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Posts: 64
| I only need to put a gps on my boat, whats the best chartplotter for the price? |
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Posts: 392
Location: KY | Interesting question. I have been looking to replace both my finders now for a few weeks. Mine were old school pre GPS stuff. I have sticker shock big time. I am only in the boat 10-15 days a year so spending top dollar on electronics is hard to stomach. It seems there are several measures that step up the price quick. Color vs. B&W, pixel count, power, screen size, chips, side view/down scan,etc….. To have a full feature unit you are looking at $1000+ easy. The question is where do diminishing returns on dollars spent kick in? If I were making a living out of my boat or trying to compete in tournaments in several states I would want it all. For an occasional weekend warrior what is enough?
For the moment I have my eye on a Humminbird 597ci at $570 MSRP for the console and a 596c at $450 for the bow.
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | wdykstra - 8/19/2010 12:46 AM
I only need to put a gps on my boat, whats the best chartplotter for the price?
That's a tough question as it stands. What's your price range? What do you "need" in a unit? Screen size? Resolution? Features? And I don't wanna say that the HDS-M are the best for the money, when your budget is $300, or vice versa.
I mean, if you just want a GPS to track your course and get you back to the boat ramp, you can get a hand held with basic base map and put it on a RAM mount for less than $300 easy.
But if you want a larger, color screen that'll take high end chips, photo overlay and all the features, you can get an HDS8-M for $1500 or -7M for $1000. Both options, either the hand held or the HDS are good for the money and their features. It comes down to what you "need" and then what you "want."
But if you're gonna go high end, just get a sonar combo. I know two captains here on LSC who bought chartplotters last season trying to save money and now the want to convert them to sonar combos and they can't....and they're back to buying new units. |
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Posts: 253
Location: On the water | I just bought the Hummingbird 597ci with Navionics chip and I really like it, very accurate and easy to use. This is my first color gps and finder. I would certainly recommend it. Good Luck, Tom |
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Posts: 247
Location: Uxbridge Ontario | I picked up a Humminbird 788ci and although I really like it, it is a little useless if you want to run dual modes... meaning both gps view and Finder view. Screen is just a little small.
I had thought about getting a 786ci or 778c chart plotter to run side by side with my 586c at the console, but decided to try it with the combo on the bow, and I didnt have the coin to get a new graph for the bow and also a chart plotter on the console. I am a little all over the place with this one... sorry. Guess it boils down to the functions you need.
Personally, if i were to do it again I would have spent the extra cash and gone with a 8" display combo. |
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Posts: 101
| Like Hottime said. One word of advice get as big a screen as you can afford on any model you won't regret the decission. |
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Posts: 1023
| I would love to have a big screen too, but like many guys, I am on a limited fishing budget. So I went with a 5" screen colour Eagle unit. It was on sale for under 400. Is it perfect - no. But I can easily see the screen and it can be split so that it shows a sliver of the sonar chart and the rest is map. I am pleased with my purchase. We are all very spoiled nowadays - myself included. The 5" screen is fine (if your vision is fine).
Having said that - colour is REALLY nice to have.
JMO
Landry |
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Posts: 29
Location: Chicago | i have an lcx 27c that i like. they are discontinued now as the HDS are out, could probably find a used one or maybe new for pretty cheap. mine was $800 a few years ago and was about $200 off from retail if i remember. i don't find any of the mapping chips or preloaded maps to be too accurate. considering that, i don't think you need to spend too much. the HDS look nice but without an accurate mapping program i don't see them as worth it. the sidefinder sonars looks awesome though. lowrance or hummingbird sell any of those individually without a GPS on there? one of those next to my LCX 27C with the full screen GPS on would be nice. |
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