marine gps chart plotters

Plotting and map availability have really come of age in this unit. Like all of Garmin's products the 162 is user friendly and menu driven. Newer units are WAAS acurate and come with a PC interface cable. All functions can be reached in a couple of button hits. There are several pages, map, position and navigation. Each has its own menu, a second swipe of the menu button brings you to the main menu. Anyone familiar with a windows computer will be able to use it almost immediately. Garmin has also added a nifty tide predictor and almanac feature. The alphanumeric waypoint naming feature is also a plus.

The 162 comes in two versions, one with an internal antenna for boats without tops (or just a bimini) which saves you from mounting the antenna, and one with a more traditional mushroom antenna for hard tops or t-tops.

The CD-ROM map includes all of the US and allows you pick and choose your area of coverage. It lacks the depth feature and hyper accuracy of Garmin's new, top of the line, blue chip models. But that's a price feature.

I bought this unit after narrowing my choices down to it and the ... Standard Horizon. I went with the Garmin because of it's increased upgradability. Garmin continually updates the firmware packages for its GPS units. For instance, this unit came out before WAAS was available, but a simple, and free, download from the Garmin website added WAAS capability in a matter of minutes using the supplied AC/PC adapter. And, most importantly, Blue Chart map detail is now available in MapSource CD ROM form. This is the best map data available today (as detailed as any paper chart), and with the MapSource system, you can transfer as much or as little data as you need to your GPS. The BlueChart CD ROM adds immeasurably to this product. Negatives: the addition of the BlueChart detail slows the redraw times of the screen considerably. Also, the one area where the Standard Horizon outshines it is in screen clarity, but this unit is good enough in that respect to still come out on top, in my opinion. A solid 4 out of 5 stars.