Sturgeon Posted June 24, 2016 Posted June 24, 2016 Ok guys I been beating the bank for 2 years now. I get 30+% off garmin through my employer and looking at garmin exclusive just because of the deals I can get. I've never used a fish finder in my life they look complicated trying to figure out that a blob is a school of bass or a weed bed or log structure. So I was looking at the striker 7sv for my 18' ranger boat. Is this a decent fish finder for me to learn on or is there a better model garmin makes. I might get 3 of them. One for bow, console, and my yak. Any info on the garmin stuff would be greatly appreciated. I live in southern Kansas so Kansas and Oklahoma waters is where I'll be using these electronics 90% of the time. Thanks p Quote
Super User Wayne P. Posted June 24, 2016 Super User Posted June 24, 2016 Very good unit that will show you the difference of all the stuff you mentioned. Quote
Sprocket Posted June 25, 2016 Posted June 25, 2016 A really good unit. Just remember the Striker series does not have mapping. It has gps and you can mark way points but there are no maps. If you want mapping, you need to move up to the echoMAP series. And as far as complicated, Garmin units are really easy to navigate the menus. SE Kansas grass grower Quote
Sturgeon Posted June 26, 2016 Author Posted June 26, 2016 So the map series gives me depths of lake beds? Is there a site I can check and see what lake maps they have available? If I had to guess they might not have lakes that I visit often. Like to see which lake maps they have. Quote
Super User Scott F Posted June 26, 2016 Super User Posted June 26, 2016 The Garmins have 17,000 maps built into the units. Most of them show 1 foot contour lines. If the lakes you fish are pretty small, say under 100 acres, there may not be any maps available. The good news is that the echoMap series comes with a program that lets you create your own high definition maps for any lake you fish so even if it doesn't come preloaded, you can make a very accurate map for every lake you fish. Quote
Sprocket Posted June 26, 2016 Posted June 26, 2016 lakes.garmin.com And with the ecoMAP series you can make your own maps of lakes that aren't Garmin mapped. SEKansas grass grower Quote
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted June 26, 2016 Global Moderator Posted June 26, 2016 I have a pair of Garmin 93SV (ecomap) on my Stratos. Ease of use was a big selling point for me with them. They've been great and have really helped me learn how to read my depthfinders, which has in turn made me a better fisherman. Quote
Super User webertime Posted June 27, 2016 Super User Posted June 27, 2016 I'd go with: Echomap 73dv Striker 7 Network cable This way you can get maps on one unit, mark a point on it and the point will show up on the GPS only one. 1 Quote
bbgobie Posted June 27, 2016 Posted June 27, 2016 Don't forget, with the Garmin not only will you get horrible customer service the software is not great. You can create your own maps with the echomap series, but you won't be able to transfer them or view them on your computer. Nor will you be able to play back and zoom in on your sonar recordings for viewing later. Its probably about 6-10 button presses to start recording your own lake contour map + sonar recording, so is it the easiest thing in the world? probably not. Quote
Sturgeon Posted June 30, 2016 Author Posted June 30, 2016 On 6/26/2016 at 7:51 AM, Bluebasser86 said: I have a pair of Garmin 93SV (ecomap) on my Stratos. Ease of use was a big selling point for me with them. They've been great and have really helped me learn how to read my depthfinders, which has in turn made me a better fisherman. Thanks everyone for the input! Just checked out the 93sv on Garmins website your running bluebasser86 I really like the 9" screen and the scanning. I might just go ahead and pull the trigger on the 93sv looks like its $770 new from Garmin with my discount. Little more than I was going to spend but I really like how I can scan some of the local smaller lakes around Wichita that I hit the most. You think you could do a crash course video on the Garmin bluebasser86 I'm subscribed to your youtube channel. Thanks again everyone! Quote
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted July 3, 2016 Global Moderator Posted July 3, 2016 On 6/30/2016 at 0:15 PM, Sturgeon said: Thanks everyone for the input! Just checked out the 93sv on Garmins website your running bluebasser86 I really like the 9" screen and the scanning. I might just go ahead and pull the trigger on the 93sv looks like its $770 new from Garmin with my discount. Little more than I was going to spend but I really like how I can scan some of the local smaller lakes around Wichita that I hit the most. You think you could do a crash course video on the Garmin bluebasser86 I'm subscribed to your youtube channel. Thanks again everyone! It's something I've been meaning to do for awhile. Quote
