Which units for new side by side set up?

[nautilus]

I am looking at purchasing a Boston Whaler 220 Outrage and it looks like there is enough space on the centre console dash for two units. I would like to get big screens, one chart plotter and one sounder, although (and I could be wrong) there does not seem to be a lot of difference in price between combo units and individual units, so two combos are also an option. In the past I have had Lowrance and found them to be pretty good, however I am really interested in having excellent sounding capabilities, and not so fussed about all the bells and whistles on a GPS. I would be grateful for any recommendations.
Cheers, AlI am looking at purchasing a Boston Whaler 220 Outrage and it looks like there is enough space on the centre console dash for two units. I would like to get big screens, one chart plotter and one sounder, although (and I could be wrong) there does not seem to be a lot of difference in price between combo units and individual units, so two combos are also an option. In the past I have had Lowrance and found them to be pretty good, however I am really interested in having excellent sounding capabilities, and not so fussed about all the bells and whistles on a GPS. I would be grateful for any recommendations.
Cheers, Al

[scottar]

It will depend on a few different things. Do you want all the same brand for asthetics? What do you mean by excellent sounding capabilities - shallow with ultra high definition or maximum depth capabilities? Are you really good with this sort of gear? Have you a budget in mind?

My personal preference is for dedicated machines. I really like the Garmin GPS systems. I find the software intuitive and the reliability is good. That said, what I find intuitive and easy to operate and what someone else does may be vastly different animals. GPS systems are all pretty good nowadays. Go have a play with a few. Look at the simple day to day stuff - how many waypoints, how long does it take to enter a waypoint name, chart detail in the area you fish - green zones etc, picture refresh rates when you zoom in and out. When you sort yourself out a feature list that is important to you, think of the stuff you do day to day. Too many times have I seen someone all caught up in a particular unit because of one flashy function that is really just for showing off to their mates when the day to day stuff in that particlar machine is sub standard or a PITA to use.

Same goes for the Sounder. Think of the day to day functions - range adjustment, gain/sensitivity adjustment, zoom/shift adjustment. My background is offshore fishing in depths from 30 - 150 metres. I have a personal preference for the sounders from the Japanese manufacturers. They dont have the bells and whistles of some of the more modern gear but they just work. That said depending on your budget and requirements something with a Chirp type sounder may suit better if maximum depth is a requirement. Don't just go off the brochures as to units depth capabilities if this is important. Try and find screen shots and make sure you are happy with the quality of the images.

As for combo units - they are a good comprimise. My current boat came with a Furuno GP7000F fitted. It has an excellent sounder in it and a reasonable GPS. I do find myself pushing more buttons to get access to basic day to day functions though. Due to keypad space limitations this is typically the case. Combos are good to provide backups if you are that way inclined or have space or budget constraints. Make sure if you go this way that the sounder can be either turned off via the menu or synchronised with the second unit to prevent interference.

Regards

Scott

[honda900]

Al,

I have 3 units in my boat, two combo's and a dedicated furuno sounder. I use a Garmin 750 unit as my primary GPS, and a Lowrance HDS 9 as my secondary combo.

I find this combination gives me the best of all worlds as I don't have a single point of failure.

If I were doing two units, I would consider the strengths and weaknesses of two combo units that did specifically what I wanted, I would buy each one specifically for its primary strength then use the other features as a backup (you may never need to). I would also consider having a pair of the same units if they suited my needs, but probably would look to have each as a combo, so I had a backup.

You find some distinct advantages of running two different brands, mapping for instance (Bluechart V Navionics), ease of use, familiarity. I also find two gps units to be a great advantage, one zoomed showing close up detail and one zoomed out showing distance.
The down side is the transfer of marks etc, (its not a issue for me).

Also the way in which sounders interpret data. I find the furuno to be far clearer and crisper at speed, where the lowrance shows to much clutter and is fairly unreadable. Yet at rest the furuno shows blobs and the Lowrance shows much higher detail. Realistically they both complement each other to a degree.

Anyway, don't know that it will help you much, but maybe something to think about.

Regards
HOnda.

[chocolatemoose]

pros and cons everywhere in this world.. i would love to buy an awesome fitted suit.but then id look like i worked at a funeral home. so i stick to jeans and kahkis

running 2 units of the same family "be it 2 garmins, or 2 raymarines or 2 lowrances.. or 1 lowrance one simrad" has the advantage of having a genuine 100% backup. and usually skimps on the need for running dual transducers "if you were to keep things a combo...case in point. 2xsimrad nss12's one BSM1 sonar module box if one nss12 goes ghost then you have an entire back up. so.... tick for that one

however honda has a point. garmins simplicity and CHIRP intergration is pretty dam good "And cost effective" but you may desire highfrequency side imagine from navico "lowrance/simrad" or humminbird. because the Garmin sideVu can be costly. also allows for running Vision maps in the garmin with all its groovyness and navionics in the simrad with its benefits of detail and DIY mapping "insight genisis"

so the big question........do you have a budget?

Moose

[nautilus]

Thanks for the advice provided. Sorry about the delay in response, I have been away (not fishing unfortunately). My budget is around $5k for both units. I am hoping this brings me into the range of most recreational (as opposed to professional) options. I am not familiar with the "CHIRP" functionality. Do lots of sounders have this now, or is it limited to Garmin?
I am most interested in the highest clarity possible in 10 to 100m water. Clarity at speed is not such a concern as I am usually trying to get somewhere when going fast and not interested in the fish, but good clarity at trolling speeds is critical.
Also, as a side question? Can you run two transducers (i.e. one on the port side and one on the starboard) or do they interfere with each other?
Thanks for the assistance.

[chocolatemoose]

hey nautilus . how much room do you have for these units?

[perko]

Furuno 587 and Garmin 12 inch gps would be my choice.

[scottar]

Agree with perko on this one.

[chocolatemoose]

1020xs garmin and simrad nss12.
i have reasons but there has just been some kind of weird teenage realted car crash at the house next door. brb

[chocolatemoose]

ok so 10" garmin non touch screen running the tm150 chirp 300w transducer. fantastic in waters deeper than 20mt and less than 100mt not really much will come close to it. other than running better transducers. 1020xs dont come with built in garmin mapping . but at least you can then whack in a g2 vision card for a few bucks and g et the benift there as well. on the other side of it id run a nss12 screen as my gps. touch screen is REALLLY usefull for plotting. and seldom used for sonar "with side imaging maybe the example" the simrad is going to give you massive display for not a lot of coin . ordinarly i would say stick with the same brand. to allow for redundencies and back up etc.. so like a simrad nss7 evo2 or simrad evo 2 9 and a simrad 12. but "And well in a way i would still recomend that" but by splitting it between youll get all the benifits garmin have and then all the benifits navico have. would come under 5 grand as well.

Moose
rm

[scottar]

Definately agree with the touch screen being important on the GPS side of things - makes entering waypoint names so much quicker and easier to the point that if it came down to budget constraints I would get a smaller touch screen over a larger unit with buttons - remember texting with the old school Nokias - compare that to your Iphone of today.