Should I get a basic fish finder or include the GPS?

[guiltypleasure]

I want to get a fish finder for my boat. I already have a small handheld Garmin GPS with approx a 2.5" x 3" screen. It's been suitable for my needs up til now, however if I'm going to get a fish finder I'm thinking it would be nice to have 2 gadgets in one as well as the larger GPS screen. Money is always an object but so is buying something that will end up being a bad purchase in the long run. I've almost talked myself into getting the combo item for the few hundred extra bucks knowing that the convenience will make me much happier.

My questions are:
1. Does that logic make sense or should I cheap out and go with a simple fish finder but stick with my small GPS?
2. I'm looking at the Lowrance LMS 522 Ci and the Garmin 178C. Any thoughts on either of these?
3. I'll have to buy some new charts. It looks like I get get all of the US from C-MAP for $100 or I can get a chart that covers most of the Gulf from NaviTech for $179. C-MAP covers more territory for less money. What am I missing here?

Thanks for your help.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Should I get a basic fish finder or include the GPS?

I don't why you limited yourself to the now discontinued 178C.
By the time you include the price of the maps to the 522 you could have bought a Garmin 4XX or 5XX which comes with the maps already loaded.

The Garmin units are network capable and are much more versatile than the 522. You can add radar, weather and fuel flow capabilities to the Garmin 4XX and 5XX series units should you desire down the road.

 

[Bamboo]

Re: Should I get a basic fish finder or include the GPS?

I have a Garmin 478, and have been impressed with it. Works great for the boat, and in the car. For the car it has all the goodies - route finding, turn by turn voice, etc. I use it frequently in the car. For the boat it is a nice, compact package that doesn't take up a lot of real estate on your dash. I didn't want to permanently mount this so mounted the Garmin marine mount on a piece of PVC which fits perfectly in the stainless steel cup holder on the dash. Came pre-loaded with the coastal maps and I've found them to be pretty accurate for my area. Lots of nice features including real time weather if you want to purchase the XM subscription. If you are looking for a unit you can use in more than just the boat, this is a good one.

 

[DRIFTER_016]

Re: Should I get a basic fish finder or include the GPS?

I have had a bunch of Lowrance units and they have always treated me right!! I would not hesitate in buying any of their products. The 522 is a decent choice, how ever if your boat is a hard top or T top you may have issues as the GPS antenna is internal. If there are any obstructions in the line of the antenna I would suggest the 520C as it has the external antenna.

 

[TBarCYa]

Re: Should I get a basic fish finder or include the GPS?

Not all of the 4xx series Garmin's are networkable. I have the 440s and it is not but I believe the 540s is.

I decided to go with a combo because of limited space at the helm for 2 units.

 

[jennis9]

Re: Should I get a basic fish finder or include the GPS?

LOVE our Lowrance 337c... the previous version to the 522. We bought the last one right after christmas and got a steal at $335 - it was a $699 unit in October! Had we not gotten the steal... I am SURE my husband would have gotten the 522. We liked that one too. Easy install, Sonar and Navigation PLUS if you want to get fancy it also has NMEA for networking. We liked all of the features on the unit.

We bought two chips and paid under $100 for both the Navionics AND the Hot Spots chips for our area. Go to the Lowrance website and poke around - the support area of the site has been really helpful. Any question we have had so far has been answered via FAQs and the tech section.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Boatist]

Re: Should I get a basic fish finder or include the GPS?

You should take your time and compare closely. One thing to know is until July Lowrance 5xx series will give you a free map of your choice.

First thing to consider is how you will use the unit. Dont know where your from but if your going to fish Saltwater I would get a unit with more power than the 522. 300 watts RMS is only enough power to about 125 feet of salt water.

Someone said Garmin more versatile which is not true. Garmin per there web site has NMEA 0183. Lowrance has NMEA 0183 also but has NMEA 2000, Eithernet like on our computers, and RS232 as well. They seamed to indicate that Lowrance 522 C could not have radar but it can.

I do not know if you can still get the Garmin 178 C but it is out of production.

If your compare the 5 inch Lowrance 522 C to some 5 inch Garmin units like the 440 C or the 540 C I think lowrance is a lot better unit.

Dont get me wrong both brands are great quality. I have a 1980 Lowrance depthfinder that still works perfect today. I have a Garmin GPSMAP 76 handheld GPS and it works perfect and I have a Lowrance H2O C that is great. The Lowrance H2O C is twice as fast and twice as bright as the Garmin Gpsmap 76.

Comparing the Lowrance 5 inch screens to the Garmin 5 inch screens.
Lowrance resolution on every unit I checked was 480 by 480.
Garmin resolution on every uint I checked was 240 by 320.
So Lowrance has more resoultion or a higher defination screen. If your useing it in full screen mode for map or dephfinder then it not that big a difference.
However if your useing in split screen mode the the Lowrance would have a resoultion of 480 vertical by 240 horziontal. Vertical resoultion is what give you the detail of fish under your transducer.
Garmin in split screen is 160 Vertical by 240 horziontal. So the Lowrance vertical resoultion is 3 times as detailed. This is like the difference for standard TV to High defination TV.

Each unit has routes that you can set up to take you from your launch ramps to your fishing spots, beaches, bait docks or Party places but Garmin units only Have 20 routes in the 5 inch screens I checked. Lowrance units have 100.
For me 20 is just not enough I have 9 different launch ramps that I use on regular basis. 2 ramps in the delta I use have over 5 routes each.

I am different than some in that I use routes on most trips even on bright sunny days. I do it for two reasons.
1: It give me confidence that the route is safe and correct for that day when the fog rolls in early without warning or that morning when you can not see more than 50 feet but want to get out. This is not the time to wonder if the route is safe to take you in or out.
2: Useing a route every trip gives me practice is selecting a route foward or reverse and useing the compass or steering indicator.

Away take your time and compare units with hands on in a store before your buy. Some Garmin unit come with preLoaded detailed maps and the higher end Lowrance HD units do also but at a higher cost. Remember the Lowrance 5xx series has a free map card of your choice unyil July.

http://www.lowrance.com/en/Free-Map-Card-Offer/?X.src=fmo1

 

[dingbat]

Re: Should I get a basic fish finder or include the GPS?

If your using it in full screen mode for map or dephfinder then it not that big a difference.
However if your useing in split screen mode the the Lowrance would a resoultion of 480 vertical by 240 horziontal. Vertical resoultion is what give you the detail of fish under you transducer.
Garmin in split screen is 160 Vertical by 240 horziontal. So the Lowrance vertical resoultion is 3 times as detailed. This is like the difference for standard TV to High defination.

The Garmin unit is 240W x 320H. Splitting the screen still leaves you with 320 lines of vertical resolution.

Each unit has routes that you can set up to take you from your launch ramps to your fishing spots, beaches, bait docks or Party places but Garmin units only Have 20 routes in the 5 inch screens I checked. Lowrance units have 100.

Garmin uses a non-proprietary SD card as its interface to the outside world and to store user data. While your limited to storing 5 routes internally there are no limitations as to the amount of data that can be stored on the SD card. You can store as many routes, maps, way points as you see fit.