Entry level Garmin vs Lowrance

tincan

tincan

Well-Known Member
I'm looking for an entry level GPS chartplotter/sounder and based on chatting with a bunch of people at the boat show yesterday these 2 options look comparable. Anyone have thoughts on either of these units:

1:Garmin GPSMAP 421s Sounder with Dual Frequency Transducer - $399 + charts ($160 or so) = $560
2:Lowrance Elite-5 Gold Fishfinder and GPS Chartplotter - $619 (includes everything)

http://www.gpscity.ca/compare/421sdual&lm-elite5g

It's gonna be for a small runabout for fishing/crabbing in protected waters for the most part. Appreciate any positive/negative feedback regarding either/both options. Cheers
 
I have had several Garmin GPS units and I like them, but when you are looking at a combo unit you should think very carefully about the screen size and orientation. The small garmins are tall and skinny so when you split the screen it gives two tall and very skinny images to look at. I would pop into somewhere that has both on display and see for yourself. Also look at screen brightness and resolution as they make a big difference in the legibility of small screens.

West marine is advertising the Elite 5 gold as $569 (after a $100 mail in rebate).
 
Not an easy question to answer as both outfits have pros and cons. Lowrance has had some quality and customer service issues in the past due to offshore outsourcing. Never owned a Garmin but hear there are good quality products, that overall tend to be more expensive with less features and smaller screen sizes to comparable Lowrance units, but have heard they have better overall reliability and customer service.

If you do go with Lowrance try to buy it at harbour Chandlers in Nanaimo, excellent customer service and product knowledge there.
 
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Don't think you can go wrong with either unit. I had a Garmin 182 years ago and it was a great unit, wish I still had it as a backup. I now have a Lowrance HDS 10 and is also a great unit. What Wwunder said is great advice. I to would go with screen size. My 182 was great, but it was the screen size that got to me when you really needed it.( like running to and from Swiftsure in the heavy fog )
 
Those 5 inch screens[lowrance]are just too small to read bouncing around in the chuck.I am 50+ in years so I had to invest in a 8 inch screen [Humminbird] which I love.The higher end Humminbirds have a Very Nice screen and the pricing is better than Lowrance.
 
Whole in the Water said:
Not an easy question to answer as both outfits have pros and cons. Lowrance has had some quality and customer service issues in the past due to offshore outsourcing. Never owned a Garmin but hear there are good quality products, that overall tend to be more expensive with less features and smaller screen sizes to comparable Lowrance units, but have heard they have better overall reliability and customer service.

If you do go with Lowrance try to buy it at harbour Chandlers in Nanaimo, excellent customer service and product knowledge there.
Click to expand...

And I believe they will match prices during the Boat Show.
 
I have the Elite-5 on my boat - had the HDS-5 on my previous boat - the Elite is very good for the price imo.
 
I have the Garmin 421 GPS (the "non sounder" model). Excellent unit. Reliable and very easy to use. The Bluecharts are fantastic - the fishing charts have the very useful contour lines. The Bluechart G2 "Vision" versions of the charts are a lot more than the $160 for just the Bluechart G2 version. I don't know if the extra money is worth it. I have the "non Vision" version and it has everything I need, including the fishing charts. I also have a separate Lowrance sounder (X-4 Pro) that was very inexpensive. It's no Furuno, but it works well. The two units solve the tiny "split screen" problem somewhat. Both easily fit my 16 foot DE.
 
If your looking to have a gps with mapping chips I think that lowrance is cheaper then Garmin. If you buy a navionics card for the west coast for the lowrance its about 150-300 bucks and it will do all of bc coast and tidal fraser river. I thought that with Garmins you need to buy more then one chart to cover all of B.C Coast???
 
tincan said:
I believe this is the chip for the garmin units. seems to cover all of BC coast and then some - http://www.gpscity.ca/garmin-microsd-card-bluechart-g2-hxca015r.html
Click to expand...

That's the one I have. It is not the "Vision" version, which is a lot more money for less coverage. But unless you want satellite images of marinas and a "Fish Eye" view of the underwater structure (based on the chart i.e. a representation, not necessarily reality), why spend so much extra cash for less coverage. The charts on the basic G2 are great and you get the tides, navigational aids, pretty much all you really need.
 
Elite 5 gold combo with Navionics charts for $549 -100 rebate = $514 taxes in. Harbour Chandler is matching prices from another electronics outfit at the boat show. I know there are better models but this one is still a big step up from my hand held Garmin gps and cheapo portable df. Happy 50th b-day to me. Cheaper than the Seattle boat show.
Couldn't resist the $30 hali spear from there either.
 
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