Fishfinder vs GPS/Fishfinder combo

[fisheye]

Found these prices from the net:

HDS-5m £379; HDS-5x 50/200MHz £395, Navionics Gold Small £119 = Total £893

HDS-5 Combo £629, Navionics Gold Small £119 = Total £748

Difference of £145

For which do you thing shall I go?

Check if the package includes the transducer and if yes which transducer it is. with those prices you will buy the HDS 5 Combo complete with 600w trough hull from Caruana Marine and installation most probably as well including platinum chart.    

[Jonathan]

Yep, the price for the Humminbird includes transducer

[Swordfish]

I don't think it is worth getting it from abroad unless you're doing great savings. I'ld rather have the peace of mind of local support / warranty / etc. Moreover it's not the first time you hear of someone thinking he made a bargain by buying from abroad only to realise that the local agent could have a price which is just as good if not even better!

You are wrong here Jonathan. I did buy one from Camilleri Marine and I payed much much more then the one i got from Canada. And i payed for a version of 2009 and when i found out i was really pissed. The one I bought from Canada being the humminbird 798ci HD with SI [side imaging] and a 2012 version costed me even less then the 788c I have purchased from Malta then I had to pay duty taxes but still I got a bargain.

Which version did you buy?

[The_Gaffer]

This is a struggle I have with myself when preparing to buy equipment or tackle (rods +reels).  Should I go local, or purchase online.  I must admit, that practically all my fishing tackle was purchased over the internet, except my Okuma solterras, which I purchased locally since the price offered locally was very competitive when matched with the internet prices + shipping.  Especially equipment, I go for the peace of mind of having local backup where possible.  I have purchased eqipment from caruana marine (Lowrance) and when I needed new cables this year Simon was able to supply them on demand.  I have purchased equipment from medcomms (Furuno) and Mark supplied me with an extra transducer at nocost when mine was suspected to be faulty.  I have purchased equipment from RLR (ray marine) and Matthew was second to none in ensuring that all the equipment was installed properly.  What I'm saying here is that locally, our suppliers do go that extra mile to ensure customers get the best value for their money. 
When I rewired the Gaffer, I purchased all wiring and electrical fittings from the internet.  One local agent in Malta for Anchor marine quoted me a fortune for cables and fitting alone. I didn't encur shipping costs because I was travelling to the UK at that time and shipped directly to my hotel there. 
So it really boils down to personal choice and pushing the limit with the local supplier.  They are very aware of the internet prices and from my many chats with them they do go that extra mile to try and make ends meet with local clients. 

[Jonathan]

I don't think it is worth getting it from abroad unless you're doing great savings. I'ld rather have the peace of mind of local support / warranty / etc. Moreover it's not the first time you hear of someone thinking he made a bargain by buying from abroad only to realise that the local agent could have a price which is just as good if not even better!

You are wrong here Jonathan.

@ Swordfish - What did I say which you find wrong?

[Jonathan]

BTW I got the Humminbird 788ci HD Combo including transducer and including Navionics Chart covering all the Central Med. The  card for the charts by itself retails at around $300 over the internet. . Moreover, if one choose to buy from the internet from outside the EU, one has to also take into consideration the duty & taxes that would need to be paid over and above the purchase cost & shipping. As I said in my last post, I prefer to buy locally with full warranty/after-sales support/etc and would only resort to purchasing from abroad only if I can do significant savings! When the local price closely matches or even beats the price from abroad, the decision becomes even more obvious.

[malvizzu]

@ Jonathan how much deep will the 788ci HD see?

[Jonathan]

According to what I read on the internet, the Humminbird 788 reads up to 1500feet (450m) depth - http://www.worldnewelectronics.com/humminbird-788ci-combo-hd.html

I haven't tried it to that depth yet, as I have so far only been on the East coast which is shallower than Malta's West, but it has never "lost the bottom" so far.

[Swordfish]

I don't think it is worth getting it from abroad unless you're doing great savings. I'ld rather have the peace of mind of local support / warranty / etc. Moreover it's not the first time you hear of someone thinking he made a bargain by buying from abroad only to realise that the local agent could have a price which is just as good if not even better!

