Cost of Garmin charts for snowbird

Am now thinking about a chartplotter, got some good info from group.
Thanks. Questions:

If I go with a Garmin (I'm thinking maybe the 376C) and wanted good
detail covering the entire East Coast and the Bahamas, including the
ICW; what would be the total cost using the CD and purchasing the
needed unlock codes? Would I also have to purchase extra chips; any
specialized hardware/software? Is it possible on the 376C or another
Garmin unit to buy the charts pre-loaded or on pre-programmed chips?
Would this be cheaper, and is the information the same in quality and
detail? Are there any advantages or disadvantages? How up to date are
the charts when you purchase the unit, does Garmin update them on a
periodic basis, and what are the costs associated with updating?

Thanks again for any help

<email4ube-happy.DeleteThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1138133307.225839.217110@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> Am now thinking about a chartplotter, got some good info from group.
> Thanks. Questions:
>
> If I go with a Garmin (I'm thinking maybe the 376C) and wanted good
> detail covering the entire East Coast and the Bahamas, including the
> ICW; what would be the total cost using the CD and purchasing the
> needed unlock codes? Would I also have to purchase extra chips; any
> specialized hardware/software? Is it possible on the 376C or another
> Garmin unit to buy the charts pre-loaded or on pre-programmed chips?
> Would this be cheaper, and is the information the same in quality and
> detail? Are there any advantages or disadvantages? How up to date are
> the charts when you purchase the unit, does Garmin update them on a
> periodic basis, and what are the costs associated with updating?
>
> Thanks again for any help

As US charts are now free from NOAA I would think Garmin will be offering
these at very reasonable prices. I have seen price reductions listed for
their North America CD. Just do a Google for "Garmin Blue Charts" or
"Garmin Blue Chart CD". Something around $200 not including Bahamas?

If you buy the CD I don't think you need any special software to copy it
onto a chip that is in the GPS but you will need the laptop-to-GPS
interconnect cable.

Certainly you can buy the charts pre-loaded on chips. The advantage of
having the CD is that you have all the charts available as you need them,
that it, as you buy unlock codes. With a pre-programmed chip you either
have pay for everything (and I don't think all the charts will fit on one
chip) or you have to go back to the store for another chip.

The charts on the CD and chip are the same although I suppose you might buy
a chip or CD from a chandler that is not the most recent one. You would
want to make sure it was up to date.
I think Garmin updates their chart data every 6 months. The last time I
sent my chip in for updating this cost about $120US (was $150 Cdn). This
will probably go down in price and you really do not need to do this every
year.
I have found the charts to be very accurate.

Lastly, you can contact Garmin from their website and they are happy to
answer questions. I have done this and received fairly prompt replies.