Thread: Side Imaging

What I have learned is get the biggest screen sonar that you can afford and always with GPS which I think all side imaging units come with GPS now. All the major sonar companies make great side imaging units. I am partial to Humminbird's myself but Lowrance and Garmin are good units also I am told. I would not waste my money with anything less than a 7" screen anymore.

It's a little intimidating at first, but just take your time, watch YouTube videos and don't be afraid to play with it. From everything I have read the new Helix units and Garmin units are pretty much plug and play as far as settings out of the box. The Lowrance units are probably 3rd on the list for side imaging and ease of operation. I have a 998 bird and I like it and on some days SI is really nice to have when searching.

7 in or bigger screen and you have to spend the time to use it.All brands have there good and bad,I run lowrance myself.If you don't spend the time to learn to use it it ain't worth a flip in my opinion though

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Very good advice so far YouTube helped me a lot. I always purchase with an eye toward future upgrades. The bigger 'Bird units can tie in with MinnKota ipilot link capable trolling motors, Lake master cards, and any Autochart live maps you create. Just my 2 cents

Being able to use lakemaster is a big deal. jmo

Originally Posted by scrat

What I have learned is get the biggest screen sonar that you can afford and always with GPS which I think all side imaging units come with GPS now. All the major sonar companies make great side imaging units. I am partial to Humminbird's myself but Lowrance and Garmin are good units also I am told. I would not waste my money with anything less than a 7" screen anymore.

An alternate way to go about it if cost and flexibility are concerns would be to go with 2 mid-sized units instead of one bigger one.

Lets say you have $1,200 - $1,500 to spend, the biggest side imaging unit you can get for that money would be in the 10 inch class. For the same money you could by a Garmin EchoMap 73SV AND a Garmin Stryker 7SV.

The EchoMap has all the bells and whistles; Side view, Down view, Chirp, LakeVu maps pre-loaded, SD slot for added memory and/or maps, QuickDraw software for creating and storing your own maps, networking and waypoint sharing capability with other EchoMap and Stryker units.

The Stryker is just a basic unit with down view and side view and basic GPS with just the ability to mark and save waypoints but no contour maps.

Mount both units at the console and when you are cruising and mapping waypoints run the Side view on the Stryker and then run the Echomap in split screen with the GPS and downview. Total cost for both units would come out to $1249.98 and you would have 2 7 inch units instead of one 10 inch.

Then for another $67.97 you can buy a data sharing cable and an extra base and power cable for the EchoMap unit. The networking cable would allow you to share any waypoints you marked while using the side view on the Stryker (with the crappy GPS) with the EchoMap (with the good GPS). The extra base and power cable would allow you to set up a base for the EchoMap up front so when you are ready to fish you can move the EchoMap to the front of the boat and utilize the built in transducer on the trolling motor. You wouldn't have the down view or side view while up front, you would just have sonar and gps, but that's really all I use when I'm up front and running the trolling motor. If you have to have down/side view up front you can spend another 199.99 for another transducer you can mount on the trolling motor that has down and side view. The echomap base is designed to where everything is wired to the base instead of the unit making it really easy to disconnect the unit from the base on the console and then move up front and connect it to the base up front.

The whole package with the 2 units plus the network cable, extra power cable, and extra base would come in at $1317.97, if you don't want to use the built in transducer in the trolling motor because you need down/side view when up front then the total with the $199.99 added for the extra transducer would be $1517.96.

I haven't seen any reviews, but some of the folks on here might give their view about the Humminbird Onix 10 SI. Regularly between $2K and $3K Cabela's has is on clearance now for $1349. Several other units on clearance including the Garmin 73sv that BigKyd mentioned for $499. That isn't the Chirp model. It is on sale for $749