Fish finder/ chart plotter recomendation.

[gasman]

Looking for recomendation on fish finder/chart plotters.

Time to upgrade my HDS5 Gen2, been looking at the HDS9 LIVE, or Simrad GO9 SXE.

I do a fair amount of saltwater but mostly freshwater fishing. I fish everything from walleye on Potholes, kokanee on Chelan, trout at American, salmon in the PS as well as lings and halibut on the coast in my 18 Raider.

Looking for an all around unit that will show good structure when walleye fishing, schools of kokanee suspended, and rock piles in the deep bottoms for lings.

TIA for your thoughts.

[Crunchy]

I am in the same boat.  Still running my Gen 1 HDS 8.  I will probably stick with Lowrance since I have never had any issues with mine.  I will probably go with the LIVE 9 incher.

[Stein]

I'm in the same boat with my Elite 7 ti, thinking about either going with a 9" or taking the money and buying a 1 kw transducer.  I think the ducer may be the better use for the money though.

[dilleytech]

I recommend going away from lowrance. The QuickDraw contour feature my garmin has is worth it’s weight in gold. I’ll never go back to lowrance personally

[fishngamereaper]

Honestly all the major Brands are competitive. It comes down to what your comfortable with and price point..lowrance is good especially when you add in side scan features. Raymarine, Garmin are also just as good. For me personally I'm running simrad nss Evo series. I have a 12" at the helm linked to a 7" at the rear helm. I love the functionality and ease of use. But I also fish deep saltwater mostly and look for life in 300-600 ft of water. That's where the transducer plays just as big a role. I'm running airmar 150 chirp. I can pick apart fish from bait at crazy depths.

It all comes down to budget and how important a really good system is to you finding fish.

[dilleytech]

Honestly all the major Brands are competitive. It comes down to what your comfortable with and price point..lowrance is good especially when you add in side scan features. Raymarine, Garmin are also just as good. For me personally I'm running simrad nss Evo series. I have a 12" at the helm linked to a 7" at the rear helm. I love the functionality and ease of use. But I also fish deep saltwater mostly and look for life in 300-600 ft of water. That's where the transducer plays just as big a role. I'm running airmar 150 chirp. I can pick apart fish from bait at crazy depths.

It all comes down to budget and how important a really good system is to you finding fish.

Myself and everyone I know have had nothing but problems with lowrance units. I feel mos reconsider them to be bottom of the barrel in quality.

[fishngamereaper]

Honestly all the major Brands are competitive. It comes down to what your comfortable with and price point..lowrance is good especially when you add in side scan features. Raymarine, Garmin are also just as good. For me personally I'm running simrad nss Evo series. I have a 12" at the helm linked to a 7" at the rear helm. I love the functionality and ease of use. But I also fish deep saltwater mostly and look for life in 300-600 ft of water. That's where the transducer plays just as big a role. I'm running airmar 150 chirp. I can pick apart fish from bait at crazy depths.

It all comes down to budget and how important a really good system is to you finding fish.

Myself and everyone I know have had nothing but problems with lowrance units. I feel mos reconsider them to be bottom of the barrel in quality.

Mid range.. depending on model..like every manufacturer they make low end and they make high end..I think everyone has a horror story about a certain type of MFD.

I ran the hds for year's never had issues. Switched to simrad and still no issues..all navco stuff.

[Stein]

I've ran Lowrance units for over 20 years and the only problem I have had is the marketing on new ones always tempting me to upgrade.

My buddy uses Garmin and has been happy with his.  I think in the modern times that there are a bunch of great electronics out there.

[gasman]

I've ran Lowrance units for over 20 years and the only problem I have had is the marketing on new ones always tempting me to upgrade.

My buddy uses Garmin and has been happy with his.  I think in the modern times that there are a bunch of great electronics out there.

Agreed, switched fro  Hummingbird o st 20 years ago to Lowrance, and have no issues with them.
Buddy has a Simrad, and it works great....

My biggest thing is screen size. Going with 9", no matter what brand I pick...... With that said, and $$$ not in consideration, I'm looking for best one on the market for accuracy, readability,  features, etc......

[fishngamereaper]

Personal choice..if I was buying a new MFD in the 9" range I would buy a Simrad nss Evo 3. And a high quality chirp transducer.

[gasman]

Personal choice..if I was buying a new MFD in the 9" range I would buy a Simrad nss Evo 3. And a high quality chirp transducer.

Ok, what is the difference with the Evo 3 and GO9 SXE?

[fishngamereaper]

Personal choice..if I was buying a new MFD in the 9" range I would buy a Simrad nss Evo 3. And a high quality chirp transducer.

Ok, what is the difference with the Evo 3 and GO9 SXE?

The big ones- power, screen clarity- especially from angles, networking with other units, the go series is touch screen only which sux if your hands are wet, slimy etc. 

There are a few others as well. As to not get long winded Google go9 v. Evo9. Couple good videos on YouTube I've seen in the past.

[gasman]

Personal choice..if I was buying a new MFD in the 9" range I would buy a Simrad nss Evo 3. And a high quality chirp transducer.

Ok, what is the difference with the Evo 3 and GO9 SXE?

The big ones- power, screen clarity- especially from angles, networking with other units, the go series is touch screen only which sux if your hands are wet, slimy etc. 

There are a few others as well. As to not get long winded Google go9 v. Evo9. Couple good videos on YouTube I've seen in the past.

I like touch screen,  but I'll check out the videos.   

[fishngamereaper]

Personal choice..if I was buying a new MFD in the 9" range I would buy a Simrad nss Evo 3. And a high quality chirp transducer.

Ok, what is the difference with the Evo 3 and GO9 SXE?

The big ones- power, screen clarity- especially from angles, networking with other units, the go series is touch screen only which sux if your hands are wet, slimy etc. 

There are a few others as well. As to not get long winded Google go9 v. Evo9. Couple good videos on YouTube I've seen in the past.

I like touch screen,  but I'll check out the videos.   

Touch screen is awesome..but go is only touch..Evo series is touch and easy to use control knobs. I prefer both options.

[blackpowderhunter]

i went from older lowrance hds gen 2 to a garmin gpsmap 942xs...the difference between the 742 and 942 (7 inch vs 9 inch screens) is quite remarkable.
my uncle has the 742xs on his hewescraft...went out with him once and i was shocked at the difference in screen size.
so i'd say get the bigger of the screen sizes.  once you start running split screens and such is when it makes the big difference, especially if you add in split zoom.
with that said..ive been happy with my set up and running the gt23 chirp 600watt ducer.
i'll probably splurge for the 1kw soon..likely the High Wide 185..

[hhack]

Solix with SI

[PolarBear]

40+ years using every brand of sonar in fresh & salt, pleasure and commercial use and dozens of units. Lowrance is the only brand that NEVER let me down. Humminbird would be second choice. Garmin would farther down the line. Lowrance owns and developed most of the technology that the others use. 

[PolarBear]

Honestly all the major Brands are competitive. It comes down to what your comfortable with and price point..lowrance is good especially when you add in side scan features. Raymarine, Garmin are also just as good. For me personally I'm running simrad nss Evo series. I have a 12" at the helm linked to a 7" at the rear helm. I love the functionality and ease of use. But I also fish deep saltwater mostly and look for life in 300-600 ft of water. That's where the transducer plays just as big a role. I'm running airmar 150 chirp. I can pick apart fish from bait at crazy depths.

It all comes down to budget and how important a really good system is to you finding fish.

Myself and everyone I know have had nothing but problems with lowrance units. I feel mos reconsider them to be bottom of the barrel in quality.

 

[MADMAX]

Garmin
User friendly