General Advice on Electronics

[Botanist]

Esteemed Colleagues,

This is general philosophical question on electronics. If you had X amount of money to spend on new fish finder/chart plotter which is the better tactic.

Buying a larger unit (i.e. 9 inch instead of 7 inch) with less features.
Buying a larger older technology unit (something that came out 2 or 3 years ago)
Buying the most recent technology but a smaller unit (7 inch instead of 9 inch).

When does size trump features

i currently have very old technology and small size (10 - 12 year old Lowrance unit)

Thanks,

Ron

[Jim R]

I think the Lowrance Gen 2/3 HDS 10 units can be had for good $

[Rip Bass]

I also had smaller 5” Lowrances,a 510 and two 332. New larger units are more than I want to spend and the newer Lowrances are not very user friendly,IMO. So I went with larger,used Birds. An 898 and a 998, both with SI,DI,mapping and Ethernet. I linked them together and now have a very nice set up for about $1000. New graphs are way overpriced and I don’t fish enough Tournaments now to justify the cost.

[fishin couillon]

What is your budget?? With new units being out or coming out, some of the "old" still new units are being discounted.....IMO, if you buy Lowrance, i'd get one with warranty (if possible)......

[Skeeterbait]

Size matters if you are over 40 and need the size to see it clearly.

[IndianaBassMan]

Console or Bow?

[Botanist]

My budget is probably about $1000 give or take. I was planning on just a counsel unit now and then adding a bow unit in a year or so after learning how to use the first one. I hadn't really considered buying used. I typically like to have a warranty.

I see the new units coming out so part of the question is it better to buy an old unit and get something slightly larger or spend the money on the newer technology.

[jdwo2212]

With a budget of 1k, you can get 2 nice used units and cover both. You could get like a 9inch and 8inch hds gen 2 for that. Just sayin.

[paulrodbender]

Like jdwo said, with 1,000, I would look for an HDS 8 and 10 or Bird 99_ series and a 119_ series. Can't go wrong with either and nothing wrong with used. More important is to learn how to use what you get.

[Basshaker]

I bought new helix units this spring. First fishing boat and never owned any fish finder, not a fan of buying used electronic in general either. After a summer of use I am happy with what I did but I realize the concern of buying used isn't a big deal, pay attention to the costs to properly install what you buy.

You did the right thing by setting a budget and Paul's comment about learning to use them is spot on.

Good luck