You are wrong here Jonathan.

@ Swordfish - What did I say which you find wrong?

Last year I did buy the 788c from Camilleri Marine and I payed much much more then the 798ci HD SI I got from Canada 2 months ago. The one from Camilleri Marine I payed for a version of 2009 and when found out I was really pissed. The one I bought from Canada being the humminbird 798ci HD with SI [side imaging] and a 2012 version costed me even less then the 788c I have purchased from Malta then I had to pay duty taxes but still I got a bargain.

[Jonathan]

@Swordfish - You still have not indicated what I said which you find wrong.

As for your repeating your last post, you are not comparing like with like. You have to compare like with like, and at the same moment in time not with a year's difference in prices! When I was researching for my 788ci I realised it would actually cost more over the internet than a simple local purchase. Moreover, most suppliers over the internet did not offer a warranty and in the case of some other suppliers over the internet, one would actually have to pay extra for a 1 year warranty or even more for a 2 year warranty (which on the other hand is included free of charge as part of the package from the local suppliers).

@Swordfish can you be more specific and share with us your source and total cost of your Humminbird 798ci which you bought 2 months ago inc. all the things that are needed for it like transducer, Navionics charts for Malta / Central Med, shipping and taxes?

[ganni]

I fully agree with Jonathan.  I can see nothing wrong in his statement.  Prices for electronics seem to crash down after some months so it is expected that you will get a better model for a similar price after some time, no difference if locally or from the internet.

I have bought most of my high end tackle from the internet, however when it comes to electronics I always found that local prices were very competitive and you will have the peace of mind with regards to the guarantee.

[Swordfish]

@Swordfish - You still have not indicated what I said which you find wrong.

As for your repeating your last post, you are not comparing like with like. You have to compare like with like, and at the same moment in time not with a year's difference in prices! When I was researching for my 788ci I realised it would actually cost more over the internet than a simple local purchase. Moreover, most suppliers over the internet did not offer a warranty and in the case of some other suppliers over the internet, one would actually have to pay extra for a 1 year warranty or even more for a 2 year warranty (which on the other hand is included free of charge as part of the package from the local suppliers).

@Swordfish can you be more specific and share with us your source and total cost of your Humminbird 798ci which you bought 2 months ago inc. all the things that are needed for it like transducer, Navionics charts for Malta / Central Med, shipping and taxes?

I didn't mean wrong but didn't agree with you. Sorry my bad!!  

The source I found was from eBay. As you might already know Gps/fish finders from the u.s. are Geo locked and has restrictions in the metrics. So from the states yes they are much cheaper but then you end up with a unit using a u.s. based metric system. For some this is okay but for me not. So i found a dealer from Canada. Canada uses same metrics as those in the E.U and they also sell the e.u. versions. If you look carefully at the box that the unit came packed in [since you purchased from Malta] you see a serial number. It must finish with -1M. That stands for a E.U version and the one from the states ends up with -1. That means the unit is Geo locked and uses a u.s. based metric system. Now every hummingbird unit comes with a transducer, brackets etc etc... so i did not have to buy a transducer but came everything in the box... the same as if you buy it from Malta. The difference is in price and believe me I did many research before i purchased from abroad. As i said before, the 788c (no HD and no SI) I bought it 870eurs and then I find out that it was a 2009 version which this is very important due to software update releases and others such as the new systems have Ethernet which Humminbird will be using this a lot in the near future. The 798ci HD SI I bought it for 820 euros and it is a 2012 version and has all the extra features such as HD and Side imaging. My point is this: I was ripped off from Malta and managed to buy a much better unit and cheaper. Yes I had to pay duty and shipping but not that much and still I would have saved much more then if i tried to get from here even tough Camilleri Marine doesn't have them and he said he won't get them any time soon as they will be very expensive.

Now re- local maps ( Navionics Gold- I did check from at least 3 local agents about these. Caruana Marine rips [downloads from their official site but then copies it on a chip] it off from the internet and costs around 140eurs, RLR Yachting went to the extreme and sells them at 220eurs and Camilleri Marine original in a navionics box at 152eurs so I bought it from him.

