Good Deal or Foolish Purchase (in a Fishfinder)

I've made a handshake deal with the Humminbird rep at the Sportsman's Show on a fishfinder, and before money changes hands on Sunday I thought I'd tap the NWKA brain trust to help me evaluate whether I've just made a good deal, or whether I'm about to buy a pig in a poke.

The Deal: A Humminbird 386ci combo (internal GPS) for $250.  This unit is his demo model, and he tells me he's demo'd in through the five days of the Sportsman's Show in Portland, and now the Anchorage show.  Doesn't want to haul product back Outside when the show is done. Carries the full 1 year warranty from date of purchase...

The Question: Am I being penny wise and pound foolish to buy a demo with the stated use on it? How tough do you think those five days in Portland were on it,  with hundreds of hands pushing buttons and watching the simulations? And, does it really matter if the warranty is solid?

Here's how my frugal little brain is working: The discounted price makes that Navionics chip seem less extravagant on a total package...  I know, I'm dithering about small potatoes.  But as ever, your advice is appreciated.

All the GPS I ran on my powerboat up here, I never got the extra chip. Wasn't worth it in my opinion. To be brutally honest (and this won't work on a yak) my absolutely best gps was iPad with the navionics software. Just with the base NOAA charts. I've got a lowrance on the yak but I won't get the navionics chip.

I ran a hummingbird for a year. It was pretty accurate and the charts were good.  Only reason I swapped it was for a larger screen for setting shrimp pots in 600' of water.

Be wary of the u it's that accept chips.

I fried mine last year when I flipped.  Water got inside and it was done

If u aren't gonna put a chip in it seal the port with some 5200.  Nuff said

I don't think a demo like a sportsman show would hurt the unit. The price is a little hi. You can get the same unit for West Marine for $299.

Just my thoughts.

I've got that model, and the Navionics chip.  No regrets on either.  I like the color display in the sunlight.  Been using it for over a year with no problems.  Its taken plenty of wave hits when launching - although i've never hulied yet.  Not sure about the price - seems i paid about $400 in a kayak kit (came with an internal transducer mount, glue, battery, wiring).  Navionics chip was extra - but really improves your ability to see what the bottom should look like and planning where to go.

Double R I think you are talking about the 385. Not sure what the difference is between the two.
I like the 385 but find the screen a bit too small for spit screen modes.

Personally I love the navionics chip. It really reduces the learning curve on new water.

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I think the model will work just fine for my needs. I just don't want to be stupid buying a demo unit rather than new... Fifty bucks is nothing much, but I love to do a deal if I can.  Last year, my first real season kayak fishing, I caught lots of salmon and halibut and rockfish without the benefit of a fishfinder -- sheer beginner's luck. This year I want to improve my game with better data collection and analysis. I'll buy the Navionics chip before the season is done, but I'll start out with the laminated NOAA charts that worked for me last year. I might be making a mistake not stepping up to the 500-series, given my relatively advanced age among you and +50 eyesight...  A bigger screen is appealing. But given this is my first ever fishfinder I think I'm making a good choice on the smaller model for now. I'm less likely to be using split screen modes for now, while I learn what the device holds and how it adds to the experience.  It's a tiny screen, but I'm planning to mount it on a GearTrak that is on my left within 20" of the cockpit on my kayak. 

If it is the one with the chartplotter (ya, I don't know what that even is) it would be good deal... I have a 383c and love it...

Just from my own past experience, on my power boat, I caught halibut and shrimp (what I called shrimping by Braille) using charts because the ducer on the boat was screwed up and would not read deeper than 50'. My experience, at least in ak, has shown that nothing beats knowing how to read a chart...

I recently bought the same unit on sale for 268. It's a nice kayak sized unit for the price. I'd love the 597 but its a bit more than I want to spend. Make him give it to you for 200

I'm also setting up a new/upgrade FF. After seeing the Navionics chip in action on Fungunnins setup, I bought the chip. I fish a lot of lakes in addition to the salt, so I hit a lot of new water and I want to spend less time finding the sweet spots of the lake and more time fishing them. If I were fishing familiar water all the time I doubt that chip feature would be worth it.

Found the Premium West version for $120 at this place: http://www.tacticalwholesalers.com/  Other places had it for 140 to 150.

I'm also setting up a new/upgrade FF. After seeing the Navionics chip in action on Fungunnins setup, I bought the chip. I fish a lot of lakes in addition to the salt, so I hit a lot of new water and I want to spend less time finding the sweet spots of the lake and more time fishing them. If I were fishing familiar water all the time I doubt that chip feature would be worth it.

Found the Premium West version for $120 at this place: http://www.tacticalwholesalers.com/  Other places had it for 140 to 150.

Its my understanding that the premium west is inland waters only? As in no coastal stuff?  They aren't very specific in their description on the Navionics site.  I ended up getting the navionics gold and so far really like it.  Wish I could find a west coast fish n chip card. 

I figured it was Lakes only on the Navionics card. The coastal Bathy is probably another pile of cash. The coast is easier to figure out by pulling up NOAA Chart Viewer to get a general idea of the bathy layout in a new area, maybe plot some GPS points if something is interesting. And I'm usually chasing bird and bait on the salt anyway so no need for up to the minute bathy.

In 2 years these systems will all connect to an I-pad type device with wi-fi making all these cards obsolete.

Finalized the deal just a bit ago -- so thanks, as ever, for the reassurance and assistance. 

A little more wrangling got the price down to $230.  Yay! Now on to learning how to use it, and then rigging the Revo to accommodate a new addition.  Don't worry -- I'll use the SEARCH function to get my basic questions answered on the ducer installation.