I have a Garmin Fishfinder 160 Blue on a 17’ skiff. I really want a Chartplotter/GPS. I have toyed with the idea of buying a hand held like a Colorado or an Oregon but, wonder if I would not be better off buying a newer Sounder/Chartplotter instead. My budget is around $500 and for that it would appear a Garmin GPSMAP 440s or 441s would fit that budget. My questions are:
- Should I just get a hand held, be happy and keep using my old
fishfinder?
- If I buy a combo unit, the existing transducer from my 160
Blue will work (according to Garmin). Is this a good idea or
should I spring for a new transducer?
- What is the difference between the 440s and 441s?
- You can get a $200 rebate by buying the Garmin g2 Vision
card.Is this a smart buy?
(I fish inshore only so don’t know if this is worth it or not)
I am sorry for all of the questions but, I do not know much about these things (trying to learn) and I don’t want to buy something and then find out I made a bad purchase. I am taking my boat to the Keys this Summer so I really want a decent chartplotter as the waters are unfamiliar to me.
Thanks for all input.
i absolutely love my 440s. no problems. the vision card would be killer. $$$ but killer. the map detail is good imo right out the box. built in tides, moons, water temps, clock, closest marina, etc.etc great unit. id buy anutha
www.flyfishingsc.com
the 440 is discontinued, so there are deals out there.
www.flyfishingsc.com
boemarine.com good people
No one knows if YOU are THE village IDIOT or not until YOU open your mouth and speak!!!
Big fan of anything Garmin…can’t really go wrong
Captain Steve Little
TowBoat US Charleston
Psalm 107:23-32
www.towboatcharleston.com
Love my Garmin 440s. Bought it right when they discontinued it. Just attached the sounder to it and got rid of my fish finder. If you get the 440s dont forget to download the latest firmware. It’s easy. You will need a SD memory card, 1 gb is enough. I bought a second power supply and hooked it up with a dc converter in my office. This way I can play around with the unit in the comfort of my office, need to be next to the window to pick up signal.
A great feature with the sounder is you can press the on/off button and go to full screen sounder, press again and go to split screen press again and go to full screen gps. With a little effort you can program the depth and temp as an info display on the GPS screen.
84’ 18 Privateer
08’ Yamaha 90
There are always greater fish than you have caught, always the lure of greater task and achievement, always the inspiration to seek, to endure, to find.