Single independent units Vs combo GPS/sounder

[scroman]

G'day folks - hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and New Year!
Please feel free to direct me to any previous discussions surrounding this topic if it has already been discussed / debated.
Just interested in peoples thoughts / opinions about having a dedicated sounder / chartplotter all in one etc Vs independent sounder and GPS units.
Any major pros or cons particularly.
As stated, if this has been covered please just send a link or something to direct me to it as I don't want to waste peoples time repeating themselves.
Many thanks,
Troy

[scroman]

Sorry - should have said I fish mainly shallow reef chasing snapper and seasonal palegics. The console is a little tight for room but currently running a garmin chartplotter and a lowrance hds5 sounder with added down and side scan.

[Crunchy]

Seperate for me, a mates boat is dual screen and I don't like it but guess its just what you are used to.

[VictorOscar]

Most chart plotters are only a few hundred less than the combo units so personally, I would find it a bit hard to justify buying two units that would effectively do the same as one unit.

I would prefer to run a single 12" screen rather than buy two 7" units.

If money wasn't an issue, I would definitely run two screen though

[patrol50]

well personally i like 2 combo units and mine were a lcx 27 c and hds 7 but are now a hds 7 gen 1 and hds gen 2 and i have one on the console and one on a ram arm mount over from the passenger side and with 3 transducers on the stern 83/200, 50 / 200 and ss2 - i use the older unit as mainly a map reader or chart plotter and the newer unit as a slplit screen sounder with downsound and ss and i will often run the map and broadband colour sounder together as a split screen on the older unit - works ok for me - i would like 2 x 9s of course and 2 x 12s would be the ants pants but probably look a bit strange in a smaller 15 .5 ft runabout
cheers

[shakey55]

I'm not flash with cash, but I recently had the opportunity to purchase a Garmin 75sv and a Garmin 75dv as a deal and at a good price. Both are GPS/fish-finders combo's.

I did this so I could use full screen, one as a GPS and the other as a fish-finder. If the fish-finder was to poop itself all I have to do is change the plug over and use them in reverse.

Might sound like overkill, but that is what I am currently doing.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[chocolatemoose]

twin units are fine but its getting rather ......why would you bother.. to buy dedicated gear if you are sticking to a butdget. with the quality of dual systems now so much better. with "base" systems. echomap, elite "hook" "go" dragonfly and helix all so much better than their forefathers. you can get rather decent screen realestate and tech for good dollars.

case in point.
garmin 75sv + 75dv is like 1950 for less than 2k you have 14" of viewable screen. twin everything as redudancy. fine for fishing up to those 80-100m mark. and away you go.

[Crunchy]

Interesting comment Moose, the wife also said something about having 14 inches would be much nicer than the 7 inch I've got now

[patrol50]

Interesting comment Moose, the wife also said something about having 14 inches would be much nicer than the 7 inch I've got now

nah no comment -

[scottar]

There are pros and cons to each. It's my personal belief though that no single manufacturer produces the "best" sounder combined with the "best" GPS all wrapped up into one box. Now that view is of course subjective to my own requirements and others opinions will be different but as such I definitely prefer two units. Sure, two displays won't fit everyone's requirements but take a look at the guys that fish for a living - how many of them use a combo - there would be some but they would be in a minority by a long way. Some of the pros and cons -

Single unit

Pros - Less real estate required
Some of the new side scan units (if not all) allow a waypoint to put in off the side scan so you can find a spot you didn't run directly over.
Typically (dependant on screen size and capability) cheaper overall
Some more advanced capabilities (sidescan, 3d scan etc)

Cons - More keystrokes to access a lot of basic functions
Lose one display - everything's gone
Typically more complicated operation due to more stuff in the one box.

For two units the opposites are generally the case as well as adding a pro that you can choose the sounder that best fits your application coupled with the GPS you like the best.

[chocolatemoose]

whilst we would all like an extra few inches........is it worth a few hundred dollars

...yes

yes is the answer lol

[NAGG]

If you have the room & the coin - go for two separate units all the time .........

i'm yet to see a single unit that I would be happy to run 2 screens- if I was serious

I certainly want a dedicated sonar & chart plotter ....... nice if you could have side imaging as well

Chris

[scroman]

g'day shaky - sort of hedging down the same path, got to mock up a couple of cardboard cutouts to see if they will actually fit on my cc. Are you happy with the units? I'm a techno fobe and need things to be idiot proof and simple to navigate around - I've watched Mooses videos and they seem to fit the bill.
How did you install and link them? Easy??
Thanks for your feedback - much appreciated.

[scroman]

G'day Moose - $1950 for both units sounds great - what about map cards, transducers etc are they extra? Would you need 2 cards or just have the one card on your unit that you want as a more dedicated chartplotter? For that sort of $$ I would'nt think there would be too many better options?
Cheers

[shakey55]

g'day shaky - sort of hedging down the same path, got to mock up a couple of cardboard cutouts to see if they will actually fit on my cc. Are you happy with the units? I'm a techno fobe and need things to be idiot proof and simple to navigate around - I've watched Mooses videos and they seem to fit the bill.
How did you install and link them? Easy??
Thanks for your feedback - much appreciated.

Scroman, I tried to send you a message but it says you need to clear out your message box.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk