new electronics

[Come to Papa]

I have a 23 ft Parker center console with T-top and need to upgrade fishfinder and GPS. Both are black and white and both are almost 10 years old and I'm having trouble with GPS.
Should I get a combo unit??
Where should I shop??
Where are knowlegable salespeople??
What brands do you reccomend??
Fishing from bay bridge to CBBT
O.K. to spend $1500 range

Any info is appreciated. Thanks for your help.

[Wiredawg]

My preferance is Furuno for fishfinders and Garmin for GPS products. I like seperate electronics vice an all in one combo, detailed info without changing between screens or looking at smaller individual screens in split mode. It all really depends on what is more important to you.

If I was shopping in your range I would go with a new Furuno 620, and I would use a garmin 545 for GPS (5" VGA display, preloaded offshore BlueChart® maps for the U.S. and the Bahamas, XM weather compatible).

For the 1500-1650 range shopping online this can be done including a middle of the road B60 transducer. You can go with a smaller GPS screen if you are mostly fishing close to shore and get a better transducer (that is what I would do).(((Remember Fish Finders are only as good as the transducer, I would opt to spend some money to get a better transducer)))

I highly recomend going to AIRMAR website for info about the transducers and their specs.... Here is a link which has a wealth of info about transducers.
http://www.airmartechnology.com/uplo...esentation.pdf

Jay

[Gerald]

May find a discount here. Hope ya do anyway.

Coupon Codes, Promotional Codes and Discounts at CurrentCodes.com

[knottfishin]

Check out BOE marine

Knottfishin

[27 sailfish]

BOE or Boater's World in Severna Park (ask for Drew).

If you have the space-I prefer stand alone units rather then combos because you get a bigger screen.Furuno is one of the better depth/fish finders.

Be sure the GPS can zoom in tight or take the chips that show contour lines . Skip

[pgoodchild]

Check out BOE marine

Knottfishin

Jim at BOE

[Popster]

Try to look at a Standard Horizon Unit. Great GPS with super customer service. I prefer it to garmin hands down.

I'm located near Lexington Park if that is any help....

[ultangler]

Wiredog & Skip make valid point on two units vs. a combo, but I'd have to toss my two cents the other way--I like a single unit because 1. you can get a bigger overall acreen for the total $$ spent; 2. less wires & dash space required with and no interfacing necessary, and 3. there's only one unit to learn. #3's the biggie for me because I despise instruction booklets. Bottom line: it's really a personal preference. And far as branding goes, you almost can't go wrong. (What major manufacturer on the market today makes junk in this price range? No one.)
The most important thing you can do is get a few minutes of hands-on experience with some different units, and find out which seems the most intuative to you, personally. To this end, write down a list of 3 or 4 common tasks (ie: setting a waypoint and navigating to it; setting fishfinder zoom; shifting through split/full screens and functions; customizing screen set-up) and run through each on different units on display in a couple of different stores. As you do so, IGNORE everything the salesmen tells you. In my experience, many will push one unit over another for one of two reasons: 1. They personally chose a similar unit and cheerleading for it reinforces their "good" decision; 2. The unit carries a higher profit margin than other ones so the store pushes it. Some stores are worse than others so far as this goes.
Don't rush yourself, have fun, and good luck!

[Come to Papa]

Thanks guys. I'm not familiar with BOE Marine. Where is it?

[drewzim]

BOE Marine is located in Annapolis. There web site shows there location. I'm looking at getting a new combo unit now. Checked out BOE Marine's web site and they are as cheap as anyone I've seen. Was going to get BW to match a price I found on the internet but I think I'll try BOE.

>>>>> BOE Marine - The nations leader in Marine Electronics and Boat Sales