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Best 9” Garmin


GregOug

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Hi all,

I have come to the decision that I can no longer live with my Lowrance HDS7 Live Gps/Sounder. So we must part ways.

I have always liked the ease of use of the Garmin products and also want to upgrade to a 9” screen. So, I’ve done a bit of research which SEEMS to show that the Garmin GPSMAP 952xs touch is the best 9” Garmin I can get. However, due to the number of conflicting, biased or ancient reviews on the net I am not 100% sure.

Are there any tech heads/gps gurus out there who can help please?

And is there any particular transducer or additional better maps that I should get?

Any help would be appreciated. 

cheers

Greg

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14 minutes ago, Andrew_P said:

@GregOug how old is the HDS7 and how much do you want for it? I could probably find it a home 😃

At the very least I would like a chance of rehoming the transducer 🐟

Hi Andrew,

It is less than a year old. I also have a Navionics platinum plus card in it. Not sure how much to ask for it. Maybe offers? Could be a couple of weeks before it is available though.

cheers

Greg

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Not sure what’s going on @Old Scaley. I responded to your post but it’s not showing now? 
Anyway, thanks for your advice. Much appreciated. I could well take it. Just hoping someone can explain the differences between the Garmin GPSMap 952xs and the cheaper Garmin Echomap 95sv, and whether the extra money is really worth it.

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8 minutes ago, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Good luck in finding the Garmin for you, Greg. I've heard they're great. Some good advice there Steve.

I'd be selling it for around twelve hundred dollars. It's only worth a couple hundred more than that brand new, and with the little use it should still be in good nick.

Cheers Hamish

Lol. Thanks Hamish. I haven’t even looked at what they cost. But if it’s $1400-$1500 for the Lowrance new I wouldn’t think you’d get $1200. Unless you include the card as well. Nah, I think $1000 for both would be more like it.

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49 minutes ago, GregOug said:

Still hoping for a recommendation for the Garmin 9” to buy, apart from @Old Scaley’s, whose advice I’m leaning towards so far.

Okay. So just saw information about the Panoptix LiveScope™ System. And it has me interested. It appears to be compatible with both the Garmin GPSMap 952xs and the cheaper Garmin Echomap 95sv. Any info on this system would be great too!

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I'm not your sounder expert in any way. 

 

The 95sv is a plug and play sounder. 

Everything is in the box to mount it up and go fishing. Will work fine everywhere up to 100m.

 

 

The 952xs is the screen only.

You have to purchase a transducer. Sky's the limit. 

If you want side scan then you will also need a garmin black box. 

Pretty sure it has inbuilt aerial. Otherwise your up for an aerial. 

It will have WiFi connection for active captain app. 

 

Go into a supplier and get a 952 drawn up in a quote with all the fruit and compare. 

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31 minutes ago, GregOug said:

Okay. So just saw information about the Panoptix LiveScope™ System. And it has me interested. It appears to be compatible with both the Garmin GPSMap 952xs and the cheaper Garmin Echomap 95sv. Any info on this system would be great too!

Now your getting into the 952 area. 

It gets expensive real quick. 

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16 hours ago, GregOug said:

Hi all,

I have come to the decision that I can no longer live with my Lowrance HDS7 Live Gps/Sounder. So we must part ways.

 

What has prompted you to part ways? Are you looking for more screen space or just want to change brands.

I've used both Garmin and Lowrance. Garmin Menus intuitive, whilst Lowrance has a small learning curve but after that I don't see much difference especially for us fishing Moreton Bay is typically shallow waters.

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I was at BCF yesterday and they had those Garmin Echomap 95sv on special for about $1350, I don't know how that price compares against other suppliers prices though.

https://www.bcf.com.au/p/garmin-echomap-uhd-95sv-combo-including-gt54-uhd-transducer/590352.html

Actually I just checked again and it is even lower again as a clearance item at $1119^ as it has a ^ symbol next to the price I would make sure that it is new and comes with all the accessories. I don't know what the difference is in the transducers.

https://www.bcf.com.au/p/garmin-echomap-plus-95sv-combo-including-transducer-and-charts/551396.html

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2 hours ago, Ed. said:

I was at BCF yesterday and they had those Garmin Echomap 95sv on special for about $1350, I don't know how that price compares against other suppliers prices though.

https://www.bcf.com.au/p/garmin-echomap-uhd-95sv-combo-including-gt54-uhd-transducer/590352.html

Actually I just checked again and it is even lower again as a clearance item at $1119^ as it has a ^ symbol next to the price I would make sure that it is new and comes with all the accessories. I don't know what the difference is in the transducers.

https://www.bcf.com.au/p/garmin-echomap-plus-95sv-combo-including-transducer-and-charts/551396.html

Thanks Ed. My boat dealer is going to source the new unit for me and do the removal/install.

