Getting a CC 239, any gps/fish finder recommendations?

[lou]

Hi,

This new center console 239 looks sweet.  There's a ton of room for electronics.  I was thinking of getting a gps/fish finder combo, one of those 12 inch flat screen displays.

Anyone have one?  I'm looking for recommendations.

Lou

[Juan]

I don't have one but I'll say there are a lot of different brands and a lot of different opinions on which is the best. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the better known brand names... Lowrance, Garmin, Simrad, Raymarine, or Furuno. It also depends on what you want... in addition to gps and sonar some have options others don't like radar, auto pilot, 1080 screen resolution, etc.

I'll also add that flush mounted electronics are clean and look great but there may be problems with viewing angles and since most electronics are obsolete and discontinued in a very few years after they hit the market, you'll have a hole in your console that might have to be adjusted for future electronics should you upgrade.

[catchersrock]

If I had it to do over again, especially with a brand new boat, I would go with multiple smaller displays. Say, two 9" units. It is cheaper and you get bigger screens of how you will usually use it, split GPS / Sonar. I looked at a new boat recently that had no gauges on it, just two flat screen displays. The new motors and electronics will talk to each other and all the motor info can be displayed on the screen.

I would go with two 9" Simrad flat / touch screen units.

[gnrphil]

I agree with catchersrock, if I had the room (and the money) I'd have two smaller screens. I like the Simrad stuff , especially the one that do the auto routing. I wouldn't be surprised to see that on the Garmins before too long though.

[lou]

The two screens sound like a great idea.  Does that create any complexity with tranducers, etc?

Lou

[gnrphil]

No expert on this here but I believe two units can share a transducer or mirror the image from one hooked up to the transducer, either way you could dedicate one to charts and radar and the other for bottom machine and engine data or any combination.

[catchersrock]

Most folks have one unit set up for transducer use and the other for gps and engine data. Im not sure if you can hook one transducer to both head units, but, it is easy enough to un hook and re hook one cable if needed.