Advice for a beginner with high-speed electronics

Up until now I’ve always had a pretty old electronic unit on the boat (can’t even remember what kind it is). It shows “fish” on screen but I’ve verified many times that it gets false readings of basically nothing, so all I’ve really used it for is depth. Getting a new motor soon and figured might as well upgrade electronics while I’m at it.

I like Humminbird, I use the ICE-55 for ice fishing and ‘bird is what I’ve been around others using the most. For a guy like me that’s just venturing into the real nice electronics world…where..on…earth…do you start?

Price isn’t a huge deal but I don’t need to get the latest and greatest either. I spent some time with some others using a Helix-7 last summer and seemed to like that, but I have no idea if there have been years of upgrades and new models since then.

Any advice at this point is helpful, I make no attempt to try and cover up the fact that I really know nothing about real nice electronics.

Most units you’ll find are really user friendly. I run a g2 Helix on my boat and it does everything I need and probably a lot more. I’d suggest, once things open up, go to a Scheels or Cabela’s to help you decide which layout you like best. If you’re not too concerned on price I would suggest at least a 9 inch screen. You won’t regret going with a big screen.

As Tom mentions a 9 inch unit is great and if your wallet is okay with it definitely do it, but if you’re just entering the realm of electronics and don’t want to break the bank sticking to the 7 would be my recommendation. Price tends to skyrocket above the 7″ range. If you don’t foresee yourself using Side imaging or down imaging you could get away with a Helix 7 CHIRP GPS and be very happy with the results. I have side and down but rarely use side unless trolling shallow water and never use down for anything- it appears to be worthless compared to the powerful 2D sonar but it could be that I haven’t investigated it enough.

I will say the Lowrance unit I had, when it functioned, was a little more user friendly than Humminbird. But the bird typically functions, and when I had a problem customer service was at least available which cannot be said for Lowrance in my experience.

Bird, Lowrance, and Garmin all offer units packed with features at reasonable prices. A helix 5 DI GPS G2 can be had for around $300, and would be a great upgrade and introduction into “modern” units.

If you’re going to get SI, a 9″ screen is the minimum I’d recommend for visibility. Even without SI, in order to read a split screen of 2d sonar and map I’d still say 9″ minimum.

Thanks everyone for taking the time for advice, I appreciate it.

Geez, looks like there’s a major price jump between the 7 and 8 inch models, that extra inch costs about $500! Then the 9″ is another couple hundred! I’ll have to think that one over and decide if that extra inch or two is worth it/needed.

Myself and a couple other Humminbird owners were pushing a friend towards a Helix until we saw a screaming deal on a 9″ Garmin. After seeing it in action, super user friendly, more features than the bird and cheaper.