sub $500 down imaging fish finder/gps help

The lowrance console fishfinder on my 17 foot 1985 charger bass boat seems to have bit the dust. I want to replace it with a down imaging fish finder/gps combo. While I wish I could spring for a nicer unit, my finances are limited to sub $500 so I know I am looking at 4-5 inch unit. I want one that swivels so I could view it from the front or the back of the boat, which seems to eliminate the humminbird helix (yes I know I could get a ram mount- but why didn't humminbird make a swivel mount like other manufacturers? too logical I guess). Most of the lakes I fish are not on a chip, so I am very interested in mapping them myself which seems to leave me down to Garmin and Lowrance. Am I over analyzing this? Which sub $500 unit would you choose? Thanks in advance!

Your best and quickest deal is to call Brian at BBGMarine. Several units at deep discounted prices right now. Explain to him you situation and I bet you come out with a better unit than you expect.

Have you checked out Cabela's Lowrance sale. This maybe what you are looking for.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/boati...Tz_stype%3DGNU

I just put a garmin on my boat and love it. 7" garmin with gps and di with 2d color chirp sonar for 399 cant beat it
Jim

I just got a Garmin 73sv (non chirp) for $499 at BPS. I have not used it yet but plan to tomorrow. I will let you know what I think of it tomorrow evening.

Have you thought about a used unit off the classifieds here or on BBC you should be able to find a slightly used 8'' or 9'' unit for that like a Hummnid 859DI or something similer.

As already mentioned the echo map 73sv is on sale at cabelas for $499 normally $999. This unit gives you mapping,2d sonar, down imaging and side imaging. That is a lot more than most sub $500 unit. A nice feature it has is quick draw mapping. This allows you to map your own lakes with contour mapping in one foot depths. You would have to buy a ram mount to get it to swivel.

Like others have mentioned I think you will be able to find quite a nice unit for under $500. I just bought a one month old Hook 7 with GPS and DI for $300 and it came with the Lake Pro 16 card (surprisingly it had more lakes than I thought). The same place had brand new ones for $399. As someone else mentioned there are some Garmin 7" units with GPS for under $500 as well.

I got to use my 73sv today and am really pleased with the results. Below are some pics I took with my cellphone so please ignore the quality.

Thank you for your responses. Bluesraider, how do you like your hook 7? Have you used the insight genesis? I am thinking about putting it on a RAM Mount or Johnny Ray swivel so that I could view it from the bow. If I did that do you have any idea which mounts to use? It is one of the models I am considering, especially now that BPS has it on sale for $399. I know BPS is not a sponsor, but I have several gift certificates that I could use there. Thanks in advance.

Volfan, those are really cool pictures. Thanks for sharing! How much of a learning curve is involved with the side view? I am considering side view because most of the waters I fish here in Louisiana are shallow (less than 20 feet).

Tere is not much of a learning curve at all. I have read numerous threads on here on how to use and u derstand what you are seeing. I actually kept ths side view on the factory settings other than to lower the scan area to 50 feet.

Check out the Lowrance Elite-5 Ti. Touchscreen, more features than Hook units. I'm waiting to see if they go on sale in the spring.

Raymarine Dragonfly 5

Thanks for the advice and help. I really think that any of those units would have been great and a vast improvement over my 15 year old Lowrance unit. In the end, I chose the Garmin striker 7sv for several reasons:
(1) both down vu and side vu
(2) within budget
(3)largest screen size within budget
(4) tilt and swivel mount
(5)seems to be easy to use
The main con with the unit is lack of mapping capability, but I feel like the capability to mark points of interest will be an improvement over what I have now which is none of those capabilities. Plus, I can get the $10 navionics app for my phone for maps or use my handheld lowrance H2O. As you can tell, I decided in the end that this unit had the most advantages and fewest liabilities for me. Now to get it on the boat and on the water! Thanks again!

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Originally Posted by ftroop82

Raymarine Dragonfly 5

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Very happy with my dragonfly 7 pro forr 426$ on eBay with navionics research all I could find on YouTube. Very simple menu and great graphicsAttachment 276641


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