So this is going to be a long post so sorry for that. I ended up buying a lowrance elite 7 that went on the bow last fall. I bought a hds gen 3 7 for the console with side and down imaging. Then I am running a gen 1 hds 5 on the console for mapping purposes only. I kind of settled on the two 7s because we were going to only have the boat another year or two.
My dad is actually the guy that owns the boat. I’m the guy who uses the electronics all the time. I bet my dad couldn’t even turn a unit on. With that said he lost his job in December and my parents financial situation changed drastically. Therefore he will no longer be upgrading boats at this point. I don’t see myself being happy with those 7s long term so I bought a hds gen 3 9 for the bow and was going to buy a 12 for the console.
I have always been a 2d sonar guy with no down or side imaging. I’ve had some people tell me garmin side and down imaging is not the best? They said it’s pretty much worthless as far as marking walleye hugging the bottom. Honestly I’m not in a financial position to be buying 3 graphs right now. I was thinking just using the 2d sonar for this year and then next year going up to a hummingbird mega for side and down imaging.
I’m not the best with technology and stuff. I don’t come even close to utilizing my electronics to their capability. That said I know they are a huge tool and want to change that. Are the garmin pretty user friendly? What all do you guys recommend? I want touchscreen. I would go with a 9 on bow and 12 on the console. Thanks guys.
