On purchasing a GPS/plotter/sonar combo???

[RonE58]

For years I used my trusty handheld etrex garmin GPS, that is for kayaking, hiking and day sailing. On my recent purchase of a true cruiser I am thinking of upgrading. A recent Practical Sailor gave rave reviews of a mid range Lowrance 337c df, which is a GPS/plotter sonar combo. Does it pay to get such a complex piece of navigation equipment or would a plotter such as a Lowrance 3500 be sufficient.
Ron

[Carl Thunberg]

This one's been out there for five days. I hate to see a post go un-answered. Can someone help Ron out, here? I'm afraid I'm not much help. I just use a hand-held GPS, charts, and my compass. Pretty low-tech, but I get along okay.

[mahalocd36]

In my opinion, having a combined unit is very nice, except when it fails. Having your depth combined with your plotter and your plotter fails (we've had that happen), now you have no depth.

Depending on where you sail, having no depth readout may not be critical, but it's an important piece of the navigation puzzle usually.

As far as combined GPS/plotter, that's VERY useful. There's another recent thread on this, as well as discussion on brands you may want to read. Keep your handheld etrex for backup of your GPS position.

http://www.capedory.org/board/viewtopic.php?t=19316

[RonE58]

Thanks Carl and Melissa,
I have picked up the other thread discussing GPS/plotters, the garmin 492 looks good. Although I hear you Carl, I always used the charts, compass and handheld for the daysailor with out a problem. But then again that was always in the confines of my enclosed bay.
Ron