Electronics Advice

[flyrdr]

I'd appreciate any advice on selecting some electronics for my boat. Last fall I bought a 18' Lund Alaskan, my first boat, and need a fish finder and chart plotter. I don't want to spend more than $800 or so. Any thoughts on combo units as opposed to two seperate units? I was thinking combo would be a good compromise for the $$. Also any brands to steer clear of? Any and all advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[SageBoy]

Combo units are nice but if the unit goes down your now without 2 important pieces of electronics. I have a Lowrance combo unit and a stand alone Garmin GPS. The GPS funtion on the combo is for backup only. I use the Garmin as the primary. If you are short on space the combo might be the way to go but I would have a handheld GPS stored somewhere as a backup just in case.

The Lowrance that I have is OK but not the greatest. The GPS never seems to stay connected and is always loosing satelites. The Garmin has never lost connection.