Newbie ??'s on gps/fish finder, I need help

[Anders]

I am looking for the best fish finder/GPS combo unit I can get for $500 or less. I however do not know a thing about buying electronics. I have used 5 or 6 in my lifetime on boats that I have borrowed from friends or operated, but now that I have my boat I need to get one for me.

I do mainly inshore fishing (under 100' of water) but may occasionally run out to 300' or so if I was down in Hatteras.

Can someone give me the low down on what to look for, brands, freq., what type of transducer, color/no color, beam, display size, new, used, advantages, disadvantages, and what ever else you can think of.

Thanks in advance.

[BarryTurano]

Just installed a Garmin 540 Great machine Very user friendly. Matched it up with a Airmar tilted element transducer. My boat is on a trailer so I can't have a fairing block. I'm not fond of transom mounts or shoot through (nothing wrong with them just my preference). Good luck

[54bullwinkle]

I bought a garmin 178c gps/map/sounder 2 years ago. Spent about 500 dollars. Works great. Great map, reads 800 feet no prob. In boat transducer epoxied to inside of bilge. Has an internal antenna. Mounted the whole thing in 2 hours. Great for a little boat.

I dont know if they still make the same model.