

Buy a smartphone, you can get navionics, MnDNR lakemaps, internet, geocaching, street navigation, camera, phone, texting, skype, and many other apps.

Integrated smartphones will soon replace all those different individual hand held devices.

[sparetime]

How far away are the smartphones from being comparable to features and accuracy of the handheld units? Technically impaired, so I don't have a smartphone yet, but it seems that it may be worth going that route vs. $400 invested in a handheld GPS.