Standard Sonar vs Downview?

[Owen_007]

So I sold my winter flasher (Marcum VX1i) and bought a striker 5 chirp CV/ DV ice kit for $300.(gonna use as my winter unit as well as my summer bow unit)  I currently have a echomap 73dv chirp on my console and love it. I plan on linking my units to share waypoints, And can't wait to finally have A unit on the bow. With this being said, should I spend $85 and get a downvu transducer, or should I get a $30 link cable and run it off of my universal transducer on my maxxum? I'm on a budget (senior in high school) but also want to learn how to fish deep and learn something else besides my typical bank beating. Would having Downvu and traditional sonar as opposed to just standard sonar be a major advantage? 

[MickD]

My experience indicates not a major advantage in having down + sonar over just sonar.  However, I believe that the transducer required for down will give better sonar performance than the sonar-only transducer. I hope others can chime in to support or disagree with this statement.  I have both and a top of the line transducer on my Humminbirds, and the only advantage I've found after one season is that the down gives a better portrayal of the weeds than the sonar view.  I've never seen a fish on down view.  

 

Maybe in my second year I will figure out how better to use the down-view so that it becomes more valuable.

[TnRiver46]

I have 2d on bow and 3D (down image) at console. The 3D shows much more detail for like tree branches and rocks (cover) but both seem to mark fish just the same. They just show up as golf balls when moving on 3D and arches when moving on 2d. When you are sitting still fish look like horizontal lines on both 3D and 2d 

[TnRiver46]

A few picture examples of one vs the other.......

 

2d on left (traditional sonar) 3D on right (down imaging)

 

pic 1: school of white bass (idling forward)

pic 2: more white bass (idling forward)

pic 3: sunken boat on down imaging 

pic 4: school of white bass when sitting still 

pic 5: tree on down imaging. This would just look like a blob on 2d

[Comfortably Numb]

I run 2d on left and Di on right split screen most of the time. 

 

The built in TD on the trolling motor wont give good performance annd NO Chirp.