Hummingbird 717 + Wideside Transducer

I'm getting ready to purchase a Fish Finding System.
I can't and wont spend a thousand dollars on one with today's gas and other prices its difficult to justify $300.00. I have a 14' duracraft with a 15hp Evinrude. Its a nice Crappie rig and suited for the shallow oxbow lakes I fish Average depth 8'. After doing a lot of reading I've found the Hummingbird 717 CHO. The PDF manual for the 717 states that the Dual beam, Quadrabeam Plus and the WideSide transducers can be used. I can purchase the 717 CHO for $150.00 and the WideSide transducer for $82.00 from the Hummingbird website. At $230.00 +S&H that would be the most bang for the bucks and the best suited for my boat and fishing. My last FF a Eagle succeeded in making me neurotic till I quit fishing so I'm apprehensive about even trying again. I'm going to call hummingbird CS to find out about using the wideSide.
Has anyone used the 717 with a quadrabeam plus or wideSide?
FIN


http://store.humminbird.com/humminbi...6730-1CHO.html

I have the 787c2i, the places that I fish have lots of stumps, the WideSide I put on the trolling motor but could not see the stump's straight down before I would hit them. I changed to the Quadrabeam and love it. I run the Dual beam on the back and use the A/B switch to change back and forth between them. I would not trade them for anything.

can you see suspended fish with the wide scan good

can you see suspended fish with the wide scan good

You can set the screen to three windows, down, left and right. It was a little hard to get use to but now that I'm use to what it is showing ,there is no guess at where the fish is instead of having every thing on one screen. I spider rig most of the time and can adjust my next pass by what I see to the left or right.

I decided to get the 727c over the 717 not much more for the ultra-high resolution screen. I think its worth it. Know where I can see some pictures with the wideside transducer?
fin

FIN...I dont think you can go wrong either way. I have the 717 and am well pleased with it..Just thought I would pass this on to you. The least expensive place I found to get almost anything is at www.hodgesmarine.com Shipping and handling only $6.95. Usually gets to me in 3-4 days. I have ordered several things from them and so far I haven't found anyone that beats them. But I am always looking:D Good Luck