Gps chartpolter help
 

HI GUYS. I am in the market for a new gps chartploter , or chartploter combo. When I sold my 22' CRESTLINER last fall my old black & white HUMMINGBIRD unit went with her , our new V20 need a good new color unit , we dont want to spend over $900 TOPS ,The needs are depth range is max. of 300' , clear easy to operate & a 5" min. screen size 7" would be great are key features we are looking for. I went to CABELAS in EAST HARTFORD CT. and was totaly overwelmed by the ($ PRICE $) and diff. features. The salesman (mabey 20 y/o ) even confused me more, he kept showing me $1400 units & up despite my telling him the budget was $700 - $900 MAX. He couldnt even explain the features and how they worked ?? So what do you folks recomend & why ? I do a lot of night fishing and the fog gets real snotty , A clear steer to follow unit is what I am realy in need of. Thanks GUYS

GW,
I am fan of Garmin products.
The Garmin 546s is a nice unit with sounder.
http://www.boemarine.com/marine-navi...tm-transducer/

The 740s is super but a bit over your budget.The 740s has a sounder with a touch screen and a very fast processor. However the 740s would give you the ability to add radar in the future.
http://www.boemarine.com/marine-navi...ter-w-sounder/

Can't help with other companies choices. I'm sure there are many otheres and some that might be better priced.

Garmin X2!! I love there stuff, I just had to sell my unit and they got a great deal!! I payed over $2000 for the GPS, Sonar, Radar and sold the unit for $1500, Had a 10" screen also! That thing was awesome!

I cant make specific recommendations (I am still using a Sitex CVS-106 from the 80's) but I have found a real good tactic for shopping for most anything is to:

Get out a note pad to keep up with the overload of information.

Search on the internet for what you are looking for (that $1400 unit at Cabelas if probably $800 on ebay).

Read as any "customer ratings" as you can, they seem to be the most helpful to getting a feel for how good or bad a unit is...and read at least 10 reviews of every one unit you are looking at.

Once you narrow down what you need/want, go to whatever retailer near you has the units in stock so you can check it out in person.

Just like computers, marine electronics are advancing fast so a year or two old model may do what you want but be much cheeper.

garmin is tops in the gps market, i think not as good in the bottom machine. furuno seems to be the top dog there. i also am not a fan of the combo units. don't know your age, but i have found out the older i get, bigger screens are a must.

also like rmb, i have not shopped in a long time ( i finally took the loran c machine off the boat about a year ago). i used to find some really good deals at a local marine electronics dealer who took in trades and offer support for older units.

good luck

I used to recommend garmin(specifically the 441,541s) as a good decent gps/sounder to all my customers, but garmin has gotten stupid with their prices, if you find one, make sure it comes with a transducer as they normally price that separate now. I just put a Lowrance Elite 4 gold on my McKee. I got it locally for just over $350. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, so i can't give opinions of it, but from what I've seen playing with it, I think it will do the job. Don't rule out using a note pad if you have one, more people are switching over to note pads as they have much better resolution and greater detail than 99% of the commercial available GPS'

Thanks for all your replys , Wow M J someone did get a hell of a deal on your unit. I do like garmin products and being 56 y/o my eyes too are not the best any more , I just found this deal on CL today , do you think it sounds good ??

http://newhaven.craigslist.org/boa/3503923171.html

Looks good but not even $100 off a new in the store unit? For less then a hundred I would go to the store and have the warranted and all just in case.

yea MJ I felt the same way I am going to see if I can beat the man up on the price a little . I wonder if there might be a warenty card in the box? then it would be like a new unit right ????

Without the "S" at the end of 541 it likely doesn"t have the sounder.

Get Feet Wet sometimes has refurbished units that come with the same 1 year warranty as new.

http://www.getfeetwet.com/products/S...-N0762-01.aspx