As far as vhf, only go with an ICOM, they are hands down the most reliable out there, they do cost more, but they are louder, clearer and crisper to hear, and from my experience last longer. Oh, and the pros use them which typically says a lot, they do have some cheaper models for about $150-200 which are a great value. As far as gps/FF for the price your looking, a garmin would likely be your best bet with a transom mount tri ducer. Garmin chartplotters are exellent quality and very user friendly, and their customer service is great, they have many units that are multi function units to both plot and use as a FF. Garmin FF are decent, not top grade, but for the price it will be hard to find anything better and they are a decent product. Get the biggest screen you can afford, or save up and wait for a bigger one if your close to the price but cannot swing it right now with the purchase and all. If you compromise, chances are you will want to upgrade very quickly.
Also, bad side to your budget is you need a vhf antenna as well, and a decent one isn't cheap, the ones under $100 are ok if you stay within 2-3 miles of the coast all the time, but if you will venture off more or far from your marina, a better antenna with a stronger dB rating will broadcast further, up to 25miles on a flat clear day, and min 15 miles in bad conditions, cheaper antennas might get 15-17 on good days with only 5-10 in bad conditions, and do not always broadcast and recieve as clearly as well. I also highly recommend spending another $30 down the road and getting an external speaker for the vhf, they can be added down the road, they are great to place near the helm aimed at the driver and cockpit, much louder and easier to hear when running. Also make sure you buy an NMEA cable that is compatible with whatever vhf and plotter you buy, they aren;t that expensive, but with your budget might need to be added later, but absolutely should be, here is why, this allows you to utilize dsc, which is a distress button that broadcasts your location through a vhf channel to both local boats and to authorities, also allows you to contact boats near by and send them your location and talk privately although I do not know many who really use that feature, but for safety, the cost of the cable is well worth it. DSC does not cost anything and takes 5 min online to apply for a number and another 5 to input it to your vhf, something we should all have set up if your radio is capable. As mentioned above, a handheld should NEVER EVER be your primary vhf, at max they get 15 miles, but mine which is a higher end model gets more like 10 miles clearly, in bad conditions maybe 5, which is the absolute min you want to cover, perferably you want the longest range you can afford, a handheld will be far from it. As a back up they are a great idea though and something maybe to add down the road. I have 2 vhf's a primary and secondary, both icom's, and then a handheld standard horizon hx850s, went with that brand and model for the built in gps for safety since I fish offshore and it goes in my ditch bag.
