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Member
Posts: 141
Location: Oshkosh, WI | The only thing I hate more than spending money is wasting it from being too cheap, so I am looking for advice on what features I should be sure to get in a sonar/gps combo; what level I need to upgrade to meet my "needs". I currently have bottom of the line sonar and a hand held gps. I mostly fish winnebago system including the rivers - I would like to better distinguish fish from junk, use higher quality lake maps, and "see" fish when moving faster than 2mph. Is used a consideration? Advice on specific units is fine too.
Thanks for your thoughts. |
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Member
Posts: 625
Location: LaCrosse, WI | The things I would require are as follows.
Color (it makes a world of difference, especially when you see a pod of baitfish with arches in the middle).
Resolution, the better the resolution, the clearer your image will be. 480X480 should be your minimum requirement for a clear picture.
Screen size, I personally run a 5" split screen but would much rather have a 7" or larger screen. Most units will let you resize screens or combine the features you like in one, but 5" screens are just to small to do this well.
The next thing to keep in mind, is what you want for future use. If you think the side imaging is something you'd like to use, either get one of those units or get a Lowrance HDS unit (which you can add side imaging on in the future).
The last thing to keep in mind is trasnfering your waypoints off your current GPS without having to convert them (Garmin to Lowrance doesn't work that well). If you want pinpointing a specific unit, let us know your price range, and what kind of GPS you currently use.
Marshall |
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Member
Posts: 141
Location: Oshkosh, WI | I am not too worried about transferring my waypoints (I have a lowrance h2o handheld), as I don't have that much history on it. At this point, I am most interested in finding the best value in any brand. |
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Member
Posts: 625
Location: LaCrosse, WI | The best value that I've found right now is the Eagle Fish Elite 640C. It's a pretty nice unit that you can find for aroun $450. |
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Member
Posts: 650
| I agree with the rookie get the biggest screen possible... looking at a small split screen in rough water is a pain... big reason I went with the HDS-8... For 7 years, I ran separate GPS / sonar units... really liked that setup but room constraints now have me with the HDS combo... Maybe a $250 sonar and a $250 GPS would be the deal...
check cabelas cave and Ebay for deals... |
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| if you can get by with your hand held and are good at using it, the by far very best sonar out there is the vexilar edge 2 and 3. they don't have gps and lowrance and humminbird thank god daily for that! these are no bull sonars that will read clearly what is there and leaves little to interpret. easy to use and even if the unit is 10 yrs. old, vexilar will still service it. lowrance is done shortly after purchase. if you go on ebay you will find tons of other brands of lcd's, you will not find one edge because once you buy it, nobody gets rid of them!!!!! go on other forums and search for them, nowone says anything negetive about the edges. |
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