limited budget

[guesswork]

Need your opinion on the following electronics.
Garmin 172C
Furuno LS4100
VHF not sure

I thought about getting the combo Garmin 178C to have a colored depth finder. What is your opinion?


Skip

[rdsrb5]

I have the 178C and like the unit fine. Only issue I have is in shallow water, just have to adjust the gain. If you have the room and a few extra $$$ look at the 188C. Screen is a little larger and seems a little sharper. I also have a Magellan handheld GPS for backup.................actually had to use it once on a trip and glad I had it.

VHF, I've had 3 different Icom radios on 3 different boats and have had good service from them all. Really depends on you use and if you plan on going offshore any.

[mikeporterinmd]

Just to give you an idea, I sold a Garmin 188C, no transducer, external antenna, no charts, for $355 on Ebay. I sold
a 188, external antenna and a Airmar P66 for $305. These were bid prices - my starting prices were much lower than the final
prices. If you have a local West Marine, see if they have anything on closeout. They were
running a really good sale a little while ago. Not sure if it is still on.

Mike

[guesswork]

Thanks, I will look at the 188C. I will be fishing in the Gulf of Mexico from 50 to 250 ft.

[swamppro]

188c units should be long gone. Take a look at the Garmin 498c as they have the charts built in already and are priced very well.

[mikeporterinmd]

There are people selling 188C units on Ebay, new, for mega-bucks. I guess they are trying to trap the unwary?

Mike

[blueh20pc]

I gotta say, before shopping on Ebay for used items, Give yachtjim at BOE Electronics a call and see what he has laying around the shop that he'd like to get rid of. He can match ebay with refurb'd items, and he'd be happy to do it. You might be out 20 bucks a unit, but it's worth it.

His contact info is down on the vendor's forums. He sold me my SH plotter for next to nothing last year.