My existing system is old....like me. Time to upgrade.
Here is what I have:
Furuno 582L
Furuno 1751MK
Furuno GP1650
Furuno GP36
ICom 422
Plenty of fish die with this stuff but its time to move on.
Looking at a MFD.
I am leaning towards the new TZTouch3 and looking at the 12. Budget is about 10k. I am not opposed to Simrad or Raymarine but more familiar with Furuno.
Thoughts?
What you need to do first is to determine what you want out of your new system and the expectations. The best upgrade might be your transducer if you are looking into an improved sonar performance. If your boat doesn't have a 1KW Airmar B175HW or similar chirp transducer, you should consider it. Upgrading to a chirped sonar is a must for most fishermen. It basically is like going from low definition TV to a high definition TV. It gives you better target separation and resolution compared to a conventional sonar. The amount of sound energy in the water is greater than a conventional sonar, so you will have better performance. For 3D, the Furuno DFF-3D multibeam sonar is one of the better sonar for 3D capabilities. However, other vendors are not that far off. As for radar, Furuno is also well known for their radars also. Furuno is not always on the cutting edge of technology, but they have been a reliable workhorse for many people.
As for ease of use, I believe the Garmin and Humminbird fish finders are the easiest to use. Next would be Furuno, Simrad and finally Raymarine. Raymarine makes reliable systems, but their menus on the older electronics can be confusing.
In my opinion, Navico units (Simrad/Lowance/B&G) are more cutting edge where they throw in the latest features and internet integration into the units. In the past, they have been known to update generations of their units in almost 1-2 year periods. The Simrad EVO3 (and EVO3s) series are their latest versions and has been out in the market for many years. They have also been very popular because of the budget Simrad GO series which gives many of the same performance as the EVO series without the networking capabilities. The good thing about Simrad/Lowrance is they share practically the same menu structures in their whole product line and the support is good from the user community. However, their tech support lines can be lacking at the lower tier levels which is expected from most companies. Once you get to the higher tier level support, they are more knowledgeable.
Garmin and Humminbird is slightly slower in rolling out new generation of products. They are slower in releasing new generations of their units, but have mostly caught up with Simrad units in terms of latest features. These units are definitely easier to navigate. When I first switched to Simrad, I used to complain that Simrad tends to hide the configuration deep into nested drop down menus while Humminbird is a lot more user friendly.
Most of these fish finders use similar CPUs. They are mostly single, dual or quad core ARM-based systems. They are also running a version of Linux. Most of the difference are their firmware and connectors used to interface with the CPU. Some use scroll wheel like Simrad while others use buttons like Lowrance units. I personally find the scroll wheel on the Simrad EVO3 much easier and faster to navigate especially when zooming. Its a pain to use multi point zoom on a boat when your fingers are wet or full of fish slime. I always miss the scroll wheel when I go back to testing on the Lowrance units.
I don't believe you can go wrong if you modernized to newer Furuno, Garmin, Humminbird, Simrad or even Raymarine. It really comes down to your own personal preference. The best way is to test it out on someone's boat or in West Marine. Once you figure out what you like the most, it comes down to check the current prices against your budget. The main thing is to get the largest screen that can fit your boat and budget. The larger screen area makes it much easier to read and use, especially when you have split windows.
Good luck.
In recognition of your obvious affection for UCLA, and in light of the name “Traveler” proudly emblazoned in cardinal and gold on the back of a boat being discussed. You may want to request photographic evidence to corroborate this story. How do you know this guy isn’t happily running a full suite of Garmin electronics at the moment? It was a pretty tough season for some last year!
What an awesome place to have your kid play ball. You must be proud.
