Hand held or fixed GPS units?

[aussiefool]

G'day all,

With luck I should be the proud owner of a new 2nd had boat to do a bit of outside fishing. I know the boat in question comes without a gps so I feel I need to buy one.
So what do you feel is the better option to buy a hand held model or one fixed to the boat?

What advantages dose one have over the other.
The reason I ask is the last time I had a boat all anyone used was line of sight to find there marks.
Looking forward to your replies

Aussiefool
Andrew

[BaitThrower]

Either/or, depending on your needs.

Some handhelds like the Garmin 76CSx will handle both marine and street maps and is portable, but the downside is the smaller screen which can be harder to view. Fixed units will likely have much larger screens that are easier to read. There are newer handhelds with larger screens though but if it was for boat use only, I would personally go a fixed unit. If/when my 76CSx dies, I will be going to a fixed unit on my boat for the larger display only.

[nigelr]

Same as Baithrower.
When my current Garmin GPS 72 dies, though it has proved to be an awesome little unit, I will be buying a fixed unit with a larger screen.
Never mind line of sight Andrew, between a decent quality sounder and GPS you will be in heaven!
Cheers!

[Marlin_Mike]

ihave hand held Garmin GPS72 and a Lowrance 5200c fixed unit.

FIxed if the budget allows IMHO Andrew


Mike

[Horse]

I would either go simple hand held plotter eg Garmin GPS 72 or a fixed screen chartplotter. The addition of maps and other data makes a handheld difficult to read in a boat. I use a chart plotter as well as a handheld backup

[aussiefool]

thanks guys, but it is with a tear in my eye that I must let you know that the boat in question has gone to an other home before I could get my money down. Just have to keep looking
thanks again for the feed back
Aussiefool
Andrew

[tunaticer]

Garmin also do a 276C, 378 and 478 that fall neatly inbetween the true hand helds and the full sized fixed mount. It is entirely portable and waterproof with a screen about 80 x 65mm with high res and is an awesome unit. it is compact enough to fit into the large pockets on cargo pants and large enough to use as a fixed mount.
I use one in my kayak so i can attest to its waterproof capabilities.
I would not entertain a 76C if i wasn't 100% needing something the size of a mobile phone.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=148&pID=233
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=148&pID=401
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=148&pID=402

In my boat i have a 5" diagonal screen fixed mount and also have a GPSMAP 60 handheld for walkabouts.

All 3 are chartplotters running Bluecharts.