Garmin echoMAP CHIRP 53cv with transducer, 010-01798-01

Pretty easy install on a pontoon, had to get a transducer extension cord. Does have a great Down image picture. The GPS is the best internal, have used the three major brands. An external is better, but as far as internals Garmin is best. Screen has good visibility. You do have to spend a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the menus and setups but once you get it, it’s easy. Love the quick connect base with the wires secured and head unit is removable.

Best unit I have ever owned. I don’t know about you but I was totally confused as I attempted to research these units across the different brands in the $300 range. It took me months to finally decide which unit I was going to buy. I am very pleased with this Garmin unit it puts my old unit to shame. So far there is nothing negative I can say about the unit. It’s great for navigating, finding fish, keeping yourself out of shallow water, etc. make sure you wire it directly to the battery positive and negative terminals. I first attempted to install it where my old fishfinder was and it would randomly shut off. Once I wired it directly to the battery zero issues works perfectly.

Great mid-sized sonar/GPS unit. I like that you can use memory cards in it (allowed me to get it with lake maps installed, and I can add a map card for when I ocean fish). Easy to use and the quick release system seems to work well. Easy to read in bright light.If you do much saltwater fishing, I would recommend using dielectric grease on the pins for the power/transducer since the plugs and pins are small and there is not much metal there to lose to corrosion. Also, I highly recommend the snap-on protective cover.

Great service. First one damaged in shipping, notified company got a new one three days later. Easy install on my bass boat. took it out and fired up everything worked and is pretty simple to use. Gps is right on. My home lake didn't have contour lines so it is not one of installed lakes. No problem just ran split screen. Over all I am satisfied. I think I will probably get a map card to get full lake info.

Love the unit so far. I got this for dual purposes, I sold my Vexilar FL-20 and got this to replace it on the ice and to use on my kayak in the summer. Already had the portable kit from the Striker 4 so I mounted the echoMap 53cv in there along with the GT8HW-IF ice fishing transducer. I put a 10ah SLA battery in the kit and the unit ran 7 hrs with plenty of power to spare at the end of the day, I had the brightness turned down to about 70 percent. Tested the graph mode with A-Scope and the flasher mode, both worked great but I prefer the graph mode. It shows the live view and history so you can see movement in the lines and how fish reacted to presentation, as well as zooming in to the bottom 4 ft and up in 1 ft increments. The built in lake maps and GPS sealed the deal for me and was the selling point to upgrade from my Vexilar. I also had a Marcum LX-6 and I would say it's like a Marcum on steroids, with the GPS and lake maps. Looking forward to using this on open water in my kayak. Extremely satisfied with my purchase.

Installation was not difficult but learning the complexities of this unit was. It provides very complete gps and sonar features. It works identifying fish when moving slowly or stationary but provides depth and other information in large figures which is very important on my large lake where it varies significantly. I do not understand why it does not provide water temperature.

Works great, installs easily, and the transducer works well. Only problem is, the Garmin chart costs $150. So for such a cheap unit, the Garmin maps if you want up close navigation are very expensive ! Bummer.

This is cool, and for the price and what I needed/wanted it’s a great value. Others, for more money may have more bells and whistles, but this works great for me at a fair price imo