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2 hours ago, Hweebe said:

What has prompted you to part ways? Are you looking for more screen space or just want to change brands.

I've used both Garmin and Lowrance. Garmin Menus intuitive, whilst Lowrance has a small learning curve but after that I don't see much difference especially for us fishing Moreton Bay is typically shallow waters.

I’m really looking for more screen space first and foremost. And as I am upgrading I thought I’d go the Garmin, which I am used to. Another factor is the actual dimensions of the unit. The Lowrances are slightly larger and the space is tight.

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1 hour ago, GregOug said:

I’m really looking for more screen space first and foremost. And as I am upgrading I thought I’d go the Garmin, which I am used to. Another factor is the actual dimensions of the unit. The Lowrances are slightly larger and the space is tight.

I started out with a 7in. Was running split on Chart, Structure and traditional sonar, this was also too small for me.

Ended up keeping the 7in, networked a second 12in and I really like this setup. Smaller unit for charts which is synced with the Larger unit for the structure and sonar.

I ran out of dash space but got a RAM arm on gimbal that allows me to move the second display any which way.

Just a thought....saves mucking around with new transducer. Just some network cables and plug in to power and you are away. Completely DIY as it was straight forward.

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32 minutes ago, Hweebe said:

I started out with a 7in. Was running split on Chart, Structure and traditional sonar, this was also too small for me.

Ended up keeping the 7in, networked a second 12in and I really like this setup. Smaller unit for charts which is synced with the Larger unit for the structure and sonar.

I ran out of dash space but got a RAM arm on gimbal that allows me to move the second display any which way.

Just a thought....saves mucking around with new transducer. Just some network cables and plug in to power and you are away. Completely DIY as it was straight forward.

Thanks @Hweebe. I don’t think the Lowrance and the Garmin would get on though.

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The Garmin comes with the ActiveCaptain app, which connects your smartphone or tablet to the head unit for software and chart updates, so your other option would be to use a tablet for navigation and leave your Garmin unit for sonar/sidescan and downview. That would give 2 screens of at least 9 incheswith no additional cost. By the way, You shouldn’t need to buy any extra maps. The pre-loaded maps are pretty detailed and you can update them for free using the app.

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9 minutes ago, Old Scaley said:

The Garmin comes with the ActiveCaptain app, which connects your smartphone or tablet to the head unit for software and chart updates, so your other option would be to use a tablet for navigation and leave your Garmin unit for sonar/sidescan and downview. That would give 2 screens of at least 9 incheswith no additional cost. By the way, You shouldn’t need to buy any extra maps. The pre-loaded maps are pretty detailed and you can update them for free using the app.

Thanks @Old Scaley. When I was doing my research yesterday I saw that Garmin bought Navionics out a couple of years ago. They have supposedly combined the best of both charts and created BlueChart G3. These charts are available for Garmin now. I will look into it further.

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1 minute ago, GregOug said:

Thanks @Old Scaley. When I was doing my research yesterday I saw that Garmin bought Navionics out a couple of years ago. They have supposedly combined the best of both charts and created BlueChart G3. These charts are available for Garmin now. I will look into it further.

There is more information here - https://www.navionics.com/usa/charts/features/garmin

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The BlueChart G3 comes free with the unit. Paying for the premium version isn’t going to get you much more in the way of useful functionality. Why not try the pre-loaded maps for a while and then upgrade to the premium version if you think you could use any more features? The modern units have way more tech tricks than most of us will ever use. 

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21 minutes ago, Old Scaley said:

The BlueChart G3 comes free with the unit. Paying for the premium version isn’t going to get you much more in the way of useful functionality. Why not try the pre-loaded maps for a while and then upgrade to the premium version if you think you could use any more features? The modern units have way more tech tricks than most of us will ever use. 

Yeah. You’re right. I just like to be aware of what’s available when I’m making a purchase.

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