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Garmin Gps

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birdieman

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what model of garmin gps is used by bennington for the optional upgrade? Is the a good unit?
 
Hi Birdieman, welcome to the forum. I beleive it is the 431s, a 4" GPS charterplotter with sonar to give you fih finding as well. This has been discussed prior, use the search engine on the forum and you will be able to find a lot of info on paticular subjects. This forum has been a great tool for me.
 
Yes it is a 431s justed ordered mine and researched it alot . Its a chartplotter and fishfinder with color screen all in one. You can get different maps for it. But is down loaded in memory garmin inland lakes in the whole U.S. . You can get a S.D. card from garmin for its vision card that has auto guide on it and satilite image and other features. I have 5 garmin systems Snowmobile / atv / truck / goldwing bike and now boat . If any questions would be glad to answer if I can. Not expert just own alot of them for a long time.... Hoss
 
Forgot to answer yes great unit 4 inch screen echo 100 standard unit is just fishfinder in black and white its just the cheapest unit garmin makes. To just show depth and fish.
 
I have negotiated with my dealer to install the 531s. The reason is my old and feeble eyes require glasses for the 4" screen and am hoping I will not have to put glasses on for the 5" screen. The 531s is going to be a flush mount and we anticipate that it will fit but just barely on the R console.
 
Let us know how the 531 install works out

thanks

todd
 
Link said:
I have negotiated with my dealer to install the 531s. The reason is my old and feeble eyes require glasses for the 4" screen and am hoping I will not have to put glasses on for the 5" screen. The 531s is going to be a flush mount and we anticipate that it will fit but just barely on the R console.
Click to expand...
I did the same with my dealer except that it's the 521S for my boat for the same reasons (bigger screen). I got spoiled with nice big GPS in my car (Pioneer AVIC-Z1) and the 4xx series seemed too small of a screen for me.
 
FWIW...The Humminbird 798ci HDSI fits real well in the R-series console.
 
Link said:
I have negotiated with my dealer to install the 531s. The reason is my old and feeble eyes require glasses for the 4" screen and am hoping I will not have to put glasses on for the 5" screen. The 531s is going to be a flush mount and we anticipate that it will fit but just barely on the R console.
Click to expand...
Yes please. Would like to know if the 531 fits with little or no modification and connections the same. I believe I would prefer that also. Thanks Gerry
 
My dealer is backed up and has not started rigging my boat but I will report when he does
 
 

I ordered a 2015 2550 gsrb. picking it up Monday dec 8 garmin 50s

 
the garmin 50s is a dream machine. been using position finders since the days of RDFs a loran A and this machine is by far the best I have owned. simple and has very easy to program options which encompass all your gps and sonar options, I love itt
 
+1 on the Garmin 50s.  I'd probably like the 70s better since it has a touchscreen, but you have to stop somewhere.
 
I decided against the 50s...I bought the Garmin 547xs and had the dealer install it.  The 547xs has a few more bells and whistles than the 50s and it ended up being cheaper.  NMEA 2000 for engine monitoring and wireless are going to be nice.  I questioned the cost of the 50s because it is significantly more than Garmin's website or online stores.   My dealer said that the reason for the up charge is because they provide a 7 year warranty on the electronics too.  With the 547xs, I don't get the 7 year warranty, but that doesn't matter to me.  I would have liked the 7" model, but there is no dash room on an "R" for it.  I didn't want it mounted above the helm. 

I've not tried it yet, but those that have, love it!  Seems like all the Garmin equip gets good reviews.
 
I have a 2014 2275 GCW. It came with the Echo 100. It was excellent for depth, fish and water temperature. But, you know how there is always more. I originally ordered the 547XS based on others' recommendations regarding the 5" screen. I removed the Echo 100 and was prepared to cut the new hole as the new unit would be a flush mount. However it was just was a little too large to fit because of the way the dash and wood (plastic) trim panel taper down from left to right. I returned the unit and put in the 431S which just barely fit. It is an excellent look and I love the additional information and 3d. I only accomplished this in October right before they pulled the boat for storage, so I do not have a picture to post. As far as using the existing wiring I was able to use everything as it was, with the exception I had to order a pigtail to adapt the transducer cable to fit the new unit. It was somewhere around $10. That was a much easier solution then changing the transducer and cable that came with the new unit.
 
JSM - Do you have any photos of your 431S installed? I've thought about getting rid of the Echo 100 on mine but have been reluctant due to the fit issues.
 
Bcpnick- I will look. It was so late in the season that I barely got it in and used a couple of times before they hauled the boat for the winter. The new Garmin came with a template that sticks to the dash and I used a little handsaw. The wood panel is a semi flexible plastic that comes off a little rubbery. From the back side the dash opening is plenty big. No problems there. It basically fits just one place because you must place it so the cut out covers the old holes. That limits you from moving towards the larger area towards the steering wheel. It fits perfect. I was a little nervous prior to cutting but realized it should be easy to get a new " wood" dash piece as it is really not a permanent part of the dash. Worked out great. There is a recess holder for the unit and it has a rubber gasket the overlays the cutout. As I said above the wiring is simple and I was able to order a pigtail from Garmin so I could use the existing transducer and cable. The boat was in the water and it would have been some work to change out. Besides the water temperature had dropped to about 62 degrees. They told me the only differences were the max depth it would be able to read. I didn't need 600 feet and this set up will still read a few hundred feet.

Funny that you are interested. I mounted a rod holder like yours in August after seeing your pictures. Only difference was I mounted directly to the second trim rail down and went through under the chaise. Love it. Looks great. I will check for pictures. Unfortunately the boat is in racked indoor storage until April.
 
I have a bracket mounted Garmin 740. The one BIG short coming in Bennington helms is no ability to surface mount a 7" screen.

You need GPS to make the effort worth it. I want to know where I am, not so much worried about the fish but I can find them with the 740.
 
431s is a a GPS unit. Has all the features just a 4" screen versus the 5" screen. I also like the in dash flush mount. All personal preference.
 
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