I'm ready to get serious about being able to mark brushpiles, etc i find other than making an x on my kerr lake map=-----which tend to disappear after a while due to the plastic coating on the map....anybody want to offer advise on which unit is good would be greatly appreciated.....probably want to go with handheld---no space left on boat......

GARMIN 76

I have a almost new Lowrance LMS-480 Sonar/GPS with 20° Transom Mount Transducer. I have used it about 7 times. It works well I just want one with a larger screen. I paid $549 plus shipping and $129 for the map. Will sell the unit with or without the map. I would like to get $400 for the unit but if I let the map go I would have to get full price for that. I bought the unit from Cabela's. If you go to http://www.cabelas.com and then type in Lowrance LMS 480 in the search box it will come up, or type in IF-016614 in the item # box. The map is a Navionics® HotMaps™ Gold Item: IF-017690
Price: $129.99

You can downloaded the emulator to the unit and get a feel for it at:

http://www.lowrance.com/Software/PCSoftware/Install/LMS-480M/LMS-480_demo.asp

To make it easier to get to each of the above sites you can copy and paste the url to the adress box on your browser.

For a handheld, I have a Lowrance iFinder. This takes the Lowrance Fishing Hot spots Elite card. I think I paid ~$120 for the iFinder and another ~$99 for the card. If you are interested in a Lowrance unit, you may want to bump up to the iFinder H2O. This will also take the Navionics cards, while the base iFinder does not.

Regardless of which unit you get, I would suggest a 12 volt adapter or a good set of rechargeable nickel metal hydride batteries.

I agree with the FISHDOC. Garmin makes a great GPS (I have and use two different units) but love the bigger screen on the Garmin 76.

Justlearning, Are you interested in doing some trading on a Garmin 172C.

I did a ton of research before I settled on a unit. I was torn between the Lowrance and Garmin units. I almost bought a combined Lowrance unit before I was talked out of it. I don't think you can go wrong with either but most people told me that the Garmins were easier to use and performed better. I went with a handheld over a fish finder unit b/c of the mobility factor. I am able to use the unit on any boat or car that I am on. Now the opposite is true for me regarding fish/depth finder units. I like Lowrance's products over Garmins.

Remember when buying one that price is usually based on memory and if it is a color unit. The more memory means that you can have more maps on your unit. You are not going to be able to put the whole state of Virginia on the cheapest units. I mainly fish the fresh and salt waters of Va and N.C. so I bought a unit that had enough memory for these areas. I bought a black and white unit but if I had to do it again I would probably spend the extra money and buy a color unit.

Talking about marking an "x".....this was on the board last year. Two guys from out of state rent a boat and go crappie fishing. They get out to Coopers Island and find a real hot spot and fill the cooler up with crappie. One guy tells the other guy to mark the spot so they can find it the next time they come to Buggs to fish. On the way home the guy ask his buddy did he remember to mark the spot....he said sure I made a big black "X" in the bottom of the boat. He said well you idiot….. we may not get the same boat next time.

Hey Bert…I looked up the Garmin 172C. That unit has a smaller screen that the one I have, also my unit has 480 x 480 resolution and I rather have the Navionics® HotMaps which is not compatible with the Garmin…..but thanks for the interest …it never hurts to ask.

tHANKS TO ALL FOR YOUR VALUABLE INPUT----my research has told me the Garmin 76 is probably what i want....now just gotta come up with the CASH!!!!!

I think you will be happy with the 76. I have the 76S and it is a great unit. What I can tell..the only difference between the 76 and 76S is that the S has 24 mb of memory versus 1 mb with the 76. I went with the 76S because it could hold most of the east coast maps on it. I would recommend buying the map CD with your Garmin.