Fish finder vs fish finder/GPS combo

[Kahuna]

I am planning on purchasing a new fish finder and GPS for my boat. Are there any advantages to purchasing a fish finder/ GPS combo to seperate units? If so what are they? Which way would you go and why? Also, what make would you recommend? My price range is between $400.00 to $900.00. Thanks

Kahuna

[rolmops]

I have separate units,both have a 4.5 inch screen. The fishfinder is a humminbird and the gps a garmin. The garmin gps gives me the convenience of planning a trip at home on my computer and then downloading it into the unit.I am very happy with this setup.

The only way I would change this to a single unit would be by having a much larger screen so the two functions are easily readable and adjustable while being side by side on the screen.

[Wrestling Coach]

I will be getting new electronics for my boat this spring. I am headed for the Lowrance HDS Series probably a HDS7.

Dennis

[spoonfed-1]

With seperate units, should one go on the fritz, the other one still works.

More screen size unless you buy a big screen for big money.

Also I'm not tied to one manufacturer.

I like Garmin for gps and Furuno for ff.

Disadvantages would be two units take up more space and you have two installations.

Probably more money.

Personally, I go with seperate units.

Good luck

Glen

[Jack]

I have 2 units as well. A 5" Garmin GPS and Ray Marine 5" FF . Garmin pretty much leads the way for GPS. If I had the money there would be a Furuno FF sitting next to my Garmin. Although a GPS won't show you fish the map on mine shows the depth with in a foot of my FF . So if I lost my FF I could still fish with my riggers with some confidence .

Good Luck

JT

[rolmops]

I have 2 units as well. A 5" Garmin GPS and Ray Marine 5" FF . Garmin pretty much leads the way for GPS. If I had the money there would be a Furuno FF sitting next to my Garmin. Although a GPS won't show you fish the map on mine shows the depth with in a foot of my FF . So if I lost my FF I could still fish with my riggers with some confidence .

Good Luck

JT

Nice thought,but the water levels change with the seasons while on your GPS they remain the same.

[FSNmachine]

I now have an HDS7 and it works great in a split screen .On my last boat I had an LMS522 and I did not like using it in split split screen. i was going to go to 2 units. Even sold my boat without the522 so I could put it on the next boat. But this boat came with the hds7 and never got around to installing it. Now I am not sure if i should or sell the 522 or put it on the 14' tin boat.

[High Bidder]

I prefer separate units, but I made the mistake of buying a Humminbird fishfinder only. Since the fishfinder does not have a SD slot I had to buy a special unit to download the updates and also an adapter cable to connect it to the USB ports that newer computers use. I could have saved money by buying the fishfinder/ GPS unit which has the SD slot.

High Bidder

[Jack]

I have 2 units as well. A 5" Garmin GPS and Ray Marine 5" FF . Garmin pretty much leads the way for GPS. If I had the money there would be a Furuno FF sitting next to my Garmin. Although a GPS won't show you fish the map on mine shows the depth with in a foot of my FF . So if I lost my FF I could still fish with my riggers with some confidence .

Good Luck

JT

Nice thought,but the water levels change with the seasons while on your GPS they remain the same.

Very true, but when I'm fishing in Lake O in 100' to 300' of water I don't worry much about a couple feet. Between my GPS and temp probe I feel I can get pretty close to the fish . (plus seeing other boats around)

The maps on these new GPS are amazing . I can see humps and drop offs before my FF ever does. It's just another great tool to help put fish in the boat.

[TyeeTanic]

I have one unit with both GPS and fishfinding. I operate on split screen all the time, and find that it works well. The only thing I wish is the screen was bigger on the GPS side so that I can better track my planned routes or courses that I know I strike fish better on. This is where 2 units will come in handy - you get two full screens dedicated to each task.

The other thing is with combo units sometimes you lose functionality - like my Lowrance Elite 5 Gold cannot tell me trip distance. A dedicated GPS unit will likely give you some of that very good information.

Lastly, you want a unit that is DSC compliant - so you can connect the GPS to a DSC Radio. A stand alone GPS again will be easier to find with that functionality than a combo unit.

[Fish Hunter]

We have a Lowrance XC-111 10.5", and run it split screen, with Navionics.

Also have a older/smaller Lowrance finder only, for back-up.

[Silver Fox]

Check out the Raymarine A70D. It's a color combo and is sweet. If they come out with a $500 rebate again this year, you could get it for around $900.