FF selection advice

I'll be getting a new yak very soon which means I need to get a new FF for it. I've had the Eagle Cuda and it's been ok. It's worked a bit spotty a few times but for the price I thought it was great. I loved that it had the GPS built in. I know some don't like that feature but I'm usually in very protected waters. Anyway, the new yak will be an Xfactor and I'd like to put the FF near the front hatch like others have installed it so will need to be a big screen like the Humminbirds.

I've looked at a few and found that some are GPS ready while others can have it added on later. Any pros and cons to these options? And in general any Humminbird owners have any opinions as to which are the best/worst?

Thanks.

Z

*update*
I've been looking at the older Matrix 17 and seems to be a good setup. It has dual beam, can be expanded to work w/ a gps, and still at a price I can deal with. Any Matrix 17 owners out there? How goes this machine?

The 17 is a great basic unit, but discontinued.  The GPS is BASIC.  Breadcrumbs and waypoints.  The antenna/reciever is about $100.  The new compact units with the integral antenna are sweet, but the screen is smaller.  The 383 and 363 are both dual frequency chartplotters for a great price.  The 565 is essentially a 17, and the 580 is what used to be called a Matrix 67, which I have used for some time and is also great...just depends on budget.

Anybody know anything about the Hummingbird 717?

 Looks like it has what ya need for around $200 bucks.....

Thanks for the info SCWA. Although it is pricey I think I'll opt for the 580. It's got so many cool features, especially the topomaps! Guess it's time to work hard so I can buy it..

Z

FYI-the base topo maps are not as nice as the one in the demo pics.  Those are from units that have navionics installed.  The pre-intalled base maps are cruder, but have been sufficient for my needs.