Has anyone had any experience using one of the new Raymarine dragonfly units? Up until here recently I hadn't even heard of Raymarine...how does it compare to the competition in the same price range?

I fished with James Niggemeyer and he uses Raymarine. They worked every bit as good as any of the others but I don't know if they have all the same functions. I looked into them at one time and was scared a bit because people were saying that they were cheaply made. I would give Garmin a look. There units are cheaper than the others I have seen. There 9" unit is the same price as the 7" Lowrance. I am referring to the HDS7.

Thanks for the input, it's funny you mentioned Garmin because I was really curious about those. They don't seem to get the same attention as Humminbird and Lowrance but I noticed the screens are really sharp and bright. Garmin seems to offer more for less. Don't know much about em though.

Get with Brad Shufflin on here, he is going Garmin I believe and has good things to say about em.

Check out the new Garmin 93sv you won't beat the price in another brand with the same options. Mine will be in end of the month I can't wait, did my preorder in December.

Thanks guys

Raymarine has been around for a long time and actually one of the leaders in the sonar and radar industry.

Most offshore deep sea fishing boats use ray marine

The problems I see with Garmin is they are only 4k peak to peak. And not 8k. I don't understand why such a expensive unit would cheap out somewhere that makes such a big difference.

Interesting stuff

raymarine is part of Raytheon (ray)

I ran a Dragonfly all last season as my third unit. I'm not sponsored by any sonar company. I run all Humminbird to take advantage of their side image and 360 but that takes up alot of a 10" screen and frankly I don't like all the constant tinkering needed to get good 2d sonar from hbird.

So for me the answer was to do a third unit, Dragonfly, up front and thats the transducer on my TM and I use it only for 2d sonar and DI. For me, it's WAY better 2d and DI than I could get from my hbird set up. The Raymarine is a stand alone unit meaning it won't "talk" or link to any other units but thats ok and all I wanted was a good direct under me view. Very easy to use.

The do now also have their own SI version so I'm interested...

I had a bit of buyers remorse after seeing the side view Garmin when I'd just installed my HDS touch. I was impressed and I coulda got a bigger screen for same money. A bunch of guys have got the Dragonfly and seem to love em.

Thanks guys I might just have to see what Raymarine is all about, I mean if it's preferred in saltwater it should make it that much better in freshwater. I seen a YouTube video of the dragonfly in action over an old shipwreck and the detail and accuracy was unreal the ship had 2 rails and there were small fish all around it and the unit picked it up precisely.

Just be caustious with the pictures you see posted of things in "deeper" water. If your fish less than 25ft that clarity doesn't always look like those pretty internet posts..