Fishfinders, what to buy, what to buy...?

[Amx]

You can buy a Lowrance with Structure Scan already on it, or buy one and load later, depending on your finances. Both of mine have it factory loaded. Both of mine are Gen 2 with the internal GPS annt.. Took me awhile to save enough to get what I wanted.

[kodacachers]

Hi Tom, are you happy with your units? Do you find the structure scan useful? One of the guys I was talking to at the sportsman show downplayed structure scan for my needs--mostly Puget Sound fishing with some freshwater (Lake WA perch, Sammamish trout, hoping to go for Walleye in the Columbia system). Thanks!!

[Amx]

I like them a lot. I use down scan all the time, and have used the side scan, but need to concentrate on it again this winter, spring, and coming summer to get better use/experienced with it, but it has found lots of stuff on the bottom I never knew were there, now I need to go over them again and waypoint them all. I always have the chart on and playing with plenty of waypoints.

[ResQ]

So? What was the outcome of this? lol I just went through the same research and mind scrambling decision on what to get. I ended up with a Lowrance Elite 7 HDI. I was bouncing between the HDS 7, Raymarine Dragonfly, Elite 7 HDI, Garmin 50DV, Humminbird 859 DV. I personally like the graphics on the Lowrance units better. The dragonfly had the best graphics but the gps left out a few major things. Kind of like entire islands off Neah Bay and such.... Tatoosh island is no place to be seen on their gps. Kind of a big deal Plus its a 5.7 inch screen. best in that catagory. The HDS 7 has a smaller screen but the side scan, you have to purchase the structure scan and have a seperate ducer and box for it (not applicable on my boat) and I have no need for radar. The garmin has a small screen. GPS is standard garmin but it just lacked overall. The elite 7 HDI has a ton of features I wanted without breaking the bank. I still have yet to use it but just installed it and that went well. I played with this and the other units for quite a while and talked to many people before making my choice. I just kept coming back to the elite 7 HDI. I liked the humminbird but the graphics on the lowrance was better and I really didnt like the giant info bar that took up 1/4 of the screen

[hewesbob]

I pulled the trigger and bought the Garmin 741xs with the TM 150 Chirp transducer. Easy install, less than two hours.We went to Ft Spokane on the Spokane river to try out my new toy. I was amazed at the clarity and detail this unit shows. The Chirp technology sends a wide range of frequencies all the time so I get the high resolution detail of high frequency at the same time I am getting the low frequency detail of seeing every fish. I checked things out in water 10 ft deep to 150 ft deep and I am just so amazed how much better this unit is than any other fish finder I have ever owned. It is also very easy to operate, and that is very important to me because I am a long ways from being a wizz at electronics of any kind. Next trip out I will start playing with the GPS.

[MarkFromSea]

I just read a thread on that.... I was surprised to find this... disconnect xducer when familiarizing yourself with it in the driveway.... "I keep the transducer cable disconnected until the boat is in the water since Airmar warns that TM150 must be submerged to prevent overheating."

[ResQ]

Thats quite the unit! If you get any cool screen shots you should post them! How does the transducer look? The raymarine dragonfly was a LONG beast of a ducer (Its a chirp). Never heard of them over heating?

[MarkFromSea]

Look over the airmar xducer paperwork.. I hadn't heard that either until I read it today.... copied from another site(info above)

[MarkFromSea]

http://www.airmartechnology.com/uploads ... v05-ps.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

if you look in the gray caution info.... it's stated there. check your specific ducer but other chirp ducers had similar. surprised me so sharing to save a buddy a ducer.