GPS/Fishfinder Recommendations?

[Brian N]

Edgewater 185 DC

I'm looking for something to replace the old separate GPS and Depth finder that are on it now. I'll be minting it in a bracket on the console where the current GPS is.

Mostly lake boating around NH, with the occasional trip around Portsmouth Harbor and the offshore area around there.

I'd prefer a combo unit to minimize dash space. I'm seeing lots of options from Garmin, Hummingbird, Lowrance, etc.

Any recommendations to help me narrow it down?

 

[PascalG]

I found the Simrad Go series to be excellent value. We ve had a GO5 for years on a 15’ rib and recently upgraded to a GO9. I also put two GO 9 on my 53, networked with a Simrad AP thru nmea20000. A few months ago Defender had the Go 9 on sale at $499. The sounder works well and they have various xducer options

 

[Golfman25]

I have a Garmin GPSMAP 743xsv in mine. Pretty much can do everythign with the right accessories. Right now I have it handling engine gages. I have it networked with a larger unit that handles radar and charts.

 

[Bob Ware]

I like Garmin but that's all I've ever had on my boats. I have always had separate units so can't speak to pros/cons of combo units.

 

[Bill D.]

I've run both Simrad and Garmin and for awhile had both on the same boat. For me it was easy to get caught up in 'features' I really didn't need or would rarely use. While I haven't shopped in a few years and now that I'm down toonly one small Whaler I've gone with a very basic Garmin, it has gps route tracking, no mapping, and typical ff setups. I run it in single or dual screen modes. That's all it does and I haven't missed not having much more advanced features. It was hard for me to not buy the bigger tech, but I managed to not do it. Personally I doubt you can go wrong with either brand so my only advice is meet your real need and shop price.