$1500 Budget

I currently run a Lowrance 2D sonar. Primarily fish the Mississippi and a few lakes less than 35’ for walleye.

I have ~ a $1500 budget. What do
You recommend at this price point for a hummingbird unit that has gps, SI, and traditional sonar. DI would be a nice add, but primarily want a unit for the SI.

I get a little lost trying to compare all the model versions so any guidance based on the water type I fish would be great.

Thanks in advance!

Well for starters any helix with si will have di with it. It does not go the other way though. If it says di it has di and 2d , si will have all three. If you plan on adding on to your system in the future you want to get one that has an N after the model to indicate that it will network with other graphs. If you don’t plan on adding more graphs in the future then you don’t need the networking model. So decide if you want a network one or not then look for the best deal on the biggest graph with si you can afford. I personally wouldn’t want smaller than a nine on my boat for si but a seven is probably more in that price range.

I take that back. This is a great deal.

Or you could get the nine and have enough money left to add a splitter cable and add a 2d high speed transducer.

What is the advantage of a high
Speed transducer?

A lot of people have had trouble getting good 2d sonar readings with the mega si ducer at higher speeds also the mega ducer is very expensive to replace if it’s damaged on a rock or log and it doesn’t have to be below the bottom of the boat to read si or di or 2d for that matter at normal fishing speeds. It’s probably not needed but it does make things a little safer for the more expensive si ducer. When you add the splitter cable from hummingbird for the two ducer it’s all automatic the graph will just pull info from what ducer is needed for whatever image you want. I didn’t mean to complicate it , just giving you options.

If you did want to go that route these are what you would need. Good luck!

Lowrance elite fs9. I was going to upgrade to the hds live units this year until this came out. Best side imaging in a mid range unit. I don’t buy humminbird units because they’re always obsolete in a couple months because they are always releasing new units with baby steps. I’ve tried them all. And I’ll just say there’s a reason more pros use lowrance.

Thanks everyone!

Gino wrote:

Or you could get the nine and have enough money left to add a splitter cable and add a 2d high speed transducer.

… or the map chip.

JasonP wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Gino wrote:</div>
Or you could get the nine and have enough money left to add a splitter cable and add a 2d high speed transducer.

… or the map chip.

Definitely need one of them !

If I could start over I think I’d be putting garman on . I’m too deep into the hummingbirds to change now though.

holstc wrote:

I currently run a Lowrance 2D sonar. Primarily fish the Mississippi and a few lakes less than 35’ for walleye.

I have ~ a $1500 budget. What do
You recommend at this price point for a hummingbird unit that has gps, SI, and traditional sonar. DI would be a nice add, but primarily want a unit for the SI.

I get a little lost trying to compare all the model versions so any guidance based on the water type I fish would be great.

Thanks in advance!

My opinion may not be as popular but if it were me, 2 Helix 7s. One or both being Si units. Or one si one 2d or di gps. Use one unit exclusively for mapping/2d and the other for Si/di. This option still gives you money leftover for networking, lake chips, the overly priced unit covers, ram mounts and a case or two of Busch!