Which Sounder / GPS should I buy?

[Cozzie]

Hi,

I'm in the market for a new sounder / plotter / GPS system.

Does anyone have any advice on brands, models etc?

I'll be using it for both estuary and off-shore fishing.

I spose the budget is up to 1,500-ish.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Cozzie.

[mirage]

Can't go wrong with Furuno but probably won't fit your budget.
Just stretch it a bit further!!

[Shanoss]

You would get a good Lowrance combo for that much.. Especially if you got it from the U.S.

[catfishkid]

What can i say about lowrance?
Buy the furuno if you can afford it,at least they want their customers to be happy with their product.
Still waiting for warranty after nearly two months on a lowrance product(Not a cheap bottom of the line unit either).


Cheers craig

[Shanoss]

I dont see how Cozzie can get a new GPS/sounder for $1500 if he buys Furuno. Except maybe if he buys offshore. Shop around Cozzie, just about everything on the market will do nowadays. Go with colour if you can though, monochrome just does'nt compare.

[BigE]

Cozzie
Have a look at the Quadrabeam post & the Chart post i have recently put on this board (Electronics) and you can see some screen shots from my new Hummingbird 787 I haven't used it much but it seems to be going ok has good definition and holds the bottem at 50 kph chart seems to be pretty much spot on around the bay anyway. got into it for less than the money your takeing about so u may end up with some change.

Regards
BigE

[timddo]

Cozzie, a furuno 620 should set ya back $1000 and a standard horizon gps system about $500.

It should cost ya $1500 both in colour, delivered to Australia.


Oh. A gps plotter is not a plotter until you buy the card so another $150 and you have the complete gig.

[bluefin59]

You can buy the garmin298 with a bluechart of all aus and n.z in it with a 500rms watt sounder for that money here in aus you would do a lot better if you have the erge to shop o.s it has a 127mm display i have a furuno myself but these look like a great unit for the money you want to spend ....matt P.s its also a colour unit

[Piscatory Pursuit]

I dont see how Cozzie can get a new GPS/sounder for $1500 if he buys Furuno. Except maybe if he buys offshore. Shop around Cozzie, just about everything on the market will do nowadays. Go with colour if you can though, monochrome just does'nt compare.

Your right, it will be tough to get Furuno for $1500 even here in the states. Everything on the market will do nowadays is painting with a pretty broad brush. Yes there are alot of good brands but if you are really serious about your fishing and you really want the best sounder then you have to consider the Furuno FCV620. There is a reason Furuno Fishfinders have been voted best Fishfinders for the last 30 years by the National Marine Electronics Institute. That is why the pros use them.

I think most people would agree that you should spend the most money on your sounder as most gps units perform very similar. The 620 with a Standard Horizon CP180 gps is a great way to go and you can easily do that from the states under $1500.

Good Luck!

[Strategy]

hI Piscatorial Pursuit,
Currently ready to upgrade my current non coluor Lowrance sounder and sep GPS,
Waiting on latest report on new release JRC 600WATT. If not available soon will buy furuno 620 and unsure about gps unit. The dash layout on my boat suits two units the size of a furuno 620 with some minor room.
Have you had any experience with JRC stuff in the smaller range market ???
To buy a seperate GPS UNIT cannot find any Furuno GPS that matchs the 620 size .
I would welcome any suggestions as I would like to install both before end of November .

Regards
Strategy

[bugman]

Cozzie,

It's all relative. You mention offshore - where? What depth?

I've just bought a Lowrance LMS 527c combo including the Aust wide Navionics card for around $1k imported from the states.

I'm putting mine on a tinny so wanted a combo unit for simplicity and will do most of my fishing in under 50m so don't need the real extra power on the sounder.

Actually down here in tas I'm looking more for structure than fish (crays-abs) so it should fit the bill nicely.

It really depends on what you want to use if for.

Brett