depth finder

I'd comb the sporting goods stores and boat dealers between now and the 1st of the year trolling for a closeout.  I lean towards Lowrance but only because I understand their menu's etc.  Lots of good units out there if a guy just learns how to run them.

I have the Lowrance 520c's on my boat and love them. I just wish I had bigger screens.

Hey simsy, I bet your sonar isn't the only thing you have that you wish was bigger?  (grin)

Take a good look at the humminbird 900 series with side imaging. i guess that is pretty cool, although i have never seen it. you can get them that have the side imaging, gps and color depthfinder for right around your price. the 700 series would be fine too, just a smaller screen and less money. i am currently running a 587ci humminbird and overall i like it. but i have nothing against the lowrance electronics either.

Yeah, Your right Prov. I wish my boat and motor were bigger. My wife wishes I was a little smaller. LMAO

I seen Scheels in Minot had some units on sale yesterday.  They ranged from 550 to 1600.

I bought a new Humminbird this spring.  I checked out both the HD from Lowrance and the Humminbird.  Lowrance has had some problems with the HD units early in the year.  My brother in law bought a HD 7 for his new boat this year and he has had problems with it.  The side view on the Humminbird is great and the plotting and mapping features are great.  I wish it had a bigger screan but they run about $2000 or so.

The Humminbird 997 is on sale at Cabelas for $1499.  A bit over what you want to spend but it would be worth it.

Lowrance has come out with a side imageing transducer. I run 4 Lowranceces in my boat and I've had some problems with mine, but Lowrance has been really good at dealing with these problems even when the warrenty has run out. I suggest buying the HD units because they have the Broadband sounders built in. And the maping is awesome. I had to buy a broadband sounder for my LCX units to get the quality that the HD units already have. But I would say that all the units that are made for fishing are good units its all about presonal prefrence. Hummingbirds side imageing is good once you get use to the way the screen displays the shadows and dark areas as structure.

I thought I saw Cabelas advertising the Eagle 642 GPS/Fishfinder combo for ~$350.  It is a 5 inch color model and accepts all the chips that Lowrance does.  The big downside with this is that you can't network the units, doesn't have a flasher, and Lowrance is dropping the Eagle line.  I would suspect that you could still get parts and service down the road though. 

i have a X37 C that i may part with.