Depth Finder & GPS on a Budget

[eeboater]

Is there possibly a product on the market today that costs $100-$130 that will provide me with reliable depth finding as well as GPS?

Worst case scenario, I'll just go with the depth finder, however if I can find something fun as a combo-deal, I'll jump at that.

My father turned me onto the Eagle Cuda 250, however that is a bit out of my price range at $200.

Thanks in advance!

Sean

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Depth Finder & GPS on a Budget

Sean, I do not think you will find a usable combo unit for that price. Normally the marginal units are $600 or so. You will be able to find an entry level FF for $100, and perhaps get a handheld non mapping GPS for $80 or so.

The real issue is screensize. if you look at a 5" combo unit($600), the screen is too small to display both functions at once. You need to either use only GPS or FF or buy a bigger unit.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Depth Finder & GPS on a Budget

My best opinion would be to try Ebay. In that price range you could get an OK fish finder or and OK gps but certainly not both.

 

[JB]

Re: Depth Finder & GPS on a Budget

It is the right time of the year to get the best prices on used, maybe almost obsolete but usable, units on eBay.

There are Cuda SONARs priced under $100 that work well. Mine is a Cuda 168.

 

[Boatist]

Re: Depth Finder & GPS on a Budget

Before you buy you should find a unit that will do what you want to use it for.
Is a depth finder what you want or do you want a fish finder?
How deep of water do you want it to work in?
Just buying a unit without knowing it will work where you boat does not make much since.

Take some time and find a unit that will meet your needs then look for a good price.

 

[BillP]

Re: Depth Finder & GPS on a Budget

double post

 

[BillP]

Re: Depth Finder & GPS on a Budget

I don't think you can beat the $200 cuda for a fishfinder gps combo. The next best low price combo for about $250 is the Humminbird Matrix 12 with additional gps receiver. Humminbird's screen is larger than the cuda and has great resolution. No charting with the Matrix but the large screen lets you see a "breadcrumb" trail between waypoints.

By the way...eaglegps dot com has unit downloads where you can see and operate some of their units through your pc. It's a good way to check them out.

 

[burroak]

Re: Depth Finder & GPS on a Budget

Is there possibly a product on the market today that costs $100-$130 that will provide me with reliable depth finding as well as GPS?

Worst case scenario, I'll just go with the depth finder, however if I can find something fun as a combo-deal, I'll jump at that.

My father turned me onto the Eagle Cuda 250, however that is a bit out of my price range at $200.

Thanks in advance!

Sean

It has been my experience that a combo unit at the lower end of the price range will leave you disappointed. One of the features will fail before the other and are all but impossible to get service for. If you are not impatient, Craigslist and cash will get you a bottom dollar price.

 

[firehog6305]

Re: Depth Finder & GPS on a Budget

I just purchased the lowrance 527c for 600.00 great product, but you get what you pay for when talking about ff/gps

 

[BillP]

Re: Depth Finder & GPS on a Budget

It has been my experience that a combo unit at the lower end of the price range will leave you disappointed. One of the features will fail before the other and are all but impossible to get service for. If you are not impatient, Craigslist and cash will get you a bottom dollar price.

I can say this from working pt in a place that sells the stuff...High tech leading edge combo units are usually less reliable than basic combo units. High techs don't stay on the market long enough for the bugs to get throughly worked out. What you get with the basic units is old technology components that have all the reliabiltiy issues worked out...these basically don't change and stay on the market for yrs and yrs. The reason they are low buck is because the R&D costs have been amortised to zilch and the savings are passed to the consumer. But you have to accept not having detailed charts, extensive data bases, autopilot coupling, etc, etc. THAT could be disappointing.

 

[burroak]

Re: Depth Finder & GPS on a Budget

High tech leading edge combo units are usually less reliable than basic combo units.

I was speaking to the combo aspect of the units he was interested in. Whether they live for a long time or die a premature death, they WILL croak. When one feature does it is disappointing. At the price threshold posted, no one will work on it. In the price range posted, stand alone units, IMO, is still preferred. Otherwise be patient and scarf up mid or upper priced unit from an unwitting seller. It's a lot like getting struck by lightning, but, it does happen.