Fish finder/gps

[phin#9]

Lookin to buy a new unit.Willing to spend in the neighborhood of $500 and change. I'm a rental boat guy at holiday time so I want to make this thing portable building a box for it and hopefully running off a 12v battery like I did with the portable machine.I want to be able to mark spots as opposed to using land marks as a way to get reasonably close to spots where I have caught fish that's why I'm thinking about upgrading..I know there are a lot of choices but any input would be appreciated.I know the participants on this forum are usually knowledgeable and helpful that is why I'm posing this question.Thanks for any help in advance.

[John Bacon]

I want to make this thing portable building a box for it and hopefully running off a 12v battery like I did with the portable machine.

 

 

Is there a reason why you wouldn't just buy a portable unit to begin with?

[chris.brock]

 

I'm a Humminbird guy. I like my Helix 5. The Helix 5 GPS is $390 at Sail so it's under your budget.

[porkpie]

I would go with a helix 5 as well. Cost effective and mine worked great all winter!

[NANUK]

I just switched to Garmin Echomap, comes pre-loaded with Canada maps, no need to buy extra map chips, Garmin maps are better than any Lowrance or Navionics,

Garmin's "quickdraw" feature is cool, you can make your own instant maps while you fish, no need to upload them on some site and then wait for months to get them back like Lowrance,

A 4 or 5 inch Garmin Echomap would be a good choice for a portable unit.

One thing to keep in mind, Bigger screens are nicer / easier to look at, but bigger the screen, higher the power consumption on the battery, With a 4" color sonar/GPS unit the battery will approx last you a couple of full days of fishing, On a 5" unit it will be considerably less,

On a 7" unit, you will be lucky to get a full day.

[AKRISONER]

Just purchased a second hand helix 7 with new cables and deuce for 400

 

after reading about all of the systems for me helix was by and away the champion of the $500 range units.