Fish Finder - Wide Screen or Tall Screen??

Hi everyone

I am looking to get a new Fish Finder. It got me thinking, if most of your sounding/fishing is for demersals and other bottom fish, are you best getting a screen like a Furuno 587 (tall screen, relatively narrow) or a wider unit like the GP1870F which is essentially a very wide but short screen.

Does the image on the wide screen show more distance of bottom than the narrow, or is it the same distance but just stretched over the wider screen?

I'm really interested to hear your comments.

Cheers

Brad

____________________________________________________________________________

I did then the best that I knew how. When I knew better, I did better.


Paul H's picture

Posts: 2104

Date Joined: 18/01/07

My understanding would be a

Thu, 2013-08-15 16:28

My understanding would be a wide screen would just hold the history longer as it scrolls right to left, if on sounder only.  Height of the screen would be the only thing relative to depth.  Wider screen would be better in split screen modes though such as GPS/sounder or Sounder/Structure Scan splits etc.

 

Cheers

____________________________________________________________________________

Youtube Channel  -  FishOnLine Productions

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbUVNa-ViyGm_FTDSv4Nqzg/videos

southcity104's picture

Posts: 1659

Date Joined: 27/01/09

if find

Thu, 2013-08-15 16:27

 the perspective you get from looking at a 17inch moniter is great. bigger is better imo. check out the hondex units. you can run them both ways and chatting with some commercials they get good reviews. i run a 585 on my rec boat and would like it to be wider as when you have 'a' scope and bottom zoom you dont have a whole lot left for your normal picture. 

____________________________________________________________________________

"Its a life style job"

bradz's picture

Posts: 693

Date Joined: 29/10/07

17 inch

Thu, 2013-08-15 19:47

Would love a 17inch monitor.

____________________________________________________________________________

I did then the best that I knew how. When I knew better, I did better.

Paul H's picture

Posts: 2104

Date Joined: 18/01/07

+ 1 on the bigger is better

Thu, 2013-08-15 16:40

+ 1 on the bigger is better but relative to your budget of course.

I'm about to get my 3rd HDS 5 (one dedicated sounder and one dedicated GPS and the third is to be a combo but just used to display structure scan - getting the combo unit for backup purposes) and probably have spent enough to just get an HDS8. but I figure if one stuffs up on a trip - thunderbirds are still go

 

____________________________________________________________________________

Youtube Channel  -  FishOnLine Productions

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbUVNa-ViyGm_FTDSv4Nqzg/videos

Furuno Australia's picture

Posts: 16

Date Joined: 01/03/13

Combination units or combo's

Mon, 2013-08-19 12:08

are great but they were designed as a space / cost saving option to the dedicated or stand-alone units.  There's only so much you can fit on a 5" or 8" display so the most effective way to utilise the display for multi-function use is in the landscape mode. This allows the user to display a sounder and plotter image side by side which is great for drifting over reef. Or if you using it for pure navigation, set to single display mode using the entire display for the chart, likewise for the fish finder mode. It's a very cost effective way of giving boat owners both sounder and plotter functions in a single affordable yet space saving unit and that's what it was designed for. Furuno is one of the few manfactures that still offers the option of stand-alone units. Many serious fishermen prefer the stand-alone sets like the FCV-627/587 where the display orientation is in portrait mode which is ideal when using shift mode, bottom lock & bottom zoom. The use of easy to adjust settings like GAIN, RANGE, SHIFT etc via knobs is also a huge benefit over menu driven or soft key settings which is common in combinations units. Other than some unique user features, there's not much seperating plotter performance but there's a big difference between the different fish finder manufacturers. The advice we give keen fishermen is to buy the best sounder/transducer that they can afford for the budget they have and make the effort to install the transducer properly. A plotter is important but a good sounder is essential. If space and budget is restricting top of the range stand-alone units then the GP-1670F / 1870F will give you the best of both worlds. I hope this helps.

____________________________________________________________________________

Furuno as received the NMEA Award for BEST FISH FINDER for 42 consecutive years!

Follow us on Face Book: www.facebook.com/FurunoFishingFanatics

Please note that as a sponsor of Fishwrecked, Furuno Australia cannot monitor posts made by members across all threads. As much as we support and encourage discussions about our products on social media it is not recognised as an official means of company correspondence. For any questions relating to Furuno equipment please contact our official distributor in WA, Taylor Marine. All contact details can be found at: www.taylormarine.com.au or via our official JN Taylor & Co. Pty Ltd website: www.jntaylor.com.au

bradz's picture

Posts: 693

Date Joined: 29/10/07

Furuno

Mon, 2013-08-19 12:44

Thanks for the reply

The unit will be used predominantly as a fish finder as their is already a GPS/Fishfinder combo on the boat....just not a very good one. Happy to use the existing unit as GPS only, and the new Furuno combo as mainly FF. This will give me redundancy capacity as well as a good unit for when the original gives up the ghost.

Cheers

Brad

____________________________________________________________________________

I did then the best that I knew how. When I knew better, I did better.

dant's picture

Posts: 504

Date Joined: 13/03/13

im in the same boat as you

Mon, 2013-08-19 12:51

im in the same boat as you bradz - i have a sht combo on board now, in between choosing from a combo or just a plane fish finder. im not sure if the fish finders are as good on combos??

so it wil be either HDS7 or a 627.

sea-kem's picture

Posts: 14833

Date Joined: 30/11/09

 Go for a stand alone fish

Mon, 2013-08-19 13:06

 Go for a stand alone fish finder Dan. I have the 585 and 1kw tranny and it's an awesome unit. And saying that I have a HDS 9 for my GPS as they are such a user friendly unit. You've seen my cockpit lol.

 

____________________________________________________________________________

Love the West!

dant's picture

Posts: 504

Date Joined: 13/03/13

yeah i was thinking that

Mon, 2013-08-19 13:30

yeah i was thinking that myself mate just needed a nudge either way, just hope the old GPS keeps up for a bit, seems like it will.

haha - have i ever, felt like i was in gold class at the cinemas - i was using your screen for navigation as it was clearer than mine from 50 metres away.

Furuno Australia's picture

Posts: 16

Date Joined: 01/03/13

Recent deep water test off New Zealand

Mon, 2013-08-19 20:35

showed that the Furuno FCV-587 with 1kW transom mount transducer punches way above its weight. That's meters, not feet


 

____________________________________________________________________________

Furuno as received the NMEA Award for BEST FISH FINDER for 42 consecutive years!

Follow us on Face Book: www.facebook.com/FurunoFishingFanatics

Please note that as a sponsor of Fishwrecked, Furuno Australia cannot monitor posts made by members across all threads. As much as we support and encourage discussions about our products on social media it is not recognised as an official means of company correspondence. For any questions relating to Furuno equipment please contact our official distributor in WA, Taylor Marine. All contact details can be found at: www.taylormarine.com.au or via our official JN Taylor & Co. Pty Ltd website: www.jntaylor.com.au

Posts: 38

Date Joined: 21/06/13

Stand alone

Tue, 2013-08-20 10:35

Second stand alone. Your not fiddling between two funtions