Check out some of the new Lowrance units. They just came out with more this year. U can get sonar/side imaging combo i believe for a good price.
One of the things to review is pixel count. I'd get color too.
If you go to the sportsman show they will have a booth there from Garmin,Hummingbird and Lowrance and you can get more info than can handle.
One of the things to review is pixel count. I'd get color too.
If you go to the sportsman show they will have a booth there from Garmin,Hummingbird and Lowrance and you can get more info than can handle.
Side imaging (Humminbird) or Structure Scan (Lowrance) (same thing different name) will increase the price by a large amount. The Lowrance SC starts with the HDS-5 Gen 2 which you can get with just a transducer for sonar but that starts at around $700. To add the structure scan you have to have the LSS-1 unit (+$600). Gen 1 stuff is cheaper and they are offering a rebate through the beginning of February. Difference between the generations is processer speed/memory/new feature called structure map. But for $300 you can still get a good unit in the 5" screen size that does standard sonar and temperature. They do make some nice GPS/Sonar combos that are Navionics capable for around $400. The Humminbird® 385ci Compact Sonar-GPS-Chartplotter Combo and Lowrance® Elite-5 Fishfinder/GPS Chartplotter would probably do the trick. Check the specs between the two because I'm not sure the pixel count is the same between the two.
I just picked up the Humminbird® 385ci Compact Sonar-GPS-Chartplotter Combo that was mentioned above, but I got the ice combo. It was $440, the non-ice one is a bit less expensive. I havent' played around with it yet, so I can't tell you much about it, other than it looks nice and its a good size. The ice version comes with a flasher setting and a carrying case, but it's also mountable in a small boat, so it's like killing 2 birds with one stone. This whole set up is not very big, so it shouldn't take up too much space in your boat - I plan to use mine in my kayak this spring without any issue.
