New Boat - If you were me what would you buy

[Summers420us]

I will be buying an AR190. Usage will be for wake-boarding\tubing\fishing\island hoping in and around Clearwater, FL (fresh water lakes, inter-coastal, and gulf). Hopefully some longer cruises when weather is nice.

I want to be safe and be able to navigate well both during day and night.

I expect I would need VHF (is there some sort of emergency beacon if all goes to hell), Chartplotter (I imagine comes with GPS), Depth Finder, Fish Finder...

I imagine some of these are found in the combo units.

I do not need best of breed, I prefer good quality affordable units.

So if you were me, what units would you buy?

 

[DieselCamel]

I think the decision on a chart plotter comes down to the maps which Maps do you like better Garmin, Navionics, C-Map. I prefer the Garmin but they are no better than the others. Price point is fairly similar. I also prefer the standard horizon for vhf. Most newer radio have DSC capability if you're if you're unfamiliar with DSC you can read about it here

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=AboutDSC

 

[swatski]

For VHF/DSC (emergency calling) many here choose Standard GX1700 which comes w/internal GPS (making DSC functional). Right now you can get it from the GPS store for $199 w/free shipping and an additional $40 rebate. Can not beat that price for any quality VHF/DSC/GPS unit. You will still need an antenna, of course.
http://www.thegpsstore.com/Standard-Horizon-GX1700-Explorer-GPS-Black-VHF-Radio.aspx

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[Glen]

Navionics on iPhone/iPad is incredibly good, if you are staying within a few miles of shore or lakes-
Garmin is my go-to chartplotter upgrade, but unless you are getting off-shore a good ways, or doing a lot of night transits, I would not spend the cash-
(This is what I am doing; that is, I am not upgrading until I find myself needing it.)
Standard Horizon HX870 is my VHF choice. Still internally debating the need for the 5 extra miles range by getting the antenna up to 10 or so feet-