I am buying a new locator/gps unit combo unit. Anyone have any recommendations on a reliable unit that gets a good GPS signal. I want the GPS to be as accurate as possible as far as the contours and depth. Something that is a good value for the money spent. The advise is much appreciated. 
What is your price range?
$500
$1000
$2000
The Lowrance LMS-520C is a great choice. The external antenna provides good GPS reception and the unit will accept both Navionics Premium Maps and Lowrance Lakemaster maps. A lot of the guys here have chosen this unit. Let us know if we can help. 
I would go up to 1500, for top quality if possible, less the better. Or whatever the best value for the buck.
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The Lowrance LMS-520C is a great choice. The external antenna provides good GPS reception and the unit will accept both Navionics Premium Maps and Lowrance Lakemaster maps. A lot of the guys here have chosen this unit. Let us know if we can help.
OMG Wade !! I haven’t gotten to tell you how happy I am with the 520c i bought from you…
This unit with the North chip has the Mississippi River channels set up way nice…I can mark a spot on a wing dam…pull a couple of fish…move to another, do the same and come back later and anchor on the exact spot as earlier and pop a couple more fish…the graph with the color display has been a lot easier for me to read then the grey scale models too…
I would highly recomend the 520c to anyone…
If your ever in my area and want to take a look for yourself feel free to give me a shout
If you Want to spend a little more the X27c is a great setup also.
Ditto. Heck of a unit. My 520C spent 16 hours submerged under water and still works fine. Absolutley zero screen fog. The GPS locks fast and never lost a satalite. I would not hestate to own and recommend this unit to anyone.
-J.
The 520 is a great unit. If you could spend up to 1500 maybe the next size larger screen would be better.
I just bought a Lowrance 522igps and I think it’s the best thing since sliced bread. I’m still learning all the functions, but it is so user friendly about all you have to do is wire it up, mount and fish.
HAVE THE SAME ? JUST WONDERING IF THE INTERNAL ANTENA IS AS GOOD AS THE EXTERNAL IF UNIT IS EXPOSED?
on the bow of my boat i put a 5200 gps and a x510 sonar. up in the fishing station at the front of the boat i prefer two separate units side by side instead of splitting the screen on one larger unit. it’s cost effective, and they are great units, well within the price range you noted. obviously lots of people here using and recommending the 500-line from Lowrance – for good reason.
on my console to save space i go with one bigger unit running a split screen for trolling, just the map with depth overlays when running on plane, or just the sonar when i want to see something more specific.
for this i’m rigged with a Humminbird 917, a unit which i absolutely love. big 7″ screen with great clarity/detail, and the map readability is very very good. one limitiation with the Humminbirds is that you can only run the Navionics chips and not the Lakemaster.
the 900-series includes a couple of versions: 917 (mine) which offers dual-freq sonar, the 957 with 4-beam sonar, the 967 with “3D” sonar, and the 997 with side-imaging sonar. all in the neighborhood of your price range.
I just picked up a Humminbird 787 this year and I am very happy with it. I plan to get the side imaging for it but I haven’t yet. I just need to buy the transducer and I wan’t to buy a switch as well so I can switch transducers on the fly. I paid $499 for mine and from what I have seen, that was a great deal…. 
Just wanted to add that mine is a 787c2 and I got the free WeatherSense weather station with it. 
for the cheaper range, i have the 332c and i love it. great with the lakemaster chip!
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The GPS locks fast and never lost a satalite. I would not hestate to own and recommend this unit to anyone.
-J.
I agree with Jon here. I just put the 520c in my boat before the 4th and it was well worth the money. It is very easy to install as well.
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