torn between the two.

hi guys, i hate to beat a dead horse but, i'm at a depth finder crossroad.i've been given a budget and i have to be dead on with this decision.i have looked at hummingbird and lowrance units both hav minuses and pluses. i need to pick one for the trolling mtr and one for the steering column. i fish a lot of clear water lakes and i'm dying toknow whats on the bottom. i must have gps on both. can i please get some feed back from some one who's gone this route.i promise you i will use it.oh$1000 is my limit

Flip a coin or ask your wife. If you don't have a wife, ask any woman.

Your right CP if they dont have an answer they will make one up.

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/fishi...ombo-unit.html

I would start by trying to find one of the HB 798 ci SI Combo units that retailers are trying to clear off their shelves...

Its gonna run around $750 but it will get you into the world of SI with a little $$ left over to decide what to do about your second unit...

SI will show you more lake bottom acreage in 1 day than any other sonar technology can in weeks...

I think Gander Mtn may still have some.

Maybe even contact Brian at BBG Marine... He's a sponsor here...

Rickie

Yeah, check with Brian http://www.crappie.com/crappie/membe...t-service.html he just came out with some combos and gives us excellent prices.

No matter which brand, You'll want color DI with GPS. You'll enjoy either brand. Good luck man.

I really don't see why you would need GPS at both front and back. I have GPS at the console and have never had a need or desire to have it at the bow. I use my GPS to mark and return to structure but I always throw out a buoy marker when I find my mark. Looking at an orange maker on the water is much easier than trying to stay oriented to a waypoint on a screen. With that being said, if you "want to see what is on bottom" get a DI unit. They are great. It truly draws a picture of what is down there. You could probably stay within your budget if you got a color DI/GPS model for the console and a monochrome DI only model for the front. That would be a very good set-up that would keep you on the fish. "Nimrod" posted a link to an ad on the Arkansas forum the other day for a Humminbird monochrome DI model and I think it was about $250 on sale. IIRC it was for a 570 DI.

well, I use the GPS on my units every time out. Makes it nice to have it on the bow, some times you don't want to throw a marker, or maybe you have several waypoints in the same area and you want to troll to them and not go to the console each time. For me, it's very important, for some, not so much. The time to decide for re-speck is before he buys, not after.

I really don't need a GPS as my wife tells me where to go all the time.:yikes

But, I like the networked gps applications.