Time for a new FishFinder GPS combo

[Eyezcrazy]

Well my Lowrance is 12 years old and I've been thinking about upgrading for a couple of years now. I jacked my boat up off the trailer today to replace a couple of skids and ended up busting my transducer when I set it back down. At this point I think I will go ahead and upgrade.

After doing a quick internet search I found that a lot has changed in 12 years! After reading what the internet had to say on the subject I thought I would come here where I trust my fellow fisherman who are fishing the same lake I am to get their opinions on what has been working best for our type of fishing.

I have a small boat - 21 ft and don't have a ton of room so I will again be looking for a finder with GPS combo. I want something that will still give me good readings at high speeds and like everyone else I would like to have great detail. I'm not the most tech savy guy so ease of operation would be good - but I am capable of learning new things too. Any insight or advice from my friends here would be greatly appreciated.

[rick2752]

My fish finder is kinda small and old also so I have been looking. I really like the dragonfly 7 made by Ray marine. I have an A57d now and i havent had any problems from it.

[BtweenShots]

I have a Hbird Helix and like it. Comes in a combo ff/gps and can come with side or down imaging. Also comes in a size that could meet your needs.

Gene

[pahlmd]

I just went through the same process because it was time to upgrade. I spent a lot of time doing online research, reading blogs of what others are using, and speaking with people from various retail outlets. Initially, I too, was interested in the Raymarine, but by the time I took everything into consideration, I ended up purchasing a Garmin Chirp 73sv. After everything was said and done, I felt it was the best bang for the buck. One of the biggest drawbacks of the Raymarine (in my opinion) was that the internal software could not be upgraded, and I felt as these things become more advanced and dependent upon software, that is an important option since software is something that nobody gets right the first time. More reasons I chose the Garmin was because of what others had to say... double the warranty over the Hbird, menus are the easiest to use, MUCH better maps (and they are built it), supports panoptix (if you have the $), great customer support, etc. Much of what I read came from people who also had previously owned another brand and were glad they made the switch. I recall a specific conversation from a gentleman at Gander Mountain who had purchased a Helix 5 and a Helix 7 and he told me that he would trade them both for the Garmin (GM sells both, so I didn't consider it a pitch). Personally, I believe they probably all do about the same thing, however the far better maps made the Garmin even less money than the Hbird Helix 7 si Chirp because you still have to pay for maps. I wish I could provide you with some actual "hands-on" feedback, but not even getting the unit delivered until tomorrow. I found finding the best price varies from site to site depending on which manufacturer and model you are trying to buy so spend the time surfing for the best price. Here is a link to what I found to be the cheapest price for the Garmin model I purchased:

https://www.thegpsstore.com/Garmin-e...O5MaAgRl8P8HAQ


Hope this was helpful.

[Eyezcrazy]

Thanks for the feedback posted so far. I do have some other Garmin products....a GPS tracker and trainer for my beagles and I really love the quality of those units so I will look hard at the Chirp 73SV. Sounds pretty good from what I see so far.

[Bruno1067]

I got the Garmin 73SV Chirp installed last summer. I love it. Very intuitive operation and the detail is really good. Also the GPS is the best I have ever owned. For the money I think that it is a no brainer.