William Rossi Posted July 4, 2016 Posted July 4, 2016 Make sure you get the 2016 93sv chirp which is $1200 retail Quote
boogie0921 Posted September 15, 2019 Posted September 15, 2019 On 6/27/2016 at 9:18 AM, bbgobie said: Don't forget, with the Garmin not only will you get horrible customer service the software is not great. You can create your own maps with the echomap series, but you won't be able to transfer them or view them on your computer. Nor will you be able to play back and zoom in on your sonar recordings for viewing later. Its probably about 6-10 button presses to start recording your own lake contour map + sonar recording, so is it the easiest thing in the world? probably not. I have 4 garmin units, I have had great customer service with any problems. Had a transducer go bad called while on the lake, they helped me trouble shoot it and a new one was on its way. Had a cradle that it sets in go bad it wasn't getting power to the unit, one call new one on its way. Now if you call them for technical stuff like best settings then yes i agree its not the best in the world, but i bet they are not all fisherman nor do they own a garmin or a boat.... hey they may not even fish. Now I'm gonna tell the truth I love the maps, the 2d sonar, the down view sonar, but either I'm having problems with my side imaging or its no where as clear as humminbird. maybe its my transducer location idk. any thoughts? Quote
jaimeastin Posted October 7, 2019 Posted October 7, 2019 On 9/15/2019 at 8:16 AM, boogie0921 said: I have 4 garmin units, I have had great customer service with any problems. Had a transducer go bad called while on the lake, they helped me trouble shoot it and a new one was on its way. Had a cradle that it sets in go bad it wasn't getting power to the unit, one call new one on its way. Now if you call them for technical stuff like best settings then yes i agree its not the best in the world, but i bet they are not all fisherman nor do they own a garmin or a boat.... hey they may not even fish. Now I'm gonna tell the truth I love the maps, the 2d sonar, the down view sonar, but either I'm having problems with my side imaging or its no where as clear as humminbird. maybe its my transducer location idk. any thoughts? I agree! Customer service has been great with garmin! Quote
Global Moderator 12poundbass Posted October 7, 2019 Global Moderator Posted October 7, 2019 On 9/15/2019 at 11:16 AM, boogie0921 said: I have 4 garmin units, I have had great customer service with any problems. Had a transducer go bad called while on the lake, they helped me trouble shoot it and a new one was on its way. Had a cradle that it sets in go bad it wasn't getting power to the unit, one call new one on its way. Now if you call them for technical stuff like best settings then yes i agree its not the best in the world, but i bet they are not all fisherman nor do they own a garmin or a boat.... hey they may not even fish. Now I'm gonna tell the truth I love the maps, the 2d sonar, the down view sonar, but either I'm having problems with my side imaging or its no where as clear as humminbird. maybe its my transducer location idk. any thoughts? I switched from Humminbird to Garmin because Garmin had better images. I will say I did not have the upgraded HDSI Humminbird transducer, or MEGA imaging. But I personally feel Garmin is more user friendly, their maps on the Echomap units have all but two of my lakes on it, combine that with the better images from stock transducers makes me a happy Garmin user. Quote
boostr Posted October 16, 2019 Posted October 16, 2019 The touch screens on the pluses are great for the price as well. Quote
jaimeastin Posted October 16, 2019 Posted October 16, 2019 7 minutes ago, boostr said: The touch screens on the pluses are great for the price as well. I did not think I would care for it... All of my other garmin units are non-touch. When I installed the 93SV Plus on my bow and console, touch was used instantly. I like that it as the side hot buttons, but the garmin interface is so nice. In my opinion, Garmin has the best inferface out there. 1 Quote
boostr Posted October 16, 2019 Posted October 16, 2019 56 minutes ago, jaimeastin said: I did not think I would care for it... All of my other garmin units are non-touch. When I installed the 93SV Plus on my bow and console, touch was used instantly. I like that it as the side hot buttons, but the garmin interface is so nice. In my opinion, Garmin has the best inferface out there. It's a great feature, i'm gonna switch out my older SV to the Plus model as well. Quote
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