# What kind of fish finder should I get



## Epiceyes41 (Jun 14, 2012)

I have a 20 Grady white and it has a older model garmin fish finder and a gps on it. I'm looking to upgrade Looking in the 400-600 range only use the boat in Erie. really struggling on what to get . Help please !​


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## skywayvett (Jan 13, 2010)

Gramin 73sv 
Its ready to go out of box on sale this week at bp for 599..


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

I would look hard at the lowrance elite 7 ti its a little more money but its a great looking unit. or look at the hds 7 gen2 touch with lss-2 structure scan its also priced a little higher on sale at cabelas for 799.00 down from 1199.00.
sherman


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## huntindoggie22 (Mar 28, 2008)

You can get the lowrance elite 7 chirp combo unit with the gps and sonar with transducer for a little under 500. Well worth the money.


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## Epiceyes41 (Jun 14, 2012)

Great info thanks. Are they compatible with auto pilot ? And what's your guys opnion on the garmin striker 7sv?


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## DiverDux (May 19, 2012)

Consider this... I have always been a Lowrance customer, however I was in the market for a new chartplotter. As I was attempting to decide what I wanted to purchase, I contacted Lowrance as well as Garmin. I purchased a Garmin unit based on my experiences with each manufacturers customer service departments.

Lowrance: Customer service support is based outside of North America.
CSR's were difficult to communicate with.
CSR's had poor product knowledge.
CSR's are not anglers and had a difficult time understanding the needs of fishermen.

Garmin: Customer support is based in North America.
CSR's good communication skills
CSR's excellent product knowledge
CSR's were anglers and were able to make product suggestions based on the needs of 
fisherman.

When I needed help with installation, they were able to quickly and accurately offer advice that solved my installation issue. They even replaced a part that I damaged while arrempting to install said part incorrectly; free of charge. They even covered shipping!!
I have also noticed that Garmin units are much easier to opperate than similar Lowrance units that are owned by friends of mine. I doubt I will ever return to Lowrance.


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## Epiceyes41 (Jun 14, 2012)

DiverDux said:


> Consider this... I have always been a Lowrance customer, however I was in the market for a new chartplotter. As I was attempting to decide what I wanted to purchase, I contacted Lowrance as well as Garmin. I purchased a Garmin unit based on my experiences with each manufacturers customer service departments.
> 
> Lowrance: Customer service support is based outside of North America.
> CSR's were difficult to communicate with.
> ...


That's is good to know thanks what unit do you have ?


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## DiverDux (May 19, 2012)

We ended up with the GPSMAP 7608xsv. It is a lot of machine, but we needed something substantial as we are using it in conjunction with our autopilot (Garmin TR-1 Gold.) 

When speaking with Garmin, they told us that the autopilot would communicate with any NMEA 2000 or NMEA 0183 unit, however there are sometimes issues with interfacing the autopilot with units other than Garmin, but there is a software fix/patch that would rectify the problem. When I mentioned the Lowrance unit we were considering, he told me that the "fix" was not always permanent with Lowrance, that is; it sometimes needs to be re-installed from time to time. 

After speaking to Lowrances' customer service representatives and considering the poor quality of service we recieved from Lowrance and the interface concerns with the autopilot, the purchase of a Garmin unit was the logical choice. It came preloaded with both BlueChart g2 U.S. coastal and LakeVü HD maps and built-in dual CHIRP sonar plus CHIRP DownVü and CHIRP SideVü scanning sonar. It is clear and crisp and we can mark fish at cruising speed. Yes, we are extremely pleased with this unit.

I understand this unit is beyond your budget, (we really didn't want to spend that much money either) but I feel strongly that you will get a better product with Garmin when compared to other manufacturers regardless of your pricepoint. Good luck with your decision, let us know what you decide to do.


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