When???

[BearLakeFishGuy]

Personally, I never buy anything with "brand new" technology until about a year after they come out on the market. The newest versions of any fishfinder/GPS/combo whatever are always overpriced. About a year later, the prices come down a LOT and that is when I make my purchase. I don't get too excited about the new stuff until I feel my old units are way out-dated. It's totally a personal preference thing in my opinion. I also refused to pay several thousand for any of the latest and greatest units. My "self-imposed" limit is once again a personal thing. Right now my limit is about $1,400 max. After being fortunate and having a career using different boats and every brand of unit you that I can think of, I'll be making a switch once again. I started with Lowrance way back in the 1980's and I stayed pretty loyal until the late 1990's. Then I switched to Humminbirds on my personal boat. My new boat came with a Lowrance but I'm very disappointed in the unit and extremely disappointed with the so-called "technical support". The best new units I have used in the last 4-5 are all Garmins. For the money right now the Echomap UHD2 units from Garmin are pretty dang incredible. Compared to the older UHD units, the UHD2 are much better at everything. Speed of processor, definition, etc. Raymarine units are also nice, but are designed more for the salt water and extreme depths, ranges, etc. But brands of fish finders are just like trucks. Everyone has a reason they like a particular brand more than others. I think the best way to answer your original question is: Whenever you feel like you'll be getting your money's worth out of it!