First time buying graphs

[ziggity321]

Just purchased this boat, 1977 Starcraft, 60 HP Mercury 2 stroke 3 cyl, 12V 55lb Minnkota Powerdrive V2 with CoPilot.  Came with a dual purpose group 27 battery for outboard, 12V group 27 deep cycle for trolling motor.  Got a really good price on this boat and have some $ left over in the budget to add some graphs.  Really excited about this since my last boat was a 12' aluminum with a 6 HP motor, so this is a big step up for me.  I'd like to put a graph on the bow and one at the console.  I'm not interested in forward facing sonar at this point.  I'd like to have SI at the console and DI at the bow, I'd also like to network them together, and have at least one with mapping capabilities.  My budget is $1500 for 2 units.  I've been looking at the 7" Garmin Echomap UHD's and Helix 7's, and I'm having a tough time deciding between the 2.  My goal is to improve my understanding of electronics as one of the tools to catch more and better fish.  I'd appreciate any input you fine folks might have for someone who fishes local club tournaments (I'm not gonna fish club tournaments in this boat, just practice for them, I usually fish as a co-angler).

[Jig Man]

You might want to consider buying one now and start saving for a second one.

[slonezp]

I ran HB's for almost 20 years. I have a Garmin in my current boat. 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other. 

[Captain Phil]

I've been using fishing electronics since I built my first flasher with a Heathkit in the sixties.  Today's fishing graphs are amazingly cheap and effective.  In my opinion, Lowrance is the only way to go.  I bought a HB once and never will again.  The screen would go blank without warning and I never could figure out why.  Their technical support was horrible. This was ten years ago, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it's better now.  I have two units on my boat now, a Lowrance Hook Seven and a Lowrance Hook Five. They do everything I want them to do and without hassle. 

[FishinBuck07]

Each company's graph is better at something than the other, Humminbird's side scan and down scan are better to me than the others, Lowrance has great 2D sonar compared to the others, and Garmin has the Panoptix that I don't believe the other companies can match.  I really think it depends on your fishing style myself but that is just my opinion.

[Bankc]

2 hours ago, FishinBuck07 said:

Each company's graph is better at something than the other, Humminbird's side scan and down scan are better to me than the others, Lowrance has great 2D sonar compared to the others, and Garmin has the Panoptix that I don't believe the other companies can match.  I really think it depends on your fishing style myself but that is just my opinion.

True.  A lot of the pros are now switching from being sponsored by a sonar company, to being sponsored by a store that sells sonars.  The reason being that each company seems to specialize in different things, and a lot of the pros don't like to have to compromise.  

 

My philosophy is to first determine your budget, then determine what features you need.  After that, the fish finder will find you.  Between the big three brands, it's hard to go wrong.  

[gim]

I would recommend Lowrance but its because that's the brand I've been using for 20+ years now.  I am very familiar with how they operate.  Going from one to the other now would cause me a big headache, like trying to learn a new language.  If you don't have any familiarity with a specific brand already, just pick one and stick with it.

[InfantryMP]

If I was not as well versed with Lowrance as I am, I would definitely love to try out Garmin. They make quality products, and are a very well respected company outside of the marine industry as well. 

 

That being said, I like Lowrance a lot, and I am very familiar with their products. I have gone from HDS Gen 2's to the new HDS lives with no regrets!

[Trox]

On 1/30/2022 at 3:08 AM, ziggity321 said:

I've been looking at the 7" Garmin Echomap UHD's and Helix 7's

Either one would be a good choice. Having used both brands, I would definitely say that Garmin is a little more user friendly (as in, the learning curve is not as steep as Humminbird imo)... also, the touch screen on the echomaps is a huge plus between the two...

 

Dont forget to budget your maps into that $1,500! If you go with 2 Helix's, know that they do NOT share Lakemaster map information, so you will have to buy a $100 card for EACH unit, or buy each lake separately for each... On the other hand, Garmin DOES share it's LakuVu maps between units.

[txchaser]

A deciding feature for me was Hbird's auto mapping. If being able to make your own maps, or add precision to the existing ones, is important to you, it is hard to pass up. Be aware you'll pay 100 bucks to unlock the good version of it though.  Second feature was the DI/SI quality seemed to be consistently better than other brands. 

But no touch screen

 

The g3 and g4 models appear to have different resolutions, roughly a 25% increase, and especially on the SI unit I care about that a lot. Enough that I've been thinking of upgrading, because I'm having a tough time picking out fish on SI on the g3. Some of that is certainly operator error, I'm no SI master.

 

Random, but it took me a while to buy an anti-glare overlay for it. I wish I would have done that on day one, I can see it so much better. 

 

I think it is a hyper-competitive market, and in the mainstream the price/performance/features are all really close. At the upper end different companies start to pull away for 360, FFS, etc. Doesn't seem like I hear much about "I had brand X and was sad and I got brand Y and now I'm happy"

 

[ziggity321]

Thanks everyone for all the great input!  I think that I'm going to go with the Garmin Echomap UHD's.  I stopped by Scheels the other day and he really layed out the differences between the Helix's and Echomap's for me.  With the Echomaps, you can connect them both via Bluetooth, so no need to run another cable.  They have the ability to make your own maps with just a regular mini SD card, Humminbird you have to buy a $99 autochart card (no thanks).  Echomaps seem to be a little more user friendly, they have the touchscreen, and they're on sale! 

[12poundbass]

22 hours ago, ziggity321 said:

Thanks everyone for all the great input!  I think that I'm going to go with the Garmin Echomap UHD's.  I stopped by Scheels the other day and he really layed out the differences between the Helix's and Echomap's for me.  With the Echomaps, you can connect them both via Bluetooth, so no need to run another cable.  They have the ability to make your own maps with just a regular mini SD card, Humminbird you have to buy a $99 autochart card (no thanks).  Echomaps seem to be a little more user friendly, they have the touchscreen, and they're on sale! 

 

Excellent choice grasshopper