Those looking for a stand-alone GPS unit will find the Eagle IntelliMap 500C is at home in vehicle, boat, or aircraft. It offers a color 5-inch screen with 320v-by-240h pixel resolution, and provides the same software mapping features and capabilities as loaded into the Sea Champ, including MMC/SD compatibility with all aftermarket accessories.

GARMIN
www.garmin.com
Garmin's offering in the upper-level GPS/depth recorder market is their new GPSMap 198C Sounder. A highly improved version of their popular GPSMAP 182C, it features a brighter, more easily read, 5-inch color screen and an updated faceplate. According to Garmin the unit is ideal for the boater who lacks access to a personal computer to load individual charts onto their plotter. The 198C comes equipped with the highly detailed BlueChart cartography that covers the coastal United States, Alaska and Hawaii. The built-in maps provide detailed coastal features, shaded depth contours, navigation aids, ports, marinas, wrecks, and other items of significance. Pre-programmed MMC/SD cards are also available for many other regions, including Canada and the Bahamas.

In addition to the GPS function, the 198C features dual 50/200 kHz sonar with a 500-watt (RMS) power output, or 4,000 watts peak-to-peak. The color pixel display is 234-by-320.

Additional features include alarms for anchor drag, arrival, off-course, proximity waypoint, clock, and low battery voltage. It also has built-in tide data and celestial tables.

Hand-held users will want to look at the new Garmin GPSMAP 60. At a trim 7.5 ounces with batteries installed, the pocket-sized unit offers 24MB of built-in map base with automatic routing capabilities, as well as the capability to use optional MapSource, 24K Topo software, and BlueChart for saltwater applications. This allows for customizing your map display to fit your specific requirements. In addition, it features both a serial and USB connection for download transfer. With a WASS receiver and built-in quad-helix antenna it provides accuracy to 10 feet under most circumstances.

The waterproof units will operate for 28 hours using two AA batteries while providing a trip computer odometer, stopped time, moving average, overall average, total time, maximum speed, built-in alarm clock, and more.

LOWRANCE
www.lowrance.com
Designed primarily for boaters, although it also rides well in a truck, the Lowrance LCX-26C HD is their most sophisticated split-screen color GPS/depth recorder. It features a 20GB hard drive pre-loaded with maps that cover U.S. coastal waters, including Alaska, Hawaii and the Great Lakes. It also has over 2,100 inland lakes, and topographical land-based mapping with street level detail.

The 7-inch screen makes displays easy to read. If more detail is required the unit also features two waterproof MMC/SD card slots to allow custom map loading and upgrades.

On the sonar side it offers a dual frequency transducer, color readouts, fish ID, multi-zoom options, and all the other features one would expect from a top-of-the-line fishfinder.

For those who do not require land-based mapping, or the ability to install custom maps via MMC/SD cards, the M68C S/Map is a more compact and moderately priced alternative that offers many of the same features as the LCX-26C. It provides a 3.5-inch split-screen color GPS/depth recorder, a 200 kHz transducer with a built-in water temperature gauge, zoom and bottom tracking, fish alarm, and a full screen LCD flasher mode that provides instantaneous readouts to 70 miles per hour.