Garmin Echomap Plus vs UHD

[paleus]

I want to upgrade from my Lowrance Elite 5 HDI. Looking at Garmin Echomap 93sv. I found a 93sv plus for under $500. Is the UHD that much better to justify nearly double the price?

 

Nevermind about the $500, that's from some scam site called Rembulan Fishing. 

 

Still is the UHD worth it? I mostly fish in less than 20ft of water. 

 

Also thinking about just getting a Striker 9sv. Not sure if I really need maps. Can't hook up a panoptix transducer to the Striker though. You can on the echomap. 

[paleus]

I found an Echomap 73sv UHD for $550 and ordered it. 

 

Really wanted the larger screen, but wasn't worth double the price. 

 

Really excited, side view is going to be a game changer for me. 

[HenryPF]

Have the 93plus and the 93plus uhd. The only difference was the UHD accepts the GT54 and GT56 tranducers. The 93plus UHD should be able to be found with the GT54 for $599 someplace, I know BPS had it on sale during xmas and recently but probably all sold out.

 

The current 93plus UHD comes with the GT56 hence the $1000 price tag.

[slonezp]

I picked up the UHD73sv a month ago for $450. at Cabelas. My first Garmin, was a 'Bird guy in the past. I'll be using it for the first time tomorrow

[Way2slow]

I'm new to Garmin units, so can't say anything about which is better.  I bought the 73SV UHD and 93SV UHD with the GT54 transducers at BPS when they were on sale a month or so back at the price they want just for the 93SV UHD with the GT56 transducer now.  

I know I was not even interested in anything less and would have probably gotten the GT56 transducer if I fished deeper water or wanted to extend the side scan further, but for my needs, the ones I've talked to says the GT54 transducer is very adequate.

I have not mounted either one of these on a boat yet, so can't even comment on how I like these and if I thing they are better or worse than my older Lowrance HDS units with side scan.  Looking at them in Demo mode while setting the up and learning them, the UHD models look great.   

[12poundbass]

I recently upgraded from Gen1 Echomap units to two 93SV UHD over the winter. I got them wired up and networked together last week and I’ll be launching the boat tomorrow. 
 

Ive played around with them a bit in demo mode and I’m extremely happy so far. The mapping is great and I’m looking forward to finally mapping my lake. 

[12poundbass]

22 hours ago, slonezp said:

I picked up the UHD73sv a month ago for $450. at Cabelas. My first Garmin, was a 'Bird guy in the past. I'll be using it for the first time tomorrow

Well how did the maiden voyage go and what are your initial thoughts on your new Garmin? 

[slonezp]

35 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Well how did the maiden voyage go and what are your initial thoughts on your new Garmin? 

I didn't play with it too much. I had it mounted to the back seat and as soon as I got home I moved it to the next seat forward. It was not practical where I had it. I absolutely love the touch screen.

 

Boat doesn't leak. It was quite windy and cold and a 300lb boat reacts to the wind quite differently than a 3000lb boat. Think I'm going to sell the 40lb 5 speed trolling motor and get a 55lb Endura Max variable speed motor.

 

Ended up with 3 fish in 4 hours 

 

[12poundbass]

2 hours ago, slonezp said:

I didn't play with it too much. I had it mounted to the back seat and as soon as I got home I moved it to the next seat forward. It was not practical where I had it. I absolutely love the touch screen.

I didn’t spend a ton of time playing with my Echomaps either, just getting a few things set up and mostly running the boat. 
 

I’m loving the touchscreen too! I’m also loving having the two units linked together too. You’re used to Humminbird so I’m guessing you used the casting ring option? I asked about this several times regarding Garmin and I finally asked Todd Driscoll, so if you’re looking how to tell how far away from your waypoints let me know and I’ll help get you squared away. 

[Way2slow]

At least ya'll had yours.  I took the pontoon on it's first today and haven't even mounted them yet.  

Waiting until this day was done.  Now that it seems like a keeper, I've got a ton of other work to do on it to make it more user friendly.

