Any suggestions on a GPS/Sonar combo?

[Reef Donkey]

I was wondering what kind of advice all you good folks out there might give me on this topic. I'm looking into purchasing a GPS/Sonar combo for my 17-6 Scout Sportfisher. Just had a t-top installed this summer and decided it was time to upgrade the electronics. The fishfinder I have on the boat came with it, but it is black and white and doesn't work very well and have been using a handheld GPS, but with the t-top on, it is useless at times. Trying to stay away from breaking the bank, but getting something I can live with. Thanks for any help you can put out there.

[redbelly7]

Most of the folks on here will steer you toward Garmin. I have both Garmin and Lowrance and I like the Lowrance better. I'd get the HDS 5 for you boat w/ Navionics chip.

[JIm Smith]

10-4 on the Lowance had the Garman and Hummingbird came back to Lowrance with the Nav. chip

[Badbagger]

Lowrance has an all NEW line - HDS Gen2 Touch. The HDS system has been out for a while now and they've just upgraded to touch screens that look SWEET.
7" - 9" and 12" screens. Another alternative albeit pricey is the Simrad NSS unit. Biggest benefit there is that unit uses BOTH touch and rotary control.
Simrad and Lowrance are made by Navico. Simrad is to Lowrance as Lexus is to Toyota.

check out the new touch units: www.lowrance.com

[guthooked]

I have an older Lowrance LMS520 with a Navionics chip. Love the way it looks but have several complaints. The first is that it constantly loses bottom signal and the depth numbers begin to flash. For instance, I will be drifting in 4.5 of water and it will begin flashing 4.5. It will stay locked on to 4.5 for a few seconds up to 7 or 8 minutes. This means that I could have drifted into 1 foot of water and I am still showing 4.5. My other complaint comes from when I first bought it. The GPS would not locate. I called service many times (very long hold times on the phone) with no resolution. They finally agreed to replace the unit which took 6 weeks to receive. Bottom line is that when it works, it works great. The Customer Service is horrible. I will probably not purchase another Lowrance product.

[Badbagger]

From what I've heard and read (granted this IS the INTERNET lol), Lowrance is improving in their customer service of late. They like many other companies have limited support for older units..and typically offer a greatly reduced price on a newer unit.

[Dubble Trubble]

I have the Eagle dual 50/200 khz Unit w/ 6" color screen and love it. (It is identical to Lowrance LC-18). Like others said Lowrance/Eagle had support issues, but maybe that is cleared up. I only needed support once with a bad keypad, but they sent me a new unit pronto. I have the Nauticpath chip and it works great in the unit. Too bad they do not still make that chip.

Here is the unit I have:
http://www.fishfinder-store.com/ease10dfcofi.html

I have seen Garmin units working, but honestly, the Lowrance/Eagle sonar just blew away Garmin. I have not tried either ones sidescan sonar.

One thing I love about my unit. I can record sonar on my chip while I am running and come home later and replay the sonar. I have found a few rocks that way. The replay will show the depth and gps cordinates. Here is a screenshot of the replay. The bottom is not that rough, it is the up and down motion of the boat running. That screen represents probably a 200 ft section of bottom as I was moving. The replay plays back it in real time. But the rock is real. Sorry, gps cordinates have been removed.



Dubble

[zload]

I really like my Garmin 740s, can't say that I have a lot of experience with Lowrance with recent models. I have run the Garmin over a lot of the artifical reefs over at Mexico Beach and the resolution/detail on the structure was awesome at 100'. I also have the Garmin Weather antenna, XM radio and a NMEA cable to get the Yamaha fuel/engine data to display directly on the GPS screen (cable is actually made by Lowrance but NMEA based). The only negative I have on it so far is the cost of the weather antenna. I fished with a guide last week who had a 740s, when I mentioned that I had the same unit he told me he had replaced his 3 times? Was relieved to find out that he had a boat wiring problem and somehow he fried it multiple times. Not exactly sure I would have replaced the unit 3x rather than fixing the wiring but... he loved the unit. He was telling me this as we were running through Florida Bay at about 40 mph hitting channels (more like ditches) marked by little PVC pipes on the way to Flamingo so I guess he was pretty confident in it. I fished with a buddy in Islamorado who had a basic GPS with no chart and the old school scroll method of entering waypoints etc. Trust me the touch screen full QWERTY keyboard is waaay better and faster!

Most if not all of the newer Garmin's also come with full detailed charts installed and you can buy a PC software package called Homeport for about $30 that lets you copy the onboard chart to your PC or laptop so you can see essentially the same chart on the computer that you see onboard with all of your waypoints for planning purposes and you can backup your waypoints or enter waypoints and routes from the comfort of your easy chair in the AC... I'm sure you can do something similar with Lowrance/Simrad etc.

If my eyes were what they were 20 years ago I would have went with the 541s but that bigger screen is nice!

Now to start a Power Pole vs. Talon conversation

[Badbagger]

X2 on the Garmin - I have the 720s. But the stucture scan on Lowrance is a great addition and Garmin does NOT offer that.

[Reef Donkey]

Thanks guys for all the helpful info. This will definitely help me get started. A friend of mine has a Humminbird combo on his 18.5 Key West that we are going to try and see how it works, but it sounds like the jury is in on Garmin/Lowrance. Cost is going to be a determining factor, for sure, but it looks like I have some homework to do. I have very seldom ventured out beyond 15 miles anywhere as I don't feel very safe in the smaller boat and generally have fished in relatively shallow water less than 100 ft. Just need something for finding the spots and seeing the relief. This is a great website and it's obvious a lot of fishing fanatics love what you do here. I'll post something when I pull the trigger and give you my review of whatever unit I purchase.

Coach

[Chalk]

I got a Hummingbird with sidescan....liked it over the Lowrance...you had to buy to many extras with the Lowrance. Was mainly a Garmin guy before that...all serve their purpose some had better features than others...really depends on how much you want to spend and what you like.