$500 Nav/ sonar recomendations?

I have around $500 perhpas a bit more and I am looking for recomendations on a sonar/nav.

I primarily fish the river 5a and 6.

Brand name?

Model?

What accesories will I need to be thinking about?

Anything else I am forgetting?

Thanks

Haywood

???

Ooopps. Sorry Haywood. There’s been so many posts lately this one slipped past us.

If you can stretch that budget to $519 I would recommend a Lowrance Elite 5. This package comes with transducer and GPS antennae. I would think all you’ll need is a mount if you don’t want to mount using the provided gimble.

http://www.jollyann.com/FFwithGPS/lowrance_elite_5.htm

Thanks for the suggestion.
How is ease of opperation in Lawrance compared to Hummingbird? or others

Quote:

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Thanks for the suggestion.
How is ease of opperation in Lawrance compared to Hummingbird? or others

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I personally would give a very slight edge in ease of use to the Lowrance but it really comes down to taking the time to learn your product. Each manufacturer’s system is different. Most guys seem to be fairly proficient on either platform after 30 minutes of holding the manual in one hand while pushing buttons with the other.

After running an Elite 5 for a while, the only complaint I have is that there is no exit button. It probably won’t be an issue for you if you’re not used to it. 15+ years of Lowrance experience got me very used to that button, but I’m getting used to it.

The picture on the Elite 5 is pretty good, and the GPS is better than I expected.

I have the Elite 5 gps/sonar combo. It is easy to use as long as you have the manual handy or are electronically inclined. The only bad thing is having to buy a new mapping chip. You can’t use anything pre 2010.

I see that a new finder the “DownScan Imaging™ Elite-5x DSI Fishfinder” is coming out in early 2011. The Downscan Imaging looks very interesting and is in your price range at $549. If it works as advertised I may soon be picking one up.

http://www.lowrance.com/Products/Marine/Mark-Elite-Series/Elite-5X-DSI/

Humminbird has a couple units in your price range

I switched over, like James said spend some time with it, I did find the Bird easy to learn

http://store.humminbird.com/products/399341/597ci_HD_Combo

http://store.humminbird.com/products/399598?product_id=f5b6055bac8c4fed74db0e5fbe8c4b55