what to get?

[DarthBaiter]

So I'm wondering what electronics to get for my boat I just purchased. I put the Terrova Ipilot link on it. So I know I'm going with a Humminbird, but the real question is which unit. Do you guys prefer DI or SI and why? I'm not looking to spend top dollar for the latest and greatest. I thought I had it narrowed down to the 859 HD-DI ($700 range), but now not sure. I'm thinking since I'm just getting one unit for now that it would make sense to mount it in the helm, then if I wanted to go bigger and better a year or two down the road I could move it to the bow so that's why i was thinking the 859 was good enough and in my price range. Thoughts or experiences with any of the humminbirds DI, SI, Combo (whatever that means) appreciated.

[little chief]

Just do your home work, would you mostly be fishing less than 20'? What types of fish do you mostly target? Side imaging is going to be best if your working water less than 20' and don't need to see what's under you. If your a walleye guy and fish mostly 20'+ side imaging isn't going to be very helpful and then your going to want down imaging. The ones that do the "combo" are actually just taking the side image and compressing it together to make the "down" image. The only way to get true side and down image are to get both ducers and have the switch that you flip back and forth.

[fishwater]

SI picks up what is immediately under the boat perfectly fine in water well over 20+ feet. It's not as simple to visualize and takes some time, but I frequently split fish using my SI, showing half the fish on each side of the SI image. With the right settings SI is a valuable tool for walleye guys.

I prefer SI, it allows a much more complete image of structure, but not as simple to read and getting a full image often can't be done while actively fishing. DI is more easily used to hover over fish or structure, SI allows you to see better. Short answer - you need both!