What is some good Fishfinder / GPS combo around $300 or less? If you have any recommendation, please do tell.

I was saving up to buy a unit with side scanning from Hummingbird, but decided "Cant wait no more!" So I am to just get something less expensive so that I can have something now. I set my budget to be $300, but I have a bit of flexibility. This will be used on my inflatable boat. I'll be fishing California Delta and lakes in Northern California.

I have been looking Lowrance Elite-4 combo with base map. Then I came across someone commenting the base map is basically useless . Elite-4 has a package comes with 'Gold map', but some says even that's just okay for navigation, but not for fishing. Anybody here has experience with these unit/map? If you have to buy separate map chip, that alone will be another $150 and all of the sudden it will be way over my budget.

I wonder if map comes with Hummingbird's are any better. Not sure which ones are equivalent to Elite-4 combo.

No, the less expensive Humminbird Combo units do not have any waters with contours.

They just have a basic background map.

BUT any GPS unit will save waypoints, and draw a track as you move about.

A color Humminbird Combo unit in your price range is:

http://store.humminbird.com/products/604309/386ci_Combo

You can get a unit that does 2D sonar, Down Imaging, and GPS chartplotting in a gray scale display in your price range also: http://store.humminbird.com/products/604319/581i_HD_DI_Combo

Do your shopping at a marine electronics dealer instead of a big box general sporting goods place like BPS or Cabelas.

Those businesses sell below MSRP and the general stores sell at MSRP unless there is a special sale.

I have the Lowrance Elite 4 on the console of my aluminum boat, I like it alot. I used it all season this year with no issues. The color 2d sonar is fantastic for a $299 unit, the GPS mapping is fine for me. It's east to use and reliable. But I also fish on dish pan lakes, the contour lines on the preloaded map are a little "off" on my homelake, but I don't use or rely on them anyways. I know where the breaks, humps, points, weedline bends, etc....are pretty much like the back of my hand, I mainly use the GPS to mark isolated pieces of cover away from the main weedline out in deeper water, and retrace trails I have already fished, and it gets me back to them very reliably and accuratly every time. I would deffinalty buy another one of these units.