Garmin 73SV CHIRP Opinions?

[buzzed bait]

I'm looking to upgrade my fish finder on the kayak and have come across the Garmin 73SV echoMAP CHIRP unit and looking for some opinions on that unit.  

I'm looking for:

Side Imaging

GPS

Maps or Mapping capability

 

I've found the Garmin 73SV echoMAP CHIRP for about $605 shipped so it fits my budget and appears to have everything i'm after.  just curious if any users here have any real world experience with that unit and if you could share your thoughts?

if not, would there be another unit in that same range ($600-$750) that i should look at?  I looked at Humminbird Helix 7SI and Lowrance 7 TI, but they don't come with the preloaded maps and appear to do about the same as far as features.

Appreciate any insight you may have!

[12poundbass]

I too am interested in this unit. If anyone has any screen shot please post. That's the only thing I'm debating on is the imaging particularly the Side Vu. It's that's not too bad it's a great deal considering you get 17,000 lakes which you'd have to pony up more money with HB or Lowrance.

[ohboyitsrobby]

I have the 73dv so I can't comment on the side imaging. As for the downview and the rest it's a great unit for the price. I absolutely love it. And I've had some ppl in my boat who are lifelong lowrance guys who agree there's not a better unit on the market for the price

[Scott F]

I've got a 73sv without CHIRP and I think it's great. By far the main selling point for me was the built in, high def maps and the ability to create your own maps if your lake is not one of the 17,000 that come with the unit. I was so happy with it, I replaced my other Lowrance depth finder that was only a year old with another Garmin. If you had to purchase map the map chips you'd have to fork out hundreds of dollars extra. 

[12poundbass]

8 minutes ago, Scott F said:

I've got a 73sv without CHIRP and I think it's great. By far the main selling point for me was the built in, high def maps and the ability to create your own maps if your lake is not one of the 17,000 that come with the unit. I was so happy with it, I replaced my other Lowrance depth finder that was only a year old with another Garmin. If you had to purchase map the map chips you'd have to fork out hundreds of dollars extra. 

Do you have any screen shots of the Side Vu you could share? If they're even half way decent I think I'm going the Garmin route. The maps are a big selling point for me too. I checked and this tiny 80-100 acre lake I fish is even on there, I was really surprised and quite impressed.

[Scott F]

9 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Do you have any screen shots of the Side Vu you could share? If they're even half way decent I think I'm going the Garmin route. The maps are a big selling point for me too. I checked and this tiny 80-100 acre lake I fish is even on there, I was really surprised and quite impressed.

The side view imaging is fine. I've never done a screen shot. As a matter of fact, I almost never use the side imaging anymore. On the natural lakes I fish it just doesn't help much. The only things to see are rocks and weeds and the 2D sonar shows me those just fine. I fish off shore reefs and rock piles a lot and the great maps on the 73sv guide me right to them. 

Not every lake on the unit is in high definition. But it wouldn't take long to make a high def map of a 100 acre lake.

[buzzed bait]

44 minutes ago, Scott F said:

I've got a 73sv without CHIRP and I think it's great. By far the main selling point for me was the built in, high def maps and the ability to create your own maps if your lake is not one of the 17,000 that come with the unit. I was so happy with it, I replaced my other Lowrance depth finder that was only a year old with another Garmin. If you had to purchase map the map chips you'd have to fork out hundreds of dollars extra. 

 

Thanks Scott, do you know in layman terms what the difference in the CHIRP and non CHIRP models are?  Is the one with CHIRP considered the better unit?

[Scott F]

CHIRP improves bottom tracking at higher speeds and deeper depths. It helps separate targets that are closer together. At shallow depths those differences are not as noticeable as they are in deeper water.

All sonar manufactures need to keep adding new features so they can keep selling new units. The marketing departments push the newest features and need to make you feel that the units without CHIRP are obsolete. CHIRP units are better but not that much. I only paid $450 for my non-CHIRP 73sv. CHIRP wasn't worth $350 extra to me.

 

[12poundbass]

41 minutes ago, Scott F said:

CHIRP improves bottom tracking at higher speeds and deeper depths. It helps separate targets that are closer together. At shallow depths those differences are not as noticeable as they are in deeper water.

All sonar manufactures need to keep adding new features so they can keep selling new units. The marketing departments push the newest features and need to make you feel that the units without CHIRP are obsolete. CHIRP units are better but not that much. I only paid $450 for my non-CHIRP 73sv. CHIRP wasn't worth $350 extra to me.

 

Wayne P showed some side by side identical screen shots with and without CHIRP and to my untrained eye I could tell much difference. Like you said not worth the extra money. Wayne even had said he wasn't 100% sold on CHIRP yet.

[nwbass]

I just ordered two Garmin echoMAP CHIRP 73sv units for $509 each.

 

Not sure if we're aloud to post links here. If anybody is interested, send me a message.

[IndianaOutdoors]

On 8/2/2017 at 1:45 AM, nwbass said:

I just ordered two Garmin echoMAP CHIRP 73sv units for $509 each.

 

Not sure if we're aloud to post links here. If anybody is interested, send me a message.

Sent you a pm