I know next to nothing regarding graphs, and this may not be the correct forum for my question, forgive me if that is the case. My question is which graph would suit me best for a reasonable amount of money. I can not afford 2k, I have heard of live scope but don't really know exactly what it is, I fish mainly for crappie, thank you in advance.

My first real boat had Humminbird graphs on it, so I bought a Minn Kota trolling motor with spot lock.I also crappie fish and I wanted a trolling motor that was networked to my graph. The “go to“ feature is a must for me. When I got the boat I have now it came with Lowrance and Motorguide. Again those are networked and have the “go to” feature. I got Livescope and Garmin about 1.5 years ago. I put two graphs up front, one for 2d and down image plus GPS. I didn’t have that very long as I could not control my trolling motor from the bow. I sold one and put another Lowrance in its place. With all that said, I personally would go with a graph that is compatible with whatever you might someday upgrade too. IE newer, bigger, extra graph. Trolling motor with spot lock, if you don’t already have that. If none of that applies to you, you really can’t go wrong with any of the major brands. I found that Humminbird was easier for me to navigate the interface, but I like the Lowrance best. Garmin, for me, will never be anything but for Livescope. This is just from my personal use of those 3. I’m sure others have a different perspectives and recommendations. Good Luck and tight lines.

the good news if you can't afford livescope , the resale market is flooded with graphs from people who are upgrading.

you tube has videos on almost every graph out there. I would say regardless of brand , get the most
recent version and largest screen you can afford,
What trolling motor do you have ? that can be a big factor.

good luck

Mo

Rod has great info above, but I am going to back up some for you... Mo posted while I was typing... also great info, and both matche a lot of what I am going to say.

I was in the same game as you about 3 years ago. Had not fished much in several years, and knew about zero about the graph - fish finder technology out there. So here is some of my learnings... sorry if you are already past this.

Couple of things you need to decide on: What size unit do you want and what features. Also brand... Bigger units are easier to see, and especially better if you want to do split screens for lake maps beside your sonar, etc. But bigger cost more. I would suggest at least a 7" model for a fishing boat... I have a 9" and wish it was bigger at times. I also suggest that you make sure you have GPS on the unit, so you can mark your fishing spots.

Basically you have 4 "technologies" out there to pick from. First has been around for a long time, and just keeps getting better. The "down sonar" fish finder. This is the cheapest and basic that everyone has. Shows the 2D picture of the depth, and marks for fish, big structure, etc. This runs across the screen as your boat moves. Has a little bit of a delay from going over to showing on the screen. The next two are also delayed and run across the screen, but they are newer technology, and can give the "picture" like shot of cover on the bottom. "down imaging" and "side imaging". Really nice, but takes some learning to use. The middle priced units will have this, all the way up to the high end models. More money and you get better pictures usually...

The last and newest technology is "Livescope". This is a Garmin trade name for their product. Lowrance and Hummingbird are also coming out with stuff right now to compete. Livescope is actually real time underwater imaging. Crappie fishing especially love this. You can see your jig, and see the fish. Put the jig right in front of the fish you want... I call it video game fishing. Really has changed the game, but also expensive. About $3000 minimum to get setup with this.

Google and Youtube are your friends here. I suggest you google and read - watch some on each of the different types of fish finders. Some great videos that really show you what they can do, and the differences. Then decide on your budget. Google "best fish finder under $750" for instance, and see what you get. Some units have a lot of adjustability and others auto adjust more, all depends on what you want... they can get confusing if you over adjust... but there are youtube videos for about every unit out there, showing you how to tune them. Also people that will tune them for you.

Last for now... If you are interested in buying used, watch this forum on the for sale thread. There are always people upgrading and selling some really nice stuff, for good savings. And especially right now with Lowrance and HB coming out with new units to compete with the Garmin Livescope, I expect there will be some good deals in the next few months.

Good luck, stay safe.

Ken

JUST CALL DAVID AT SHUT-UP-AND -FISH AND HE WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU

Thanks to each of you, very informative and valuable information.

