Best "Value Line" GPS/Sonar combo

[ak_mathews]

I'm curious if anyone has any experience with a "value line" GPS and sonar combo. I would like a nice big touchscreen unit. But for now I can only afford to go with something 700 or less. I know waiting and getting the right thing the first time is ideal. But in this case the boat only has an ancient depth finder. So I would like to get a new one with GPS. Just to get me started. I'm thinking lowrance or garmin but I'd like to hear any first hand experience before I choose. And I prefer combo because of space for screens. Thanks and any advice and opinions are appreciated.

-Adam

[akmike30]

Raymarine Dagon fly... Would the best for your budget.

[BrownBear]

Been using the Lowrance Elite 5 for about 6 years now. Couldn't be happier.

Good news for you, back when I bought mine I paid over $600 for it, then spent nearly $200 for the map chip. Now you can get it WITH the map chip and a cover for $499, then get free shipping. Man.... Ah well, paying more means I didn't have to wait around 6 years before buying one. Quite a few friends have seen mine at work, then bought their own. Happy campers, too.

Shop around. You likely can find the same setup even cheaper from other sources.

[Paul H]

I have a Garmin combo unit and while the gps portion is fine, the sonar is lacking. The other thing about combo units is when you split the screen, each screen is pretty small. When coming up on an area you want to fish, you'll want to be looking at the contour lines on the gps and the sonar for depth and fish.

I've heard Garmin has improved their sounders, but I don't know if that is just for their higher end units.

[270ti]

If I were looking for smaller combo unit, I'd go with the furuno 1670.

[ak_mathews]

270- I just looked that up. That's a sweet looking unit. Just wondering though, I would like a little bigger screen if I could get it but with my price range I'm pretty limited. Just curious if you know anything about...the furuno 1870f. Looks like a 7" screen and they have it for 789 online. Any thoughts?

[270ti]

If you can swing the extra money, go with the 7" screen. Remember, you need to buy a transducer with it too. With a 600w transducer, it'd be a powerful unit for sport use. Depending on your boat, you can get either a transom mount transducer or a thru-hull. Look up the map chips required for the unit to, and make sure they have one for your area.

Furuno has a heck of a reputation among the commercial fleet.

[ak_mathews]

Yea we had furuno on the commercial boats I worked on out of high school. I would prefer a transom mount transducer. Any idea what those run or which one specifically would be a good fit for that unit? That's why I was thinking of the lowrance elite 7 HDI. 700 bucks right now on sale and comes with a transducer. And it's a 7 inch screen which I like. I guess all I really need is an accurate GPS that's easy to use with plots and accurate sonar that I can make out he contours and firmness underneath me. (Sandy bottom, rock bottom, etc...) basically anything is going to be better then what I have currently. And on my last boat I had a small screen combo unit that was not at all fancy and very old. So this should all be a significant upgrade.

[270ti]

I've had good luck with Lowrance too.

Here is the transducer for the furuno: http://www.thegpsstore.com/Furuno-Tr...FY6RfgodWJ0A-A

Double check it though.

[BrownBear]

I've had good luck with Lowrance too.

Yeah. They're TOUGH too. Mine has been used all this time on a skiff with an open center console. Gets wetter than wet and gets beat on now and then. And keeps on ticking.