Buying a new fish finder

[gghisalberti]

hey guys! Last season my fish finder broke and before I get my 26 foot stratos 2600 walk around, back in the water I am looking to get a new fish finder put on. At the end of last season I was looking into the Lowrance 7 HDS 2, I would be usuing it primarly for stripers and inshore species. If anyone has one and would like to comment on it or if you guys could recomend a differnt one I am open to suggestions! I know anything below 400$ is not really recomended, so my budgent is anywhere from 500 to 1000$

Thanks guys!

also wasnt sure where would be the best place to post this

[Walleyed]

I'm eyeballing a Raymarine A98 right now....big enough so I don't have to strain my aging eyeballs. Search of a decent price and Raymarine is doing a $200 rebate plus a $100 equipment upgrade rebate, which should put the price of this sweet machine in your range.

Jim

[Gerry Zagorski]

I'm also a fan of Ray Marine.... We have their E7D combo unit sonar and map. Nice thing about this unit is you can stream your screen via wifi to your phone or tablet.

I pretty sure Dan "Hammer4reel" is a Lowrance guy so he might chime in here too.

[hammer4reel]

I had many good years of reliable service from my lowrance units.
They work well and are very user friendly.
I like the nautic patch maps better than the navionics and c maps that most other unit use.
That being said today , seems everyones units are very good.
My current boat is loaded with furuno, Scotts boat, has Garmin, and Capt Rich has raymarine. each of us like OUR own units better, yet have no issues using those on anyone elses boat.

I like putting as big a screen as I can afford , and after fishing 2 ten inch screens am hard pressed to like anything less.

My new boat doesnt have as much console space so it will have a 10.5 and an 8",

even humminbird is coming out with some sick saltwater units.

take your time to browse and look at different screens and see which are easier for you to use.
and also see.

some guys like the blue colored FF, I myself dont see them well in sunlight, and like the white backgrounds.
another thing you may need to consider


.

[makokeith]

Was thinking of getting a raymarine dragonfly as a backup/ down scan unit but after talking with a dealer/ rep.i am going to go with the a68. Same stuff but cheaper. just don't have the ability to add on like the dragonfly does.

[gghisalberti]

Thank you guys for all the great feedback! I will be doing some more research this weekend but by the sound of it I will also consider ray marine. I'll keep you all posted on what my final purchase will be.

[Walleyed]

Was thinking of getting a raymarine dragonfly as a backup/ down scan unit but after talking with a dealer/ rep.i am going to go with the a68. Same stuff but cheaper. just don't have the ability to add on like the dragonfly does.


I think you may have the units confused. The A68 has extensive network and expansion capabilities, the Dragonfly has none. If the Dragonfly doesn't have everything you want, there's no way to add additional capability.

Jim

[Mark215]

I like furuno stuff, a bit pricey but I think it's worth it. I've had a boat since 98 and only owned 2 furuno units so they lasted a good time for me. The one still might be working in my first boat I sold with it. Great customer service also, had a minor problem with my 2nd unit and they took care of it without any problems.

[SandsharkPolar]

With all the new fishfinders with chirp technology coming out you should be able to find a real nice leftover model without chirp for a clearance price. Check Cabelas or even local dealers for a good deal.

[gghisalberti]

After doing some research the past few days and checking a few out today at west marine I have learned a ton, but also have a few quesitons, if you guys would help it would be much apprecaited!

1. although i am relativly "new" to fishing only have fished for a few years with my dad and brother I think Strucutre scan would be cool and could be utilized pretty well, do you guys agree? like i said mainly fishing stripers, fluke, sea bass, ling..
2. that being said west marine has the lowrance hds 7 touch gen 2 for 800 and 400 for the scaning transducer with a 300 rebate so around 900 for the package, BUT the more research I do, I notice that people are having porblems with this unit
3. i know garmin just came out with a bunch of new units with a 100$ rebate and transducer included and scanning also. seems to be decent around 500-800
4. ray marine which a few of you have mentioned has the dragon fly model which seems to do all i need i think?, as i dont need to link more than one unit
also i am trying to keep it as reasonably priced as possible, one one last questoin (sorry i know a longggg post!) but are all these units capable of saving waypoints or routes / capable of entering cordinates to follow

as always thanks again guys!

[BCinerie]

I just installed a hummingbird helix 5 di and GPS. Worked great for first trip! Only 318 delivered. Has all great EZ to use features. Still have my old gps as backup. Nice to have 2 GPS units just in case !

[gghisalberti]

Thanks for the input! I have narrowed it down to 3 units.
1. Lowrance HDS 7 touch gen 2 with lss-2 transducer (non chirp) $900
2. Raymarine Dragonfly 7 $650
3. Garmin echoMAP 74sv $1,000

[team heat]

ive had the dragonfly for a year now and it does everything they say it does.Should be great for seeing bass at the shrewsbury rocks or finding wrecks or rockpiles.I also have a standalone gps just because i prefer not to keep switching screens.Cant go wrong with this unit.

[team heat]

Forgot to mention that the screen is very bright and in direct sunlight you will have no problem with not being able to see it.you can also purchase a lock that inserts into this machine so you dont have to worry about theft if you want to stop somewhere.