Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimr
Hi
I have an old Lowrance 160 that I need to replace. What are some of the best midrange units out there? Haven't looked in probably 10 years so I'm lost.
Thanks Jim
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Im not so sure I can suggest the raymarine axiom. Ive installed numerous 7'sand 9's and have come to the conclusion they are harder to navigate than E and A series (not the classics) and I think they need to work on their touch screen. Not having the money apple does, it shows they are not quite there yet.
And going to the flat UI over the use of skeuomorphism makes it 'boring' -- same scenario when iPhone. they ditched the graphical depth and went flat. blah.
however I do like how ray has done away with those silly sea talk ng plugs and finally moved over to micro C devicenet so at least interfacing doesn't require a converter anymore, but there is not more 0183.... so unless you buy a 150$ 0183 to n2k converter, the old vhf can't be interfaced if its 0183.
If you dont need n2k or network expansion than drop down to the 4-500$ range and get a dragonfly 7pro, or a garmin CV or DV series. comes with card and sonar options.
I personally chose a Hummingbird Helix 5 WITH navionics+ for my little bow rider. I saw a good value in it considering the down vision, gps and navionics card were included for 350. very fair IMO. small screen, but preferred over the square screen of the dragons.
what ever you get, find a bundle (with a card) otherwise they are about 150-200 per card depending.
decide if you need more than the now standard multifreq "chirp" or not. side scan is an option, but unless you fish, forget the extra cost. save the dough for the good cards.
they have all comes along way and are very powerful.. but I think the ability to watching netflix now on an MFD is... going too far, lots of lowrance users out there so you would have plenty of support right here on the forum
hope that helps