One of the little lowrance 5inch units

had one in my last tub.  it was great

Do you remember what model it was? Not fussy about B&W or colour.

thanks.

the best you can afford

have seen the basic elite model that goes well

mine was an older lms 525 i think

Go the Lowrance Elite 5 combo. Will cost you around the $850 mark inc navionics card. Easy to use and is a waterproof unit so good for a tinnie. I have one in my 4m tinnie.

I also have the Lowrance Elite 5 combo. Paid 890 inc navionics gold card from Whitworths in Leederville. Great unit easy to use straight from the box and detects your location anywhere in Aust without chasing settings. Full colour and have it in my 475 Quinie. Works a treat. The only thing it didnt have when I installed it was a fuse holder and fuse which you have to get seperately, only a couple of bucks so no biggie, just a bit wierd that it doesn't come with one.

 Agree with the elite 5 DSI, which will stretch your budget by $100, BCF is selling it for $849, incl the Gold Navionics, and the Skimmer 455/800khz transducer. Make sure you get the "5DSI" and not only 5 (older version), as you mentioned you're chasing good resolution in shallow waters (up to 100m). The DSI (Down Scan Imaging) come integrated into the Elite models, unlike the HDSs, where youve got to buy the kit separately ($700!!).

Saying that, I ended up getting an HDS7!! :s

Good luck ;)

Lowrance are good unit for a combo. Have a check of the search function up the top left also mate. It's a pretty popular topic this one and you will be able to find heaps of info your looking for.

I hope the link works for you to compare chartplotters, I agree with all that has been said already. The second link is a new model coming out and that will give you a bit of history about Samyung NF560 if you'r interested. Doesn't hurt to look and read

http://stores.ebay.com.au/Nuevo-Nova-LLP

http://www.marineallied.com.au/chartplotterfishfinder.php?SessionID=1da6924cd81ddd64005

Lowrance hds5 combo might be out of your price range but has a much better sounder , but for under $800 you can get yourself a Garmin gpsmap551s with aus/nz blue chart built in and has nmea2000 features.

I had this debate with myself about a year ago. After a great deal of research, and looking at sounders on other boats, I pushed up the budget and went  for the Lowrance HDS. I dont regret spending the extra for a second, it is an awesome unit.

 Sub aquatic, I had the same, but it was about a month ago, and even then, I reckon hds is still worth the extra money.

for all the advice.

Priorities (funds) have changed, and looks like i may have to stick with the hard copy charts for a while.

Any advice on good sounders under $450? please

i have been looking at the lowrance mark series, however i have been hearing all the pro's use furuno's and they are the way to go??

thanks!

 check out amazon mate. i am on the hunt for one too and find what you get in australia for that amount, you can usually get a couple of models up from that on amazon for the same price