new locator

[cheesehead]

ok folks... I have a $500 budget to buy a new gps/ fish locator an need help in picking a unit. I'm not partial to any brand and need speed, water temp, and good mapping ability. any suggestions would be much appreciated.

TY

John

[Ed Carlson]

In the $500 (+ or -) price point that is a challenge to do, yet here are a few recommendations on new Sonar/GPS units that may fill the bill.

Lowrance Elite 5x is one that will come in at $549.99, and is color and GPS/Sonar ready. Be aware this is an analog system and not digital, as is the HDS line. This will effect your networking capability's if you choose to do so in the future. It operates on the new Micro-SD cards only...not the older cards as it utilizes a Micro SD card reader. Looking forward this will be the standard, not the exception.

# 480x480-pixel color display

# 4,000-watts peak-to-peak/500-watts RMS

# 83/200kHz dual-beam transducer

# 1,000-ft. depth capability

# Temperature sensor included

# Internal 16-channel/GPS antenna

# Sonar history scrollback

The 597ci Combo features a brilliant color 640V x 480H 4.5" display, Dual Beam sonar with 2400 Watts PTP power output, 16-channel internal GPS Chartplotting with built-in UniMap, a card slot for maps and saving waypoints and a Tilt & Swivel Quick Disconnect Mounting System. The new design also allows drop-in replacement for competitive in-dash models. Maximize your angling experience with the Humminbird 597ci fishfinder GPS system. Compatible with Navionics Hotmaps Premium and Gold Charts.

A very good unit, but personally I would save up the cash and go up to the 788, as I feel it has more user features that pay off in the long run...2 card slots for one...and a higher quality display.

Frequency = 83/200

Internal/External Antenna = Internal

Resolution (VxH) = 640 x 480

Screen Size = 4.5

Screen Type = Color

Speed/Temp = Temp Only

Touchscreen = No

Waterproof Rating = NONE

Watts RMS - Max = 300

Waypoints/Routes = NONE

Weather Capable = NONE

Cartography Type = Gold/Hotmaps

Basemap = Yes

Card Format = SD

Cartography - Preloaded = No

Cartography Brand = Navionics

The 587ci Combo features a brilliant color 320V x 240H 4.5" display, Dual Beam sonar with 2400 Watts PTP power output, 16-channel internal GPS Chartplotting with built-in UniMap, a card slot for maps and saving waypoints, and a Tilt & Swivel Quick Disconnect Mounting System. The new design also allows drop-in replacement for competitive in-dash models.

This is a decent unit, shop around for deals. I seen them as low as $439.99 right now. Not my top pick but on a budget it is a good unit overall.

Display Size:4.5" diagonal

Display Pixel Matrix:320V x 240H

Display Type:256 Color TFT

Display Colors/Grayscale:256 Colors

Dual Beam

Sonar Coverage

* 200 kHz / 20˚ @ -10db

* 83 kHz / 60˚ @ -10db

Target Separation:2.5 inches

Power Output (RMS):300 Watts (RMS)

Power Output (Peak to Peak):400 Watts (Peak-to-Peak)

Temperature:Included

Speed:GPS Speed Included

Backlight:Yes

Waterproof:Yes

Mount:Quick Disconnect

Unit Size:6.9" W x 7.5" H x 4.5" D

Mount:Optional In-dash

Unit Size:6.9" W x 5.4" H x 1.25" D

Transducer - Standard:XNT-9-20-T

Transducer Mounting:Transom

Power Input: 10-20 VDC

One Year Warranty.

[cheesehead]

Thanks for the reply.

how much do you think I'd need to epand my budget to get a decent locator/GPS combo?

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

$650.00 approx.

[solbes]

$650 for a Lowrance HDS 5. This unit will have 95% of the features of a top of the line Lowrance HDS 10, but comes in a 5" 480x480 pixel screen. Upgradeable to side scanning technology and highly networkable. I have a 7 and the digital broadband sonar is awesome. Some say they have had issues with the brand, but I'm on my 3rd Lowrance product with no issues.

[PerchJerker]

I think the Elite 5 is a good choice. Our price on it is $520 so it's close to your price range, it takes LM and Nav maps so you have lots of good mapping options, and customers are giving a lot of great feedback on how nice the display is and how much they like the Elite 5.

The HB 587c and 597c are nice units, but they don't take LM cards so your only mapping option is Navionics. Because of the mapping limitation I think there are better ways to go, if you can expand your price range a bit.

The HB 788ci is $580 and the Lowrance HDS 5 is $650. Both are good units, great displays, lots of features, both take LM and Nav cards, etc. Both are good options although they are farther away from your price range than the Elite 5.

I hope that helps. You can check these units out at the link below if you're looking for more info.

[Moe Szyslak]

Just make sure you understand what you are getting into if you purchase a locator with a Micro SD card reader. May add a few more dollars than you want to spend when buying a lake chip.

[PerchJerker]

Just make sure you understand what you are getting into if you purchase a locator with a Micro SD card reader. May add a few more dollars than you want to spend when buying a lake chip.

Moe brings up an excellent point - the Elite 5 uses microSD cards so you would need 2010 versions of LakeMaster or Nav. All of the other units mentioned use standard SD cards.

[311Hemi]

Not sure if these are a little higher than you want to spend or if you want to wait, but from the sounds of it Lowrance will be releasing down scan imaging (no side scan) on the Elite series this January, built in no additional box required.

Elite 5 without GPS will be $550, with GPS will be $650.