Boat Electronics 101?
 

So I am looking at a 22' ish bay boat. I am not familiar at all with modern boat electronics. What do I need, what is nice to have, and what is just extra luxury. Basically I am looking for most bang for my buck, a good value, but not cheap junk.

Any thoughts?

Gps, baitwell, trolling motor. Everything beyond that is luxury

VHF radio is a good idea too

VHF radio, gps / sonar is a must in my opinion

What's the best GPS for the $$$?

You can get a combo unit with the GPS and Sonar etc all included in one unit. Just do the search.

Cant go wrong with Garmin 441s $4-500 r 5 series btw $6-700 gps/sonar

So GPS, Sonar and a VHF radio, I can handle that. I was quoted $1500 for a 5" GPS at the Nauticstar Dealer, $2500 for a 7" and $3500 for a 10". Made me want to do a little research of what I should be looking for rather than just take their word for it. Literally put 5" GPS on the quote, not a model name or anything! They also quoted the boat 15% higher than what others dealers where selling them for and wouldn't order the options I wanted because I wouldn't be happy with them???

I mean you can spend 1500 on a 5" but it better be an HDS 5 with structure scan. I don't think can go wrong with any of the major brands; garmin, lowrance, or hummingbird. They all have their pros and cons. I would go to a place that sells em that they are hooked up and play with em. In my experience garmin is the easiest to use and has a really good basemap. Lowrance is a little more complex but you can fine tune the sonar better and seems to have more features(like down scan the ability to hook up your engine to get performance data). I dont have any experience with hummingbird but I know people that are happy with theirs.

Late model 20-22 ft bay boats seem to be pretty much non existent. I have a reason I want to get the boat in the next 1-2 months. By the time the boat makes it to the dealer I will have the electronics already, I might even buy the electronics from the dealer I just need to know a little bit about them before purchasing. I am going to go play with the displays at Bass Pro, West Marine and Cabelas and see if there is something I like, then price them on BOE and Similar sites.

I know I want GPS and Sonar, and a VHF radio. I am debating if I want separate units or all in ones. I will have them on the boat for the maiden voyage, just need to more information to be prepared for a salesman. Unfortunately, I don't think I will be able to deal locally, so I am reaching out to dealerships on the other side of the state.

Do nOt buy ur electronics from a dealer!!!! Those prices u were quoted are crazy high!! U can install these units Urself,look at hummingbird, garmin & lowrance. Make sure they are all similar when u compare.
Pm me if u got ???

Electronics
 

X2, never buy electronic's from a dealer! In fact I would not buy from a marine store. All of my electronics were purchased online.

Some good sites to check are Ebay (do not buy from an individual)
The GPS store, Marine Electronics Unlimited, and getfeetwet.com are some of the places I have purchased from. There are a few others out there if you do a Google search.

Go to the West Marine or Cabela's to play with these unit to see which you like best but don't buy from them. You can save a good chunk of money by buying online and as Purebay mentioned install them yourself.

Get the biggest screen and highest resolution you can afford, you won't regret it. I prefer seperate units but others like the slpit screen. I use a 10" Garmin GPS and a Garmin 340C bottom machine and it works great for what I need. IMHO, Icom makes the best VHF and get you a good quality digital antenna.

Gater

Exactly, I would not by them from a dealer, all they do is jack up the prices on electronics.

PM Southshore Marine on the site and talk to him about electronics. He does it for a living.

I didn't really plan on buying from a dealer unless they just offered a good deal, or Cabela's or Bass Pro. West marine matches online prices, so I didn't rule them out, and you extend the warranty by 2 years if you join their club for $24 a year. I like the idea of two separate units rather than all in one, I looked at video's of installing transom mount transducers, looks like the most complicated part of the install, and that was pretty simple, just had to make sure it was mounted at the correct angle.

I know the elite5 from Lowrance has a 50.00 mail in rebate right now and I think they run about 550.00. They are a gps/sonar combo.