Fellas, I bought a Garmin etrex Venture HC. Do I really need to buy the additional lake software or can I get away with using the factory loaded map? I am new to handhelds and need some advice. Thanks....

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U.S. Air Force Retired

Usually the factory maps are good for telling you that you are in the general area of a lake, and which lake it is. That's about the extent of it. The add-on maps give you contours and much higher accuracy.

Buy the Navionics chip, it's worth it!

I don't think the Navionics chip works with the Garmins. Also, last time I checked, the add-ons offered by Garmin weren't worth much (the 1300 acre lake I fish was missing an entire island!). You can ask them to send you a sample map (fax) for your favorite lake and make your own judgement on the worth--that's what I did. 'Course, that was 3 years ago, so maybe Garmin's add-on has improved.

Yea, the Venture HC doesn't have an SD slot. It uses a cable for transfering data.

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U.S. Air Force Retired

One thing that used to help me on new lakes was to use something like ExpertGPS (there's a charge for the software, but I thought it was reasonable), which allows you to pull up a satellite map of the lake, easily create waypoints, and then download them into the Garmin. I'd then jot a few of the waypoints on a local hard copy contour map of the lake, so that I generally knew where I was. 'Course, not much help with contours, etc. in terms of exact location, but better than nothing. Honestly, I don't think the contours on most of the chips are worth much (always off a bit) and that a good hard copy contour map combined with the ExpertGPS technique works just as well--just not as convenient.

The Garmin probably doesn't use the Navigation chip, honestly I don't know as I don't have a Garmin.
My Lowrance HD has spoiled me completely rotten. If I didn't have it, I doubt I'd go on the lake. It's like cell phones, I don't know how I survived without it.
Best of luck!