Last August I purchased my Carver. It is an 81 with some old electronics. The marine VHF radio transmits but does not receive. I think the speaker is shot so I will be purchasing a new VHF when I launch next month. The GPS worked my first time out and it worked good. When I next came aboard the unit would not turn on. I called Garmin gave them the model number. They said the unit is so old they no longer have any parts to repair it. They said it is a unit from the 80's.

I was really wanting to update the GPS anyway so the fact that the unit died only means I will need to replace it sooner rather than later. I was hoping to get this upcoming season out of the old unit but twas not to be.

I stopped by my local West Marine yesterday and looked at a few units mainly Garmin. I have narrowed it down to these two units (for now).

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/on-the- ... 29894.html

I love the 9" screen on this model. It has a lot of data on the maps and at least the one in the store has some good data for Canadian waters.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/on-the- ... 19867.html

This model is smaller has a lot of map data and is a touch screen vs the buttons on the 9" model above.

For the record I am leaning towards the 9" model as I love the size of the screen better than the 7" model. My old one was a 5" screen so going bigger was something I want to do when I get my next unit.

What say ye...................