I am looking for some new electronics for a boat I just purchased. The more I look at all the adds, the more confused I get. What is everyones choice for a new combo unit in the 1000-1200 dollar range. The new sonar units sounds great too, but they are SO expensive.
I have seen several boats advertised with Pinpoint Units on them, but cannot find any outlets that sell that brand on the net.
I will do most of my fishing on the Mississippi River, Lakes in Minnesota and possibly some on Erie and Superior.
Thanks for any help anyone can give.

Pinpoint was bought out by Motorguide. They discontinued the locators. I used them, and they were great. I was able to bounce a jig off the bottom and watch what it was doing. If you decide to try one, I have one for sale.

I bought a Lowrance LCX 27C, which lists for $1000, but you can buy for a little over $900, delivered. I use it to fish Lakes Superior, Huron and Michigan only. I've been very happy with it.

I have not had a chance to see how it works in shallow, weedy water. Others report that the newer (roughly last 3 years) Lowrances won't work under those conditions. I have a Lowrance 334C on another boat for small lakes and I agree it will not work in shallow, weedy water (anything less than 10' in my case). I would not buy a new Lowrance for use on inland lakes until there's proof that this problem has been solved.

You'll hear comments about "lousy" Lowrance customer service. The only two things I've ever needed from them were (1) an older version of software and I got that very promptly and (2) advice on the capabilities of the 27C vs. the 28HD, where I felt I got poor advice- I have no experience with their customer service beyond that.

Humminbird 797 side imaging unit with the navionics bundle fits into that price range. So does a 917 with the navionics bundle if you want a much larger screen without side imaging. Both are around 1000 without the maps, cheaper if you shop around. After going from LEI to Humminbird and my experiences with humminbird, I just couldn't reccomend a lowrance/eagle to anyone anymore.

I have had a Lowrance 2002 LCX 16c, 18c , 28C , Now on the boat a LCX 37c 110C & 113C s 2008 now
Also Have had a Humminbird 987si, and now both the 997si & 1197 si.

Properly tuned they both work in Shallow water. Also it's the 200 mhz works best. I also am using the digital Broadband sounder to get even more detail in both Shallow and deeper water. I need to upgrade the new software now.

I know the Transducer has a crystal that wears out and also the exterior is like a nice new car exterior. IT needs to be clean and and have no burs on it. Most people that use their boats and sonar alot , must change the transducer annually. The Crystal does wear out.

I know they had problems with software upgrade issues.

Side image is great to find Structure, Lowrance is better to record . Both have their purpose.

There are some notes on who to contact at Lowrance on this site.

The key is that these are like laptop computers and keep getting upgraded to to keep up with the new Navionics and Lakemaster digital maps.


It's a vicious cycle. :muahaha:

To be clear about shallow water operation, my Lowrance 334C works perfectly in as little as 2' of water if there are no weeds. But, 10' or less with lots of weeds and the screen stops scrolling, so it gives no idea what's under the boat. I've tuned 'til I'm blue in the face. Transducer is new as of April this year. I did change from software version 1.7 to 1.6, which made shallow, weedy operation a bit better, but it's still essentially useless in those conditions.

Blueicecpa, where did you hear that you need to change your tranducer?

I have been with Walleye Unlimited USA over 10 years.

I have run into many run into great sticks that know about their boats. I also have been to "Doc" Bruce Samson Lowrance Schools several times.

Turns out that most heavy fishermen do change them annually are happy that they did.

This last year 2007 I had the unfortunate situation my 2002 Optimax 225 had a bad #4 & #6 injector. The head blew in #6. Mertains out of Oshkosh had it solved in 20 minutes and my 2002 head is now a 2005 head. They too verified the life of a Transducer is directly proportioned to how many hours the crystal is used, and to keep the exterior clean and like a new car.

Thanks to everyone who replied. I decided to go with a Humminbird 797 SI.

You made a good choice. My X510c was useless in shallow water. I had a Lowarnce X75 before it that never skipped a beat in almost any water condition.