Played with my new Raymarine Dragonfly 4 today

[Raycaster]

Just installed a Raymarine DragonFly Pro 4 on the boat this week and got to try it out today.

 

Really wanted the DragonFly 4 Pro for the wifi and chirp option and easy head removal.

 

Went out in Hamilton Bay for 90 minutes before the storm came and gave it a light workout but didn't get the rods outs.

 

Pros:

 

Easy install.

Chirp gave excellent clarity of structure

Wifi to phone worked perfect, (forgot Ipad in car in the rush!)

Worked as advertised.

 

Cons:

 

Slow boot up.

4" display very small for split screens

Lost screen is very shallow water (blanked out - not sure)

Screen "blew out" a few times with overly bright areas.

Nothing exciting found in the bay 8)

 

You can see in the first image the "blow out" I mentioned.

 

Overall the cons were more nitpicking than anything and using tablets around the boat will take care of the 4" display problem.

The 7" display was almost 2X the cost with the exact hardware and options except display size.

I didn't get super deep into the settings so contrast and color options may fix a few things.

The WiFish worked perfect on my phone but the mapping doesn't seem to come from the navionics chip in the head unit.

When ever I went split screen on the phone map/sonar the mapping was simply google maps trying to eat up phone data...

 

I do have navionics on my android phone so that split properly on its display like the vexilar unit used to.

The ipads will present glare problems on sunny days but not a huge concern.

Edited August 17, 2017 by Raycaster

[OhioFisherman]

? 4 inches is never enough?

[LeXXington]

? 4 inches is never enough?

[grimsbylander]

Just installed a Raymarine DragonFly Pro 4 on the boat this week and got to try it out today.

 

Really wanted the DragonFly 4 Pro for the wifi and chirp option and easy head removal.

 

Went out in Hamilton Bay for 90 minutes before the storm came and gave it a light workout but didn't get the rods outs.

 

Pros:

 

Easy install.

Chirp gave excellent clarity of structure

Wifi to phone worked perfect, (forgot Ipad in car in the rush!)

Worked as advertised.

 

Cons:

 

Slow boot up.

4" display very small for split screens

Lost screen is very shallow water (blanked out - not sure)

Screen "blew out" a few times with overly bright areas.

Nothing exciting found in the bay 8)

 

You can see in the first image the "blow out" I mentioned.

 

Overall the cons were more nitpicking than anything and using tablets around the boat will take care of the 4" display problem.

The 7" display was almost 2X the cost with the exact hardware and options except display size.

I didn't get super deep into the settings so contrast and color options may fix a few things.

The WiFish worked perfect on my phone but the mapping doesn't seem to come from the navionics chip in the head unit.

When ever I went split screen on the phone map/sonar the mapping was simply google maps trying to eat up phone data...

 

I do have navionics on my android phone so that split properly on its display like the vexilar unit used to.

The ipads will present glare problems on sunny days but not a huge concern.

 

Ipads do not like the heat and just like your cell phone, will shut themselves down. If you're going to mount one, which seems the obvious idea, watch the direct sunlight.

[hirk]

I have a Pro 7, very impressed with the imaging

[porkpie]

I've run a raymarine A78 since the spring of 2015. It's been an excellent unit. The only thing I don't like is that the lighthouse software can be a little bit laggy when switching screens. Otherwise, great sonar and GPS is fast and accurate. Even a 7 inch screen can be a bit small at times when on split so I added an elite 7ti this spring. It's nice having sonar on one and GPS on the other. Once you get the tablet figured out you'll have a nice set up!

Edited August 17, 2017 by porkpie

[Raycaster]

I'm usually in the front of the boat with the minn kota so being able to view a tablet/phone for depth or structure without having to run behind the console is awesome.

Just an average fishing guy so can't justify another unit for the boat.

I think $350 for WiFi, Chirp and Navionics is a decent deal and should last me awhile.