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Topic: Sonar/GPS selection  (Read 2181 times)

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jamesmarsh

  • Perch
  • ***
  • Location: Olympia wa
  • Date Registered: Oct 2015
  • Posts: 70
Hey everyone,

So I've got the new 2019 outback coming in the mail one of these days. (not soon enough lol) and I am in need of another fish finder.  I would like to get one that has GPS with some sort of chart plotting.  I know that Lowrance has quite a few options out there but they are just too damn spendy for me.  Maybe I'm just too cheap but I want to say that there are other brands that can do the same thing for a bit less money. 

Does anyone have a Hummingbird or Garmin or even Raymarine that they prefer over the Lowrance? 

I would love to stay below $250 but I know that is probably too low.

Thanks in advance.

Jimmy
Will trade oral favors for fish.


the quadfather

  • Herring
  • **
  • Location: Seattle, WA. USA
  • Date Registered: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 47
I am a big fan of Humminbird’s products.  I have the Helix 7, Helix 5, and the 798 ci.  I do believe though that to expect GPS, color, chart plotting, etc.  you will have a hard time buying new for $250
I wish it weren’t so.  Sonar is my favorite toy in the box, but it’s costly
if you want the better features.


Tinker

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Kevin
  • Location: 42.74°N 124.5°W
  • Date Registered: May 2013
  • Posts: 3304
Your going to spend that much money on a kayak and go as cheap as possible on the fish-finder?  Okay...

I have a Hummingbird Helix and a Lowrance (old style) HOOK.  I don't like one more than the other and the Lowrance finders are the LEAST expensive of the big three (Garmin, Lowrance, and Humminbird).

The Helix has a brighter display than the Lowrance.  The Lowrance display data overlays are more customizable.  The Helix locks onto GPS satellites faster than the Lowrance but the built-in maps are a bit less accurate - it's fun to check my path and waypoints on a river estuary and see I've spent the whole day 100 yards away from the water.   :D

I've never seen the new Lowrance HOOK2 models and it's possible they improved the display screen.

There are a lot of posts on NWKA about this and you may find more information, faster, by looking for them, but quadfather is right, you're gong to have to up your budget to find a sonar/GPS unit with a screen you can see...
I expected the worst, but it was worse than I expected...


rogerdodger

  • Fish Retriever
  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • roger
  • Location: Florence OR
  • Date Registered: Dec 2012
  • Posts: 1490
I have had very good results with Lowrance units (HDS8 w/side scanning, Elite5, Elite4chip hdi).  When my new Outback arrives (soon....), I will be installing a Lowrance Hook2 5 tripleshot ($399).  I'm going with the tripleshot because I plan to build my own underwater chart/map of the rock piles and reef areas near Simpson Reef.  (Lowrance calls these "StructureMaps", there are some good YouTube videos on them).  If I wasn't interested in that capability, I would be going with the "SplitShot" transducer so I could display sonar and downscan plus charting.

FYI-  Lowrance has a promo right now giving a free charting upgrade to the much better "C-Map charts", I'm planning to take advantage of that.

cheers, roger 
2019 Hobie Outback (Fish Retriever)



workhard

  • Salmon
  • ******
  • Get off your computer and fish
  • Location: Bellingham
  • Date Registered: Sep 2015
  • Posts: 712
My Hook5 got stolen out of my car and went with a Raymarine Dragonfly with Navionics+ chip as a replacement, mostly for the data logging on the waypoints for data analysis. I really like it.

If you're on a budget I'd recommend ordering from https://www.thegpsstore.com/. You'll see a lot of their stuff on Amazon, but if you order from them directly you'll avoid sales tax at the good price. Saved me ~70$.


Fish hard.


the quadfather

  • Herring
  • **
  • Location: Seattle, WA. USA
  • Date Registered: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 47
I run that Humminbird Helix 7” screen on my float tube.   You could say I love sonar.  (-:
« Last Edit: October 02, 2018, 07:51:51 PM by the quadfather »


jp52

  • Herring
  • **
  • Location: Walnut Creek, CA and Coos Bay, OR
  • Date Registered: Jan 2018
  • Posts: 36
I purchased a Humminbird Helix 5 Chirp Di Gps G2 Combo about a year ago and have been very satisfied. I don't have anything to compare it to, but it does everything I want it to. A big factor in my decision is the excellent base map. It is good enough that I did not have to purchase a separate Navionics map. I did have to update the map from the company website but it was pretty easy.


Tinker

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Kevin
  • Location: 42.74°N 124.5°W
  • Date Registered: May 2013
  • Posts: 3304
I have had very good results with Lowrance units (HDS8 w/side scanning, Elite5, Elite4chip hdi).  When my new Outback arrives (soon....), I will be installing a Lowrance Hook2 5 tripleshot ($399).  I'm going with the tripleshot because I plan to build my own underwater chart/map of the rock piles and reef areas near Simpson Reef.  (Lowrance calls these "StructureMaps", there are some good YouTube videos on them).  If I wasn't interested in that capability, I would be going with the "SplitShot" transducer so I could display sonar and downscan plus charting.

FYI-  Lowrance has a promo right now giving a free charting upgrade to the much better "C-Map charts", I'm planning to take advantage of that.

cheers, roger

Do you still have to pay Lowrance to use your own maps?  They used to charge for that.

I like the Lowrance finders, too, but when it was time to get a second finder they'd just d/c'd the HOOK series and no one had a HOOK2 in the store for me to look at, so I went with the Humminbird.  The Humminbird and Garmin finders can also create maps.  Just saying.
I expected the worst, but it was worse than I expected...


 

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