New GPS

[IndyEFI500]

I am finally going to pull the pin and update my GPS. I have a Magellan Meridian Platinum now. What I want a new unit to do is the following: Fishing(mostly small and obscure lakes all over west central MN and the twin cities), biking (on and off trails in the Brainerd area and twin cities), ATV'ing (Park Rapids area), geocaching (never done it yet but want to start), teaching scouts how to use compasses and GPS and maps. I have used the electronic compass on the Meridian but not sure I really need it nor the Barometer. Altimeter might be nice. I am planning on a Garmin or Lowrance. Anyone have any input for what would best suit my needs? I also want something that doesn't devour batteries. Thanks for the input.

[jwhjr]

The H20 from Lowrance may work for you. You'll want to stick with the non-color version if you don't want a battery hog though. You can go to their site and look at the user manual as well as download an emulator to see how it works. I have the H20C with the Lakemaster chip and it works well for what I need. You may also want to run a quick search as there have been a number of GPS threads in the recent past with some good information. Good Luck!

[IndyEFI500]

jwhjr:

Do you do small lakes up north? It seems both map chips can do the big lakes but I am interested in the small ones. If I still have to buy maps, then either one is fine. If one of the map chips does better on small lakes, then that will tip me towards one of the brands over another.

[jwhjr]

If you go to the Lowrance site and look at the chip details, it has the list of lakes on each chip and whether they have High Def maps or use the DNR maps (I think their name for these are Lowrance Enhanced Maps). You'll have to see if any of the lakes you're interested in are listed.

[ice-man/vexilar-king]

Lowrance Expedition!