The latest and greatest in marine electronics

Today's trend in consumer electronics is products that make the most of the little leisure time we have. From televisions and DVD players in the car, to wireless phones with built-in cameras, we want products that are simple, convenient and functional.

GPS receivers, which were introduced to boating consumers only 15 years ago, have undergone tremendous improvements: Each year new models are introduced which contain features which were only dreamt of a few years earlier. Looking at the current batch of GPS receivers, we see the following trends:

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Color, color, color. In the world of laptop computers, color displays pushed monochrome displays out of the market a few years ago, and it's happening with GPS models right now. Virtually all color models over 5" are "daylight readable" which allows these new generation chartplotters to be mounted (and seen) virtually anywhere.

Smaller color displays are also taking over, with models available down to a 2" diagonal size. Many of the smaller displays are "transflective color," meaning that they utilize the ambient light to make them visible rather than a bright backlight. This allows them to run on battery power, and they have a lower intensity backlight to help when there's less ambient light. On a recent informal test of GPS receivers during Miami's boat show, the display that was dramatically the most legible on our test boat was a 4" model from Raymarine. Using a transflective display, the little RC400 at $599.99, had the most opaque, paper-like appearance and the widest viewing angle.

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Displays are getting larger. We find models in the 7"-8" range offer more real estate to show a map without taking up so much space that you have to upgrade your boat accordingly.

Finally, integrated instruments are very common. All of the major GPS manufacturers offer combination products that combine GPS with radar or sonar or instrument repeaters. Imagine for a second that you're heading out on a fishing trip with a Raymarine C Series installation, including radar, sonar and chartplotter capabilities. You head out of the foggy harbor with the radar on full-screen to avoid collisions and to spot the approach buoy a mile offshore. As you get into open waters, you select a split screen with the radar on the top half, and a chartplotter with an offshore waypoint on the bottom half. When the fog clears up, use half the screen for the sonar, to detect any bait balls or schools of fish as you head out. Finally, when you're near your favorite fishing area, use the sonar full-screen to find your prey.

We were very excited to hear that Garmin had combined a Palm-based computer with their GPS technology in an entirely new product line. At first glance the Garmin iQue looks like a typical PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). It should, since it has the latest "Palm" operating software, along with a built-in voice recorder and MP3 player.

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Its bright, 256-color screen is readable day or night, and offers all the touch-screen capabilities of other PDAs, including soft graffiti handwriting recognition. Since the software is "Palm" based, hundreds of applications can be downloaded to tailor it to your specific needs. But flip up the integrated patch-type antenna and the iQue becomes one of the most useful charting GPS navigators on the market.

The iQue comes with Garmin's "Mapsource City Select" CD, which enables users to quickly download street-level mapping detail for any region in the U.S. Key in an address or select a destination from one of its many search functions and the iQue will guide you using voice directions, turn by turn to the selected location. Add the available "mobile navigation kit" (or car kit) and you have a stable, non-skid dash mount with 12-volt hook-up through the cigarette lighter receptacle AND an external adjustable speaker to hear the turn guidance over radio or conversational noise.

In addition to being compatible with land-based maps, the iQue can also accept Garmin's detailed BlueChart marine charts. The iQue is not waterproof, however, and doesn't provide some of the navigational data you may have become used to, so we don't recommend it as the sole navigation device onboard.

Equally versatile at work, play or trying to find your way to a sales meeting; the iQue does it all at a price that won't break your budget. With 32 MB of internal memory standard and a SD card slot, adding memory is easy and inexpensive. The iQue is priced around $549 and with the extensive functionality and user-friendly programs, it's worth every cent!

All of the latest marine electronics products, including the Garmin iQue, are available at West Marine. Visit westmarine.com to find a store near you or call us at 1-800-BOATING.

By Chuck Hawley, Vice President of Product Development, West Marine

COPYRIGHT 2004 Boat Owners Assn.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group