I'm getting back into fishing.  Been decades since growing up and doing other stuff.  100% recreational small inland lakes in the midwest with a 17' Lund V-hull type boat.

Fish finders didn't really exist when I was growing up.  I've never used one of the new ones but have been trying to figure them out.  I'm ok with spending some money on this.  Don't really need a $3000 15" screen with gps hold/nav/blah/blah.  Just looking for a decent size screen for old eyes and something to show structure and fish.

Not sure where to start.  Seems to be three tiers of spending here.  I know the cheap Chinese junk is a no-go.  The $500-700 range seem to have pretty small screens and basic features.  $900 plus get you into the feature filled ones and larger screens.  

Give me some idea's please!  There are just too many to chose from and it doesn't have to be the newest model stuff.

West marine has sales on Garmin pretty regular. Usually free shipping.
Get the combo with GPS. If you fish fresh, get the inland lake models.
Don’t forget the transducer.  Most come with them. You might want to spend a little more and get the side imaging. Depends on your technique and knowledge.

Your gunna want chartplotting/gps.  If you want side imaging-i personally wouldnt go below a 9" screen.

This looks like what you guys are talking about.  If I'm understanding it right this is a combo package including the GT54 transducer that will support the UHD functions.  Seems like a pretty nice unit with the current sales pricing.  

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/garmin--echomap-uhd-93sv-chartplotter-fishfinder-combo-with-gt54-transducer-and-lakev-g3-charts--19822808?recordNum=7

9" with inland charts/maps

Ive got a 9" garmin on my little jon boat.  Its a sweet little unit.  Ive been happy with it for the price.  Sonar is very good.  Better than my bird in my opinion.

Any of the new systems (Garmin,Humminbird,Lowrance) really work well. You can get a lot of feature for under $500.

Since your freshwater the Striker Garmin series or any of the Humminbird stuff. I like the high resolution side and down scan for finding structure to fish and those are $300-500 units.  

Academy and Bass Pro also have sales, so I would check those out.

I run a pair of Lowrance Hook2 12inch triple shots. When they first came out they were about $1200. You can find them in the $700-$800 range. They do down imaging(DI) side imaging(SI). Really simple install.

Just picked up a couple of those Garmin 93sv HD's for $550 each. Local Farm and Fleet had them on sale with 15% off and a price match from Scheels. Actually bought 3 of them 2 for my boat and one for the father in law.

Had one last year and sold it with the boat. Very easy to use and loved the topo maps. Would highly recommend one. Don't waste your time and money on one of the little guys.

Ended up going with the new version of the 93SV with the 56 transducer.

Mostly software changes in the head unit but the 56UHD transducer is supposedly much improved over the 54's.

We'll install it in a few weeks and try it out as soon as the ice is out.  

Thanks for the input here.  I appreciate it.