Garmin seems to be the go. I have not heard a good word from anybody on any of the North Star (ex Navman) products.
The parent company is Navico which owns the names Brookes & Gatehouse, Simrad, North Star, Eagle and Lowrance.
The original Navico company got swallowed up in Europe somewhere and is not the same one as referred to above.
I would not have integrated marine instruments as a general policy. I believe a sounder should be a stand alone instrument. Eagle has one with a puck transducer (ie sounds thru hull and angled without having to cut a hole in the hull
) for around $175. If it buggers up just buy another. They have a fish finder for a similar price but only comes with a transom mount transducer.
Garmin have the 450 and 550 models just under a grand and are preloaded with the whole of Aus Charts. Good value!!
I recently used a Garmin GPSmap 76sc. A good handheld unit but the maps may be extra. Cheers Cisco
