T&T: Combo GPS for road and boat

[bob Austin]

I have been using a Lowrance 3300 color GPS chart plotter (5") for four years
as a back up GPS on various boats, RV Car etc (The current model 3500 seems to
be almost identical) .  I made a teak base, and the GPS antenna worked fine
even on a vertical windshield of the RV (Aluminum covering).  There are the
"Create a map" from Lowrance for roads and topo which are very good for all
the US roads, and even good enough to navigate Lake Powell on 4 trips.  We
also used Navionics chart chips for the marine charting.

This year I purchased the Lowrance LCX 26 HD (which has all of the NOAA
--called Nauticpath by Lowrance, and the topo maps --widely spaced  contour
intervals/lake shorelines on a 20 gig hard drive)--but excellent mapping
programs and a very good depthsounder.  This also takes two Navionics or
SD/MNC cards, for recording routes, screen shots, or use of Navionics chips (I
use the Navionics lake charts for the Tom Cat).  This is a 7" screen. I am
comparing it with a comperable size Standard Horizon using C map Max charts
also at the helm.  The 7"  unit is fine for the boat--but probably larger than
one needs on a car or RV.

Recently we purchased two 330 Garmin car specfic chart plotters.  These are
easier to use in the car, because of the voice directions and easy to use
touch screen. We also tried the comperable Magellan, and liked the Garmin
better.   So for the car--go with one of the dedicated units--unless you want
to use a combination unit--like the Lowrance.

Since we do a lot of coastal and inland boating, being able to switch very
quickly to the topo map to identify what highway bridge we just crossed under,
or where the nearest grocery store is when we are at a port.

Bob Austin