Color or Noncolor H20

[ottertailguy]

I'm close to picking one up but heard the non color h20 is easier to read in the sunlight. Since I'll be using it a lot on sunny days that would be important. The color h20 looks better but is the $100 a waste? Thanks for any input.

[Kyle Sandberg]

The regular H2O is easier to read in the sunlight as well as easier on the batteries. For a lot of guys that isn't a problem because they usually have the adapter hooked up. If I were you, I'd see if you can test both units side by side and see which one you like better. I have the regular H2O and it works plenty good for me. We took the extra 100buck and bought the lakemaster chip to go along with it. The color is just a bonus. Good Luck

[Hookmaster]

I second K Dawg's response exactly. I had purchased a color one and compared it side by side with a black and white on and my old Garmin Map 76, a black and white one. In sunlight, whether direct or indirect, the black and white is the way to go.

[Borch]

Witht eh color unit you'll need to run the backlight when in direct sunlight to be able see it decent. Thus even rougher on batteries. Not as much of an issue if you're using the adapter.

[fisherdog19]

I had the same dilemma, and ultimately could not justify the extra $100 for color and used it for the 2008 chip. You can see it just as well as the color, and it gets you where you need to go so for me, the color was irrelevant.

[rockman]

This might end up being a ford vs. chevy type debate, but I have the color h20, and prefer it over the black and white.I use the 12v power cord which gets plugged into the 12v plug on my atv, so battery use for me is a non issue.I like having the color screen for use with the lakemaster chip, having the contrast in colors with the contour lines on their maps is useful to me.The color feature works well for using the lakemaster background map,which does highlight hunting areas(wma's) if you enable it to do so.It all depends on what you are using it for.I think the extra $100 was worth it, but it's different strokes for different folks.

[ottertailguy]

I'll be using it with the 12v plug most of the time and always on Ottertail Lake. When I was at Cabala's last weekend they were all out of the regular but plenty of the color H20. Wondering now if they sell more of them or what? The only difference besides color is that the color unit has 16 channels vs 12 channels for the regular. Thanks again for all the input.

[jwhjr]

If you'll be using the 12v plug most of the time I'd definitely go with the color. I decided on the color one and haven't been disappointed. Good luck!

[Bob/Mn]

I have a H2OC and it is really hard to read with sunglasses on.

No problem reading my b & w etrax with sun glasses.

[Matt C]

 Originally Posted By: Bob/Mn

I have a H2OC and it is really hard to read with sunglasses on.

No problem reading my b & w etrax with sun glasses.

I agree. Same issue here.

[Northlander]

Its a personel preference thing. I like the color much more than I did the black and white evrsion. I find it MUCH easier to read and it really helps me read water from shore and makes navagation makers/buoys easier to read. If you can plug it in to a wheeler/sled or vehicle get the color for sure.

[talltines]

Get the expedition color, same as h20 but also has digital compass and barometer. The digital compass allows you to veiw maps and such aligned with direction versus the h20 you have to be moving. When you stop moving the h20 will not point you true. expedition can be veiwed at rest and point true. also projects weather and game and fish good times top fish and hunt. Go color whatever you choose helps greatly following contour lines and finding funnels in the timber. Also comes with the 16 channel WASS receiver for more presise navigation.

[BK19]

i just bought an expidition c and after using it i dont think i would want a non color one exspecially for the lakes i always have a battery booster pack with so batteries arent an issue for me

[caseymcq]

If you are going to use it on a sled or wheeler in the winter(i.e. in the cold) the color(TFT screen) performs much better than the grayscale(LCD).

I found a site with the color unit for about $218 and the LCD for $137. It may be worth the extra $80 for color.

If you go with the color one way to mitigate battery life is to buy the more expensive lithium batteries.

[muc33]

Wow the color is amazing... all I can say. I was in the same situation and opted for the color and am glad I did.

[ottertailguy]

Well I bought the regular h20 10 days ago with the Lakemaster chip and took it fishing on Ottertail last weekend. The thing work great, it was simply amazing. The other thing that I noticed is my previous GPS could only zoom in to .2 vs the H20 .02. That 10 time further, wow. So my suggestion to everyone else is to simply get one of these units, but make sure you get a lake map chip too. How long has these unit been out? I can't believe I didn't know about them.

[PerchJerker]

Not sure how long they've been around, but my guess is 5-6 years for the monochrome version and 4 years for the color version.

[Farley]

Ive had a H20 with the Lakemaster chip for 2 years now and am considering upgrading now to the color. When you zoom out on a lake that has the HD map, it sometimes gets hard to read or get an idea of the lake layout with the b&w unit. The color unit shows deeper water as a darker blue.

Either that or I'm going to buy the software and card reader for a pc so I can pick out waypoints at home on a large color map and trasfer them to the unit before I go out.

[MN-FishGuy]

I just ordered the H20 color unit last night, hopefully it gets here in a few days. I found it for $212 on a site on the internet, it definitely pays to shop around. Check out Tiger GPS HSOforum. Now all I need to do is buy a lake chip, it sounds like Lakemaster is the way to go. Does everyone agree with that, or does someone recommend a different one?

[GoFish4]

Anyone up North looking for a H2OC L&M supply has them for $200 and the chip is $60. With tax and all it was $289 for them both price was prior to X-mas.

I have had the Color for 1 1/2 years and It is easy to read on the ice and in the boat. If you don't have a 12V battery plug in it will eat the batteries bigtime. But I think the Color is well worth the money for the detail that is in the Lakemaster chip is great and if you can't see the info then it degrades the units abilities. My .02