sonar/graph

[bopper4]

I purchased my father in laws Ranger 620 last year, replaced the bow mount, bow graph, and added a couple electric mag 10s. This spring I am looking at a new graph/sonar for the counsel. Currently there is a black and white graph that works just fine, displays water temp and depth. My dilema is I would like a gps at the counsel. Any one have any suggestions? On one hand I think I could just purchase a 5 inch colored gps and the other tells me to get a combo unit. ANyone have suggestions for makes or models, especially for the gps unit.

[Larson15]

Depending on how much you want to spend I would look into a Humminbird sonar/GPS combo. They have a good range of combos ranging from $400 - $2500. If you want to stay on the low end I would look at the Humminbird 587, 778, and 788. I have the 788 on the bow of my bass boat and its been great. They have a built in gps receiver which makes installation easy and one less thing to worry about.

I would also wait till the sports show to purchase. You can usually get pretty good deals.

One more thing, GO AS BIG AS YOU CAN AFFORD! You wont regret it down the road.

[bopper4]

I was looking at the humminbird 7 and 800 series. I would like to keep it under 1000 bucks. The wife is already unhappy with the boat purchase and the extra few grand I put on it in the first month I owned it. I really liked the down imaging and dont know how much I would use the side imaging.

On the upside I have a friend who can get what I need at dealers cost so I can get a little bigger unit for less money.

[JohnMickish]

One more thing, GO AS BIG AS YOU CAN AFFORD! You wont regret it down the road.

Words of wisdom when it comes to GPS/sonar.

I use the "think of the biggest screen you will ever want, then buy the next size up" motto myself.

I have a Humminbird 858CSI on my console and I would not recomend anything smaller, and definitly bigger or two units of that same size.

[Larson15]

I strongly recommend the 858 or 898. I have the 898 at my console now. If you go with side imaging I would not buy anything smaller than this unit.

[Superduty]

To keep it under $1000 you might consider a 5" color sonar/gps unit. You will have a hard time getting a bigger unit for under a grand. I'm a lowrance guy and have not had any issues with my HDS units despite all the internet haters. You could leave the existing sonar on the dash and add the new one next to it on a ram. When running WOT down the lake you will be able to switch the combo unit to full screen gps and use the old unit for depth readings. Gives you the option to have two full screens anyway. Splitting the screen on the 5" units shrinks things up a tad if you are relying on a gps trail to run a route.

[JohnMickish]

Mine is a 898SI not a 858SI. They don't make a 858SI. If you look hard enought, you can get the 898SI for about $1200.

[Esox_Magnum]

I'm fond of the HDS units to, takes some looking but you can get a 7 for under a grand and an 8 for under 1500 but you have to look hard and have cash in hand.

[Larson15]

The HDS units are good as well but will cost a little more money and are a little more pain in the butt if you get the side imaging. The HDS units require that you buy a separate side imaging box that will hook into the unit whereas the Humminbirds are built in. If you go this route you also have to install a separate auxiliary switch for the side imaging box so that you can turn it on and off.

[Esox_Magnum]

Well worth it for the resilution you get.

[Larson15]

Actually the screen resolution on both units is about the same. The newer Bird units 898,998,1198 have newer brighter screens with faster processors.. The smaller bird units now have the HD feature which have a much higher resolution than any comparable Lowrance.

[Superduty]

When mounting the Lowrance units, you will need to find a place for the side imaging box. Either in a rod box or the battery compartment. Some guys have done it under the console. As far wiring goes, you can wire the box to your dash "main" power switch and don't need to add any auxillary switch. If you don't want the side imaging transducer pinging all the time, simply select the "sonar off" option from the menu. The box also serves as a hub that connects any of your other lowrance units to the network, including many older models with the yellow plugs.

I've fished with the biggest 'bird units and the big Lowrance HDS units. The side viewing technology is virtually the same between brands. The traditional 2d color sonar is where the difference can be found. No other brands can compare to the sharpness and clarity of the lowrance color sonar. Not even close.

[Larson15]

not even close huh?? I would agree with this when comparing the units from when they first came out but the newer units are pretty equal in image quality. I USED to be a lowrance guy and made the switch to HB last year and like the product better for a few reasons:

-ease of use (HB is much more user friendly)

-easy of installation (no seperate boxes or stupid switches)

-and most importantly, Customer Service (Lowrance has really went down hill here in the past 5-10 years).

If you do some research on the net you will find a lot of unhappy Lowrance customers.