I am getting ready to pick up my Ranger 185vs Intracoastal soon and want to replace the Garmin 160 fish finder on the console with a Combo unit.  

After looking at all the choices I am overwhelmed.  So I was wondering if any members have some input.  Here is what I like so far:

1. Garmin GPSMAP 540s

2. Lowrance LMS-527C

3. Humminbird 787c2i

The Garmin is a little more expensive and the guy at bass pro said for inshore and bass fishing lakes its overkill.  So may I can save some bucks and go with the Lowrance or Humminbird.  

Oh, by the way I have a Garmin 160 on the front deck, is it a good unit or should I upgrade it too?  

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Tight lines!!

I haven't bought one yet but im a non boater in tournaments.  Every boat i have been on has the lowrance combo units, and thats pretty much what im looking at for my boat.  just my 2 cents

I have the Lowrance 522C, which is the 527C with an internal GPS antenna.  I absolutely love it.  I will be installing another one on the bow when funds allow.

the 787ci is a great unit.

Some things to consider before you buy:  you don't need a DF like the 527 or 525 unless you fish really deep water,  the 527 like the 522 has an internal antenna and can cause a lot of trouble unless it is mounted someplace (not in dash) where it won't be tilted a lot.

Another thing you need to know is what the different cone angles are for the DF units.  I had an LMS 480 and the cone angles were 34° and 12°.  One was so wide it was unuseable.  The other was so narrow I couldn't find my bait in any kind of wind.

Otherwise go for a unit with external antenna like the 520.  You can network 2 520s with one antenna.

Oops!  I confused the 525 with the 527, plus completely forgot about the dual frequency.  I should have done my homework.   :-[

JigMan is right on, but I still love my 522.

The 787c2 is pretty hard to beat a great unit.