Thread: Upgrade to side imaging?

Garmin 73 sv can be had at a good deal if you look around...

The more something cost the more I research before I buy. I found a Garmin for friend of mine for under $500.00 it had a 7" screen but that was his budget.

I have used both Garmin and own 2 Lowrance Units. HDS 12 and 9 Gen 3 units. I was impressed with the Garmin side scan on their big unit but the lesser units were less than desirable in my opinion. Mapping is a must as far as marking wood,rock, ect. and placing wpts on them and being able to return and fish them again without searching. I know nothing about birds but have heard good things. It's like opening a can of worms when asking which unit everyone suggests. Do your home work and study YouTube videos as much as you can. Good Luck and Tight Lines......Ranger

I think your Best Buy is the Garmin Stryker as long as you can live without mapping. I put one on the bow of my boat and it is perfect for me tho I'm about to give up the side and down imaging for the integrated sonar transducer on the Ultrex.

Originally Posted by callmecamo

Thanks for the input, Lonnie. Which brand are you partial to?

I use Humminbird 597 DI and currently installing a Helix 10 SI Gen1.

I covet a down scan greatly right now and know my lake well enough that the gps is useful when the fog is so thick I can't see the bank. A side scan would not be helpful to me because of the depths I usually fish in but these post have given me lots to consider when it becomes time to get a new fish finder From what I am reading on this post, gps, mapping, down imaging and side scan would be the combination to look for if any have that combination.

Do most of you really like SI much better than DI?

I recently put all new electronics on the boat I just purchased. I studied and reviewed every unit out there for months wanting to make the right decision. I looked at Lowrance, Hummingbird, Garmin and Ray Marine. Every one of them today are impressive but it came down to dollars. In the end, I just couldn't justify the cost of the high end birds, Lowrance's or Ray Marine's in the 9 to 12 in size. I could not see an advantage in spending 2000.00 vs 1000.00 so I ended up going with the Garmin Echo Map 93SV with chirp for under 1000.00. I could not tell a nickel's worth of difference in any of them. My old units would find brushpiles fine but the new ones with good down imaging shows whether there's fish in the piles so it saves a lot of wasted time. Again as others have said, get the biggest screen you can afford.