I will be getting a new boat in the near future. I was thinking of running a 12 at the console and a 9 on the bow. I talked to a Lowrance rep and he brought up running two 9s at the console (more screen than a split screen on a 12) and putting a 12 on the bow. Any thoughts or other suggestions.

Dual units at the console is the way to go

Not meaning to sound negative about having two large units at the console but I could see at some point they might become a distraction while you're running at high speed across the lake. Saw a couple of boats at Fun N Sun that had two units side by side on the console and it appeared that a shorter person might be visually challenge seeing over them. Of course this coming from someone who only has one 10" unit beside the console so how the heck would I know.

I run two HDS 12's at my console and have no problems with seeing or getting distracted at all. I love having 2 units at the console because I do a lot of graphing and 2 units is so much better than 1! It's really all about what YOU want and can afford! You can put a single unit at the console and be just fine; plenty of people are! It's just that 2 is better than 1. You get more screens, and viewing is easier. I for one will always have 2 at the console from here on out. If I were in your situation I would go with the 2 HDS 9's at the console and the 12 up front. If that's too much I would do the 12 at the console and the 9 at the bow.

Just an FYI, I run only one HDS 12 at the bow.

I think Lowrance Rep. gave you a good set up recommendation.

I would recommend running all the same. 3 hds9s or. 4 hds9s. This way if one goes out, you have a back up.

Just buy one of the 16" screens, problem solved. I would rather do that then two units.

I opted for the 16" carbon instead of running dual graphs. I personally like everything on one screen and one unit. Besides, if you price dual units, its cheaper to get the bigger 16 anyway. Plus I think its a cleaner look on the dash.

I will second the 12 in front as its a lot easier to see standing up. I run DS, Sonar and the map on my front HDS 12. That said I wish I had a separate 9" up front as well solely for the map as I want to add side scan on the TM soon.

Having two HDS units at console is perfect as mentioned due to more screen area. The second unit could be smaller like a 9. For me, I'm always using 5 views at the console. Left SS, Right SS, DS, Sonar, and the map. I don't think 5 views is even possible on 1 HDS, whether 12 or 16.

I run a Lowrance 12 and Humminbird Helix 10 at the console. I then run a 9 Lowrance and a 10 Helix at the bow. Dual units really allow you to see so much more rather than splitting a single screen down to 3 or 4 panes. These are all on BBT mounts. The Lowrance units are what came with the boat from the factory.

With that said, I�m satisfied with what I have and don�t intend on changing. However, if I were to do it all over again, I would have 4 birds on the boat.

I have this exact setup on my FX21...
12 up front and two 9�s at the console
I really like it and will probably have this setup on all my boats moving forward.

I would do this or a 12 front and back. I would not suggest a single 9 up front.

Bigger is always better. I strongly suggest a 12 up front. This way you won't be leaning over all the time to see it.

Here�s the set up I�m probably going with. It isn�t for everyone but I think it will work.

Trend now has been to run the bigger unit up front, I guess because most of your time is on the trolling motor, I always thought it kinda weird and in the past had the biggest screen at the console and the smaller one on the bow, really just personal preference.