dav Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Hi Raiders, Iam trying to get my head around all the tech info on fish finders, i fish freshwater & coastal estuaries. The tinnie came with a finder but its an $99 condor, only good for water depth & water temp. Would love to get advice on a fish finder models around the $600 price range, GPS is not important at all, is chirp better then non chirp etc... Just after people's thoughts & experience on various models around that price range. Cheers Guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefish Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 I have a lowrance elite 5 chirp, first purchased a couple of months ago. 1st trip it shut down 4 or 5 times, sometimes when the boat slapped on chop, sometimes when the boat was at rest in calm water. Second and third trip it stopped reading the bottom. Then the head unit was replaced without any drama. First trip no fault Second trip, did the reading .4m thing, doesn't respond to restart. Did a bit of no fishfinder while the sonar still worked. In discussions with the manufacturer to see what happens next. Piece of shit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NaClH2OK9 Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Yes CHIRP will give a much better output than non CHIRP. Tbh there are so many units offering very similar features probably the best thing is try a few out in the shop and see which interfaces you like the feel of. This will allow you to narrow the field a little. You can then narrow further with personal experience from members on reliability and manufacturer support. I'm a fan of the simrad / Lawrence features and menus but that's personal preference. they all keep jockeying for position with there new releases and price point. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smasher Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 (edited) I've got a Raymarine Dragonfly with the navionics gold cartography charts. Before that I only had an old black and white screen Hummingbird so nothing really to compare it with (other than what my mates have). But I'm pretty happy with it.. I thought the user interface was a bit clunky at first but once you get the hang of it its easy to navigate your way around. Of the models on offer from what I found the more you pay the more screen size you get. (some options like GPS and downvision are not on the cheaper models) I'm having an issue importing .GPX waypoint files that I got from here, and I'm waiting to hear back from their tech support for that. When I have all of my lights on at night the sonar & downvision doesnt work it says "low power error" - but that's just my battery obviously isn't supplying enough current. Easy enough to just turn off my halogen headlights while I'm needing to sound around. One feature I would have liked is if it had a USB port on it to allow me to plug it directly into my PC and then use the navigator software to organize my waypoints and routes in the comfort of home (like I can with my car satnav) rather than having to do it all in the boat using the on screen keyboard. Can be a bit time consuming. Not sure if other finders offer this feature or if its even an issue for you? but thats my 2 cents. Edited November 16, 2015 by Smasher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonywardle Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 I have a Lowrance elite 4. Cost about $250. Seems to work ok, not that I've had much luck With the money I save, I got a $99 android tablet (lenovo - cheapest I could find with a GPS) and installed Navionics on that so I have maps too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dav Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 Thank you very much guys for your input. I was looking at the Dragonfly but the nearest retailer to me is in the ACT (i live near Albury). The ones on my short list are: Garmin Echo 551dv $549 Lowrance Elite 5x chirp $379 Humminbird Helix 5 di $520 I went to bcf to have a look at the Garmin & Lowrance screens & interface etc.. & they both look great but there is close to a $200 difference in price, there is a boat joint around here that stock the Humminbird so ill pop in there to have a look. Cheers Guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 I use an elite 4 dsi as a depth sounder and water temp. For a plotter, I line up that headland with the end of the beach! Cheap as Cheers scratchie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
night_rider Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Funny I was about to post up the same topic! You're right Dav, there's a big price difference there.. I actually just missed out on a near new 550DV, had arranged a price via gumtree but the guy had it on eBay aswell, didn't tell me and I missed out! Wasn't very impressed... I'm looking around the $300 mark... I've found a local shop that has the older Garmin 350c in stock @$199 which is $100 off, but I believe the new DV tech is much better... Can anyone share their thoughts on that? (Sorry for the slight highjack) Cheers, M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dav Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 Went & had a look at the Humminbird Helix 5 di & i think i have found my new finder, beautiful screen colour & very easy to use. Thank you everyone for your input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PM79 Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 (edited) Garmin Echo 551dv $549 Lowrance Elite 5x chirp $379 Humminbird Helix 5 di $520 I went to bcf to have a look at the Garmin & Lowrance screens & interface etc.. & they both look great but there is close to a $200 difference in price That's because the Elite 5x has no chart plotter. Edited November 17, 2015 by PM79 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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