[00 diablo 00]

I am looking to buy a gps unit ASAP. I have started looking online and i am only confusing my self further. Unfortunantly, I live in the center of ohio where there are not many marinas or people that know boats. I will primarily be using the gps unit to establish accurate speed and to check depth. I will use it for occasional trips on lakes. I am not a big fisher as of now, but that could change and I would like to plan for the future. I am noticing that some of these units have down imaging which looks really cool also. I do like to buy the best when I buy and I like toys. With that said I am not looking to break the bank with lots of bells and whistles that are just over kill. I am looking for recommendations on brand name and model numbers. I assume that i will spend between $500 and $800. I would rather spend less than more. I am looking at the humming bird 700 series, but wondering if I can go to the 500 series or if humming bird is no good at all. Any info about the garmins or lowrance. I am so confused. Any feed back would be helpful. Thanks

[rayzorback]

I have used Lowrance models on my Bass boats and loved them. Humminbirds are very good also. Never used a Garmin. Size of screen pretty much coincides with the prices. "Down imaging" is good for fishing, but not so much for just boating.

[Brewfixer]

Last year I purchaed the Lowarance Elite-5 DSI and I love this unit. It has the down imaging sonar as well as water temp and GPS. I didnt think I would use the lake map feature since I have a Lund boat for fishing and my Mariah for playing but I purchased the lake map chip and it was awesome. Now I fish more off the Mariah than my Lund which has a Hummingbird.

[00 diablo 00]

So I assume that you like the Lawrence better than the humming bird for one reason or another. are they similar units or is the humming bird a much cheaper unit.

[Brewfixer]

I guess its not fair to compare my hummingbird to the new Lowrance unit because the hummingbird is an older unit. I liked the down imaging feature because I can see the bottom life like I.E. like looking at a HD picture of the bottom. from a price standpoint i just looked at the features that appealed to me and just purchased it.

[00 diablo 00]

Thanks, I will look at the lowrance