My hope is I’ll have a new boat by weeks end and am wondering what GPS/combo unit I want to put on it.
We used to have a Garmin GPS only and a separate fish finder that wasn’t too good. especially with the transducer that never would work right. The GPS did the job OK though. What do you guys recommend as an easy to use all in one unit? Something that is easy to put in way points and follow etc…
thanks for any input.
My vote is Humminbird. Others will disagree 
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper
I agree with Larry ,can’t do better than 1100 series h bird , main key is a thru hull
Trans. 1100 series will give you a larger screen"
[http://www.militaryappreciationday.org
When you see “Old Glory” waving in the breeze, know that it is the dying breaths of our fallen hero’s that makes it wave.
author unknown
A humming bird is a great option…
For this boat…
Ha! Just kidding guys… I really don’t know much about them.
That being said, give us an idea of what sort of boat you have, what your budget is, how much dash space you have, what type of fishing, etc. If you want to tell us who you are voting for and your views on LGBT taking over Disney, that is optional for this discussion, but not required.
Good point. It’s a new Sea Pro 219 deep V model. will be doing a lot of reef fishing, some king fishing and the occasional off shore troll on nice days.
plenty of room for a flush mount in the console. Budget is around $1000 or less.
B.O.A.T. Bust Out Another Thousand!
I wouldn’t trade my Humminbirds for nothing. I have a Helix 5 GPS/Sonar combo at the console and a Helix 7 SI/DI/GPS on the bow.
Are you just looking for a Sonar/GPS combo or are you wanting DI as well? Either way, Humminbird will have something for you in the Helix line that will easily keep under $1000.
In the future, where every stranger poses a potential threat, knowing the predator mindset is the only safe haven.
Xpress H20B Bay Series
Yamaha 115 SHO
The Hummingbird reviews seem to all talk about lake maps etc… Does this unit have offshore/coastline maps and does the sonar work in deeper water on yours?
The lowrance hook7 looks good does anyone have one of those?
thanks,
B.O.A.T. Bust Out Another Thousand!
The “lake maps” is a Humminbird product. I purchase the Navionics chip. There are several to choose from that cover everything from lakes to the coastal waters.
I haven’t had my boat in water “too deep” for either of my units yet. My units are capable of reading in depths that would require me to take my boat further offshore than I ever could or should.
In the future, where every stranger poses a potential threat, knowing the predator mindset is the only safe haven.
Xpress H20B Bay Series
Yamaha 115 SHO
I use the Navionics gold chip in mine. It covers almost the entire east coast US, at least up to the Chesapeake north and down to the Dry Tortugas, including all of the Keys, most of the northern Bahamas and much of the west coast of FL. Even has Cuba! Has great detail everywhere I’ve been.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper
Also very easy to navigate the unit , I don’t have much more than
the as sold unit , one of its best imo features is the ease of being able to input gps numbers and goto info. SI is unbelievable but can’t
attest to depths over 120 ft “deepest I ever tried” for the money
don’t think you’ll beat it…
[http://www.militaryappreciationday.org
When you see “Old Glory” waving in the breeze, know that it is the dying breaths of our fallen hero’s that makes it wave.
author unknown
I know nothing about the HumminBirds, but do have recent experience with current generations of Simrad and Garmin. It’s amazing what they do, for the $ cost, and I’ve found those two comparable in performance. You usually hear Garmin is more intuitive, but for me Simrad is plenty user friendly.
West Marine’s display is great for sampling. You might find you have a preference for the controls of one versus another. Touch-screen is helpful for me. As with boats you can always spend more and get more, but it’s not necessary.
Roger
One more thing… Go with the biggest screen you can afford. Especially since you are getting a combo. You can’t effectively bottom fish unless you are looking at the chart and the sonar at the same time. I don’t know what’s reasonable on your boat, but I have even a 7" Garmin on my 17’ Skiff. If it wasn’t budget constrained, I would have gone larger. There really is no such thing as “overkill” on your electronics. Since you will be primarily bottom fishing, that means you need to place a lot more emphasis on the sonar part. You need something that has good detail with a nice crisp display.
Buy what you can afford. I’m with SkinneeJ that you should buy as big as you can. 5" seems large in the store until you get out on the water…
I just purchased this unit:
http://www.simrad-yachting.com/en-US/Products/All-Discontinued-Products/Simrad-GO7-Chartplotter-Multifunction-Display-en-us.aspx
Anyone have experience with it? I got it for a STEAL…
Wadmalaw native
16’ Bentz-Craft Flats Boat
X3 on what skineej said.
In the future, where every stranger poses a potential threat, knowing the predator mindset is the only safe haven.
Xpress H20B Bay Series
Yamaha 115 SHO
X4 ^^
18’ boat, 13" fishfinder…
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper
Has anyone used the Raymarine Dragonfly units? They have CHIRP Downscan tech. I have a Garmin and a HB but those units look pretty sweet.
west marine has been selling the garmin echomap 7" combo with the mapping data for $550- I bought 2 and have them side by side- 1 for fish finder and 1 for navigation
this gives me 2 interchangeable units for redundancy- I recently had to cancel a trip due to an electronic failure.
looks like we decided on the garmin GPSMAP 741sx fishfinder/G{S combo. Hopefully it helps catch fish. Thanks for all the suggestions guys!
B.O.A.T. Bust Out Another Thousand!
A little off topic but nice rigging Larry, I think you have that console rigged out very full but nice and neat.
2005 Sea Hunt 212 Triton
“Head East”
Thank you sir, we spent a lot of time with cardboard mock ups trying to get all that stuff to fit.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper