Garmin, Lowrance or What?

[DJS]

I am looking at buying some sort of electronic navigation and had thought of the Garmin 556s. Any advice would be welcomed and I do want to keep things simple. Use will be mostly between N Ireland and Scotland. Space is also a concern as the Delta single console isnt the most spacious.

Cheers

[Dr Doof]

I looked at Garmin and Lowrance and went for Lowrance HDS 8 after advice on here and the ability to add lowrance structure scan.

The HDS 5 isn't too big and has a 5" screen, its a GPS/Chartplotter/Sounder in one unit.

The thread is in the Electronics section under "Garmin or Lowrance"

Mine doesn't arrive until next week so can't comment on how user friendly they are.

[Dr Doof]

Thread below:
http://rib.net/forum/showthread.php?t=38378

[markymarkP]

lowrance!

i have had Garmin, Navstar and Lowrance, and can tell you the lowrance is easy to use, reliable, quality gear, and great options for future add ons.

so, simple answer Lowrance, buy once, buy right!

[Channel Ribs]

Originally Posted by DJS

I do want to keep things simple.

If you want simple then Garmin is a good way forward, if you want the option of adding things like sidescan or broadband radar in addition to the more basic depth sounders, traditional radar and ais.

Price-wise the two brands have similar points, so really for me it just comes down to ease of use versus cutting edge optional addons.

[Simon B]

I know that console well! I love Lowrance but have used Garmin and would reccomend it as a simpler menu set up and more intuitive to navigate around. As said if fancy adding more units Lowrance has a bit more scope to do that, though the 556 is networkable with other Garmin kit.