i have a lowrance X51 up front and a lowrance flasher at the drivers console. the X51 is only a $225 unit. will upgrading allow me to find structure easier and faster or are the upagrades just more bells and whistles for luxury and not really going to help me locate structure any easier. another words if i cant catch fish with a $50 rod, upgrading to a $200 rod isnt going to catch more fish.

The newer units with the map features and gps will enable you to find specific structures alot easier. Once you have cordinance saved on the unit and you get close to where it is you just turn on the map feature and you will be able to drive straight to it . If you can afford them they are worth the money.

i forgot to mention i use a hand held gps already. so is the map feature alone going to save me a great deal of time locating structure from what i already dont have? how is it any different from using a hard copy map and putting the coordinates from it onto my hand held gps and using a $225 sonar unit to locate?

You need a Lowrance color graph/gps minimum 480 x 480 pixels as well as a Navionics Hot Maps card for Texas. cost is approx $600
Bart

The best value out is an Eagle 480 (black and white). I've got one on the console and it works great. I've got a Lowrance 510 (color) on the front. The color is nice but the black and white works almost as well.

I disagree with Joe and would never have another black and white locator. If price is an issue keep the one you have until you can afford the color unit. No comparison what you can see with ease.
I have a handheld h2o finder and the 332c. The hand held ones are ok for hunting etc but on the water too small. my .02

I concur..
I will never go back to black...

My personal add to this is if you think you need to, you probably do. However, d oyour homework on the units and find the one that works right for you. I would pony up for color, but I'm a die-hard. It DEFINATELY is NOT a necessity.

Let me ask you this one.

Can you pull up on a tree with black and white graph, tell the difference in what is tree and brush and see the fish while you are watching your jig getting ready to hit that arch on the head.

Thats the difference in my Lowrance X85 and my new 27c.

I have tons of maps by different companies. Prime example. Lake Fork and top maps. Always looks like a big hump on the east side out in front of Caney where the road bed comes out.

Navonics shows that same hump as two humps with the road bed running north of them. I anchored in between the two humps for the first time and had some great C rig fishing. The two humps or the saddle between the two is a sweet spot, and I don't mind giving that up because rarely do I fish anything on Fork that is easy to get to.

Granted, it wasn't the Graph that showed me that, but my new graph gave me that capability.

I starting to think the new graphs are cheating.

Matt

I have a 797 in dash, interlinked with a 787 on the bow. I can graph a bridge in 20' while driving at the console, see it perfectly on my side imaging unit, put a gps point on it, get upwind, drop trolling motor, and set up perfectly because it is on the 787 up front. I set the scale on the gps up front to be 100' so I know the structure is a full cast length away. Then I split the screen to show half map, and half sonar. Perfect setup for an offshore spot.

I would recommend you match your electronics with your fishing needs. For example, if I just went out and fun fished a couple times a week at a local lake, I probably would not invest $2000 in graphs. But if you are competing in tournaments regularly, then I would recommend you upgrade because you are competing against anglers that have all this technology.

color does not matter.( yes color may be eaisier to see in bright sunlight, and more sharper looking to the eye). Just get a quality graph with enough pixels, and turn off all the filters that are designed to make a pretty picture, and you will be able to see fish on the structure. Some pros still use black and white units. I use a LX 15 mt( black and white) on the front and a 28c(colot) on the back. they both can mark fish well, and see my bait dropped to the fish

Almost all of the newer Lowrance/Eagle units are 480x480 resolution. Even the bigger screen units are the same resolution. If the graph is set up right, it comes down to how often you use it. Experience is everything.