Garmin 441s review

[deniseO30]

Seems like this is the one I'll be buying and I'll be putting my handheld Lowrance H20 with nauticpath chart. (works great but too small for my feeble eyes)

West Marine of course is the highest price on it. and the GPS store seems about a 100 bucks cheaper.

Questions.
is it really loaded with coastal US chart? or a scaled down version?

Do I need the transducer since my onboard DF is fine for now?

at 4"diagonal is the screen although still small better then the little little screen of a handheld?

I've got to stay under $500 bucks! Sigh

[4arch]

You may want to consider the Lowrance Elite-5 Gold. Can be had for a little over 500. It has a 5" screen with 480 x 480 pixel resolution as compared to the 441's 4" screen with 240 x 320 pixels. The manufacturers always try to bury the pixel density specs, but the Lowrance's higher resolution makes a huge difference, especially on these small screens. If you haven't yet, you might want to go play with both models at WM even if you don't buy there.

The preloaded US coastal charts are actual charts and not just crude base maps. The things they want you to pay extra for add 3D contour maps and satellite images. Not sure how useful any of that is.

Depth functions seem unnecessary if you already have a decent sounder. They are targeted more to fishing boats and if you dig through the specs you'll see the fishfinder models sometimes have higher power consumption than models that are plotter-only.

I've been in the market for a plotter and tearing my hair out comparing specs on almost every 4" - 7" model out there.

[svHyLyte]

Be advised that the magnetic closure system for the 441's data cards make it impossible to mount closer than 3' from you steering Compass. The effect is material. Assuming you use/rely upon the steering compass some/most of the time, a better alternative is the GPSMap 3205. Although that unit was recently "discontinued" they are still available at roughly 1/3rd the original cost (a bit over $400) and Garmin will still honor the warranty for 2 years and will likely service the unit if necessary for many more. The 3205 has no adverse effect on the Compass, and will take input from an AIS, Radar, WX/XM satellite receiver and, of course, a Depth Sounder.

FWIW...

[norsearayder]

i got the old 440 garmin,works great,the maps are there. mine has bahamas included .same map as larger unit.great buy!!!