 

[slonezp]

11 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

I didn’t spend a ton of time playing with my Echomaps either, just getting a few things set up and mostly running the boat. 
 

I’m loving the touchscreen too! I’m also loving having the two units linked together too. You’re used to Humminbird so I’m guessing you used the casting ring option? I asked about this several times regarding Garmin and I finally asked Todd Driscoll, so if you’re looking how to tell how far away from your waypoints let me know and I’ll help get you squared away. 

I didn't spend much time because I was on a lake I've fished for 30 years with 20ft of visibility. 

 

As far as the casting ring option, I probably didn't utilize it as much as I should have. I tend to be a bank beater and a weedline fisher. Most of the lakes around here are soup bowl lakes with little or no offshore structure. 

[Boomstick]

On 4/24/2021 at 2:22 PM, HenryPF said:

The 93plus UHD should be able to be found with the GT54 for $599 someplace

Our local West Marine had them for $600 or 700 or somewhere in between, but they sold out (even the display model) more recently.

As for the OP, you will like this unit. I have the 93sv UHD (with the GT54UHD transducer) and it's very user friendly and the imaging is quite good. The new GT56UHD transducer's is even better primarily as the side view has a full return to about 100 ft out, but good luck finding one as they are backlogged due to the pandemic

[12poundbass]

2 hours ago, slonezp said:

Most of the lakes around here are soup bowl lakes with little or no offshore structure. 

My lakes are the same deal here. I’m hoping after burning up some gas idling around I can find a few offshore gems whether it be wood, rocks, composition change or something like that. We shall see. 

[slonezp]

On 4/25/2021 at 5:30 PM, slonezp said:

I didn't play with it too much. I had it mounted to the back seat and as soon as I got home I moved it to the next seat forward. It was not practical where I had it. I absolutely love the touch screen.

 

Boat doesn't leak. It was quite windy and cold and a 300lb boat reacts to the wind quite differently than a 3000lb boat. Think I'm going to sell the 40lb 5 speed trolling motor and get a 55lb Endura Max variable speed motor.

 

Ended up with 3 fish in 4 hours 

 

I ordered the Endura Max 55lb thrust today and will be selling the TM that came with the boat. I got spoiled with the Terrova and I like the variable speed much better.

[12poundbass]

12 minutes ago, slonezp said:

I ordered the Endura Max 55lb thrust today and will be selling the TM that came with the boat. I got spoiled with the Terrova and I like the variable speed much better.

Now that this boat is pretty much complete, have you decided on what your new boat purchase will be? 

[slonezp]

14 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Now that this boat is pretty much complete, have you decided on what your new boat purchase will be? 

I'm still liking the Robalo.

[12poundbass]

3 minutes ago, slonezp said:

I'm still liking the Robalo.

With Garmin graphs and TM right? ?

[slonezp]

1 minute ago, 12poundbass said:

With Garmin graphs and TM right? ?

A lot can change in a year or two...

 

By the time I'm ready to buy there will be more new technology. I fished with dad yesterday. When I get out on my own, I'll have more time to screw around with the Garmin and figure out my likes and dislikes. The touch screens are a huge plus. I know Birds offer that as well. If Garmin comes out with something like the Link, and maybe they already have, I would consider it.

[12poundbass]

8 hours ago, slonezp said:

A lot can change in a year or two...

 

By the time I'm ready to buy there will be more new technology. I fished with dad yesterday. When I get out on my own, I'll have more time to screw around with the Garmin and figure out my likes and dislikes. The touch screens are a huge plus. I know Birds offer that as well. If Garmin comes out with something like the Link, and maybe they already have, I would consider it.

Glad to hear your dad got out and that he’s still healthy enough to fish. 
 

I don’t know enough about the Force TM but I imagine it’s links to Garmin units. 

[HenryPF]

The Force as I know hooks up to the FFs to drive to a waypoint on the finder, or follows the gps route you can program on the finder. It will not however follow lake contours like the Minn Kota/Humminbird does on lake maps. (not 100% sure on the contour mapping issue)