I think K E nailed it. Good info & better advice. I went h. b. used. Got both units on tff . My first unit was a 1198c, put at console has good images si, di ,gps, Was less than 800. Complete, [ thanks bruce] still works good. Bought a new helix 7 from a tff member. He wanted bigger/upgrade on his new boat, got it like $380. So two units under a grand. Like stated get as big as budget allows.

Good info above and I will echo some of it. The fact that you are just starting the electronics journey means that if you buy all new items by the ttime you learn how to use them you will almost certainly want to change whatever you start with. If I had it to do over again,and as cheap as used units are right now, I would get the largest side imaging unit of any manufacturer and put it at the console. Then I would get a unit from another manufacture and put it at the bow. This will afford you the opportunity to practice and learn how to use the units and see what you like or don't like from the different brands. It will also help you figure out what type of system might best suit the way that you like to fish. By the time you have it down the new bird and lowrance livescope items will be available and you can make an informed decision. Technology that use to be thousands of dollars is available in the classifieds of this forum for next to nothing. Take advantage of that for a very inexpensive learning curve. Also if you can possibly do so it would help to install what you purchase yourself. I am not a real mechanical guy but I did it and it helped me to further understand how everything worked. That being said when I get my "dream" system I will probably have David at shut up and fish do tthe installation. Last but certainly not least I would venture to say that working to learn these electronics is probably more important than which ones that you end up with on your boat. I am surprised by the number of folks that I see on the lake with great systems that don't know how to use them. The best tip I can give you is once you have a unit on the boat give yourself a few days on the water witth no fishing gear. It will speed up the curve for sure. Good luck.

Everyone above has given pretty solid advice. The only thing I would add is to ensure you do plenty of homework once you decide which direction you want to go. I didnt do enough of my own and just started spending money in the wrong directions. When I bought my boat, it had a brand new Ultrex on it but older Lowrance graphs. For that reason alone I decided to switch over to Birds so that I could network my graphs with the trolling motor. Found what I thought was a good deal on a Helix 7 MSI GPS G3. Spent the dough and installed it. Then learned that the brand new Ultrex I have was not the Link version, which means you cant network it. After some research, I discovered it could be upgraded to Link. Spent almost a grand upgrading the Ultrex to Link. The instructions to upgrade told me I would need an ethernet adapter cable from Humminbird in order to hook it up to the Helix. No problem, $50 and a weeks wait. Then the adapter cable doesnt fit the graph. A little more research and I discovered the Helix I bough was the wrong one. You see, I bought the Helix 7 MSI GPS G3. What I needed was a Helix 7 MSI GPS G3N. The "N" at the end designates the graph as Network capable. So now I have a fairly expensive graph I dont want and am again in the market for another dang Helix. All of this info was out there before I bought anything, I just didnt put in enough time researching it.

This would be my suggestion! Without posting your budget we’re all guessing! Put me down as odd man out on using the graph that pairs with your TM. I had it and never used it. Even pre LS days. Fish relate to different parts of the structure every day so I didn’t want the boat taking me to the same spot every time. I cruised around it and found the best spot that day.

This^^^^^^^ go spend a day with David and let him walk you through the options and prices. It I’ll save you a fortune in the long run. When you read these posts notice all the changes everyone made going through this process. Change is money.

Oh yeah, side imaging is the most important feature to me on my boat! A BIG clear picture with every stump, rock, and creek channel clearly displayed.

First thing you need to do is establish a budget then work from there.

Welcome to the forum IGG. you stated in your post that you can't afford $2K. well, does that mean you can afford $1900 or $99? we're all guessing.

High level tips. Side imaging is a MUST HAVE in my book. Any screen less than 9 inches makes use of side imaging more challenging (just my preference). The best VALUE in a 9 inch screen is the Garmin echomap 93 UHD. They went on sale around xmas for $599 and some deals are still out there to be had. The older 93sv PLUS model can be found used for $400 to $500. Bass pro will have a spring sale where some of these may go on sale again.

Good luck!