Anyways when buying from abroad you can always ask for guarantee etc. I never had to pay extra for this and by the way Hummingbird has the best customer service when it comes to units/transducers/cables so if something goes wrong I can always send it to them and sometimes they send you a new one or won't charge you for anything depending what the fault is. If it is a factory fault then they send it free. I use their forums a lot and they are very nice people.

Hope this answers everything!

Regards

SF

[Jonathan]

Yep, you're right in saying that the serial number of my unit ends in -1M. I had no idea that this is what it referred to.

I must say that you have actually raised a very valid point that persons who are considering buying fishfinders over the internet need to be careful of, in that whereas in Malta we are accustomed to using knots for speed and meters for depth, units bought from other countries might be locked to mph for speed and feet for depth! And as you said, this would be a matter of Geo locking which cannot be undone through some setting so it would be a drawback that one must be ready to possibly accept in getting a "bargain" from certain countries!

You are perfectly right in saying that the Humminbird 798ci HD Si is an even better set than the Humminbird 788ci HD. However you definitely did not get the 798 cheaper from abroad that you could have got the 788 locally. The 788ci HD was advertised at €811.25 at Camilleri when I got it a few weeks ago, including transducer and charts. If I am correct in understanding that the purchase price which you got your 798 at from Canada was of 820 euros, then you had to add 5%duty and 18%VAT, plus 152 euros for the card, which works the total cost for your set at €1,168, plus shipping unless that was included. I am not hereby judging whether you made a good buy or not. All that I'm saying is that this thread further highlights the fact that one needs to be very careful in making comparisons between local prices and ebay prices as the devil lies in the details and what at face value might appear to be a very good bargain might not always really be so!

As for the after-sales of Humminbird and their support forums etc, I fully agree with you on this and it is actually another factor which steered me towards buying one of their sets.

[Swordfish]

Yep, you're right in saying that the serial number of my unit ends in -1M. I had no idea that this is what it referred to.

I must say that you have actually raised a very valid point that persons who are considering buying fishfinders over the internet need to be careful of, in that whereas in Malta we are accustomed to using knots for speed and meters for depth, units bought from other countries might be locked to mph for speed and feet for depth! And as you said, this would be a matter of Geo locking which cannot be undone through some setting so it would be a drawback that one must be ready to possibly accept in getting a "bargain" from certain countries!

You are perfectly right in saying that the Humminbird 798ci HD Si is an even better set than the Humminbird 788ci HD. However you definitely did not get the 798 cheaper from abroad that you could have got the 788 locally. The 788ci HD was advertised at €811.25 at Camilleri when I got it a few weeks ago, including transducer and charts. If I am correct in understanding that the purchase price which you got your 798 at from Canada was of 820 euros, then you had to add 5%duty and 18%VAT, plus 152 euros for the card, which works the total cost for your set at €1,168, plus shipping unless that was included. I am not hereby judging whether you made a good buy or not. All that I'm saying is that this thread further highlights the fact that one needs to be very careful in making comparisons between local prices and ebay prices as the devil lies in the details and what at face value might appear to be a very good bargain might not always really be so!

As for the after-sales of Humminbird and their support forums etc, I fully agree with you on this and it is actually another factor which steered me towards buying one of their sets.

Okay at least we agree on most things. hahaaa.. Anyhow, i was comparing prices with the 798ci blabla and the 788c that I bought and not with the new 788ci hd that are on the market now. I never wanted to buy another 788 as I wanted side imaging and other smaller features that the 788 doesn't have. I couldn't compare the 798 locally as they aren't available but I am sure and happy that I made a good deal. The 811.25 for your 788 all you got for free is the charts as all humminbird transducers comes packed with all units so basically they should never advertise that they are giving a transducer.... Anyways, your 788ci hd is a very good unit and i am sure you will be happy with it. Tight lines bro and take care!

Regards

SF

[caldaland]

AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER!