Another Fish finder question

[Stump bumper]

I have a very out dated black and white hummingbird fishfinder on the front of my boat. I am looking at the new Helix series and am limited on what I want to spend. My question is what do use use more on the front your down imaging or your GPS, since I plan to stay around $250 I will have have to choose between the two.

I would not drive without a GPS but I have one by the wheel and SI is not worth the extra money to me on a 5in screen, my eyes are too old to make sense out of SI on that small a screen.

So for those that have DI and GPS if you had to choose between the two witch one would you choose?

This for the front only.....

[J-Doc]

If I was wanting to stay on a particular spot, GPS for sure. They are built in the units now days.

Downimaging only works if the boat is moving. It's not a good picture unless you're moving over a certain mile per hour. I think it's .5 or .7mph? At least for Lowrance it is.

I have the ability to use side scan, downscan, sonar, and mapping on my 7" screen on the bow but honestly, I don't use side imaging or down imaging that often. When I do, it's too hard to see at that size and my structure /down imaging transducer is at the back of the boat, not the front. In your application, it would be on the front.

Chirp sonar is a higher defined sonar image. If I were to get one as you're describing, chirp sonar and gps is the way I would go. But I don't think Birds offer chirp technology yet.

[J-Doc]

I typically have a split screen on the front. Standard color sonar and a small screen for GPS. Sometimes I turn off the GPS to max out the sonar screen.

If I'm on the move looking for fish, I may turn on side scan but it's not often.

[jeb]

Look for a used 798CI SI. You get it all in one package that way. And the screen is very sunlight viewable. I use my 798 up front like JDoc describes. But when I do use SI and/or DI on the front, it's sure a great tool to have.

I just got an Onix 8 touch screen for the console. That thing is flat awesome! But pretty pricey.

[Tanderson15]

Since I bottom Bounce it's nice that I have all three. That way I can stay on contours, look at brush piles and hopefully some fish. Always put your best unit where you fish. If you troll on the back , if casting or what on the front, then place it there. It's always fun to have new toys.

[Feathers and Fins]

HDS-5 on the front of my boat and I use it for the GPS and Sonar 95% of the time. Gps is to keep me on a spot without having to drop a buoy and Sonar is all you need to fish. I do on occasion flip on the sidescan but it is purely done to look around and see if there is fish off to the sides or another piece of structure ( I could do it by walking to the back unit but sometimes its simpler to flip it on, on the front unit )

So I would suggest a unit with the GPS / SONAR split screen option, beyond that for what you are wanting nothing else needed.

[Stump bumper]

The reason I like the new HELIX series is the price, color and 2 different functions for $250. I am going to replace both of my dated black and white models within the next year. Once I have both I can change out the console and front to have what I need when I need it. The GPS at the console is a must for me and I always shoot through the haul so I can get depth readings at any speed and not worry about the transducer getting messed up.

I am excited that with these new units I can replace both units for around $500 and that is the cost of the old Eagle black and white GPS/Graph I bought 10 years ago.

From what I am reading the DI is a good to have feature, so I am thinking one unit with GPS/fishfinder and one with DI/fishfinder though I could add $50 and get the GPS/DI/fishfinder for the front? That would bring the total cost of both up to around $600.