Lowrance Hook Reveal 5 V Garmin Echomap 65cv

[treerat]

Folks

On our dive boat we are looking to exchange the aging gps and depth gauge for a combined plotter / sounder.

Club members like the look of the Hook, its small, compact and will fit on the Tornado Viking console easily yet still give us the chart to get to a dive site and the sounder to narrow down the location.

I've always been a Garmin fana nd like teh Echomap 65c, this also seems to do what we need.

So is the 75C worth the extra £200 over the 65?

Is there really any difference between the two suppliers these days?

Any other units people are using that they'd reccomend in the £300 - £500 bracket??

Ta muchly

[jonp]

I moved away from lowrance products after using them for over 20yrs. During that time I was always replacing due to faults or firmware issues. I now run gamins in two boats without any issues at all, also Garmin have a far greater choice of transducers to suit all kinds of needs.

[36valley]

FWIW. I used a Garmin 65 for a while, found it easy to fit and use. Even though it’s a smallish unit it was perfectly readable at all times. If your tight on space it’s a good choice.

[lakelandterrier]

I have a Garmin 751 - great unit .My advice is go for the largest screen you can afford / fit. Makes a difference when bouncing around in a sea.

[diver 1]

I too have been an avid Lowrance user for years but lately their reliability has dropped away and their customer service is non existent / not interested. I've bought and fitted a few garmin units to ribs I've owned and finding them better value and generally better units these days. Sad times but I'd recommend Garmin now. Their customer service is excellent too on the few occasions I've had need to ring them for tech advice.

[Daibheid]

I've the Hook 5 Reveal which I bought primarily to replace my old fish finder but wanted the backup GPS capability.
It's a nice unit given the screen size with all the capabilities you could ask for on GPS navigation.
The sonar is really good and it's Genesis ability to create contour maps might be useful for diving.
Don't be tempted by the cheaper Hook2.