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FishFinder - 7/15/2008 8:04:37 PM   
Da Goose


Posts: 54
Joined: 9/13/2007
Status: offline 		What fishFinder do you use? Why?
Can someone reccomend one that identifies baitfish fairly nice? w/o breaking the bank.
Post #: 1
RE: FishFinder - 7/15/2008 8:24:24 PM   
freshwaterdrumR


Posts: 150
Joined: 9/18/2005
Status: offline 		ive heard bad things about lowrance, but ive had nothing but good experiences with then, i just put one of those fish finder/gps combos on my boat and it marks lots of fish and clouds of baitfish, also the gps part of it is easy to use and has definitely helped us boat more fish. My buddy just bought a used bass boat with a plain black and white lowrance(i forget the model) and it also works very well. one day we were marking all kinds of suspended baitfish, and you could see the fish coming off the bottom and up to the baitfish.

(in reply to Da Goose)
Post #: 2
RE: FishFinder - 7/15/2008 8:46:52 PM   
plnoldrick

 

Posts: 387
Joined: 9/3/2006
Status: offline 		if you have a cash side imaging is the way to go hands down. unfortunatly i dont have the cash so i got an eagle 640 sonar/gps. does what you asking and at 549$ which is 100 less then a lowrance 520 has all the same features but better resolution at 640x480. only bad thing about it is it cannot be networked.

if your in the market i highly suggest giving justin at three rivers marine electronics a call. check out bass boat central and you'll see they cant speak highly enough about the place. best prices i've seen. and no i do not work there, just bought my unit there.

http://www.threeriversmarine.com/


(in reply to freshwaterdrumR)
Post #: 3
RE: FishFinder - 7/15/2008 9:00:20 PM   
bluntman

 

Posts: 275
Joined: 8/12/2006
Status: online 		Furuno, Sitex, Koden, Raymarine, you get what you pay for in marine electronics, while a bit pricier than the others the performance of any of the digital units will make you a believer when you see them in use

(in reply to plnoldrick)
Post #: 4
RE: FishFinder - 7/15/2008 9:51:45 PM   
Carpet Bagger

 

Posts: 2050
Joined: 4/18/2001
From: Greenville, PA
Status: offline 		Furuno is the best bottom machine / fishfinder made

_____________________________

CB

(in reply to bluntman)
Post #: 5
RE: FishFinder - 7/15/2008 11:28:29 PM   
MuskyMastr


Posts: 1902
Joined: 6/30/2005
From: 20' up a 100 year old white oak
Status: offline 		I agree that you get what you pay for.  If you are not able to spend top dollar though.  The garmin 240 that I have on the little boat, marks baitfish VERY well at low speeds and drift.  It is also easy to pick up your perch rigs and fish on the bottom.

_____________________________

I love the smell of a warm gut pile in the morning.

(in reply to Carpet Bagger)
Post #: 6
RE: FishFinder - 7/16/2008 6:05:43 AM   
chauncy

 

Posts: 1183
Joined: 2/3/2002
Status: online 		If you're not looking for a combo finder, the Eagle 480 is a very nice unit. Been using mine for 4 seasons now. It does everything i want and more. And it wont break you. Good price for a good product. If you want a color unit it will cost a lot more.

(in reply to MuskyMastr)
Post #: 7
RE: FishFinder - 7/16/2008 9:10:25 AM   
ShutUpNFish


Posts: 1135
Joined: 3/16/2007
Status: offline 		For your money, you cannot beat Lowrance.  I know, I know, there are better ones out there such as Raymarine, Foruno ect.  But for your buck and a machine with a good combination of mapping and sonar, I feel Lowrance is hard to beat!

_____________________________

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
-Benjamin Franklin

(in reply to chauncy)
Post #: 8
RE: FishFinder - 7/16/2008 10:03:48 AM   
Carpet Bagger

 

Posts: 2050
Joined: 4/18/2001
From: Greenville, PA
Status: offline 		Lowrance is just junk for the money.  Its over hyped, over advertised, and shoved down your throat from sponsorships and sponsored anglers.  Buy an Eagle before a Lowrance...you'll save alot of money and get a very similar machine

Lowrance used to pride its self on having the greatest customer service, but i can assure you that is no longer the case.  Furuno is the best bottom machine / fishfinder made.  You can find the very same units on commercial boats as well as recreational vessels.  I would not hesitate to buy anything by them.  Im sorry if you have a Lowrance cause you saw on on JOHNNY FISHMASTERS CATCHING SHOW! YEEH HAW!

Truthfully though if you want to get a unit that identifies bait good.  Be sure to get a color unit.  The advances in fishfinder technology compared to 10 years ago is night and day.  The high defination screens and dual frequency transducers offer you such an advantage when you are searching for active fish.  When i look at my furuno I can honestly say when im marking fish, im catching fish.  When i mark the green and yellow clouds we catch perch and junk...when i mark the solo red/yellow marks we catch walleyes.  I can pretty much identify what I am looking at on my screen at all times.

If you are looking for a combo unit.  Garmin is an ok bet.  They basically innovate everything that has to do with GPS systems.  From the mapping softwear to the operation Garmin pretty much sets the bar with GPS and Chartplotting.  The rest just follow behind.



_____________________________

CB

(in reply to ShutUpNFish)
Post #: 9
RE: FishFinder - 7/16/2008 10:05:27 AM   
MuskyMastr


Posts: 1902
Joined: 6/30/2005
From: 20' up a 100 year old white oak
Status: offline 		Lowrance is good too.  The Garmin is a little more user friendly, but when it comes down to it you just need to get the thing off the auto settings and learn how to use them, no matter what brand they are.

_____________________________

I love the smell of a warm gut pile in the morning.

(in reply to ShutUpNFish)
Post #: 10
RE: FishFinder - 7/16/2008 10:43:44 AM   
Indian Summer

 

Posts: 89
Joined: 6/11/2008
Status: offline 		First of all Eagle is made by Lowrance. It's their economy line. I don't watch fishing shows AT ALL and I don't know a thing about what the big tourney guys use. I know enough people that fish that we decide among us what we like for the money. We usually don't even pay attention to price because if you fish alot it's an investment, just like the boat (and the Fishlander/Baggers harness blades). Also... I don't know anything about Furuno so I can't comment on that. There is obviously something to be said for a product that is being used by the commercial fishing boats.

I would agree that color is the way to go. When I bought it I thought it was just a luxury. Now I'd never go black & white again. The contrast is awesome. Nothing like blue water and brown land and bouys that are red and green like they are supposed to be. Not to mention the variation in colors for bottom density and density of bait fish clouds. Back in the day I had an Eagle for about 15 years! Now running a Lowrance LCX 18 and LOVE it. I have friends with the giant Lowarance 111's and 113's but I'm happy with mine as are friends who have the same unit. One buddy had an older Lowrance 350. It got fogged after about 6 years so he sent it to the manufacturer. They said it was outdated anyway so they sent him a brand new fish finder in the newest comparible model.

I know one thing..... Bottom Line was the crappiest sonar ever made. Never marked a thing other than the bottom!

These are just my experiences.... the choice is yours. I'm a Lowrance fan to the bone.


(in reply to MuskyMastr)
Post #: 11
RE: FishFinder - 7/16/2008 2:12:49 PM   
tommybanzai

 

Posts: 287
Joined: 1/27/2006
Status: online
quote:

ORIGINAL: chauncy

If you're not looking for a combo finder, the Eagle 480 is a very nice unit. Been using mine for 4 seasons now. It does everything i want and more. And it wont break you. Good price for a good product. If you want a color unit it will cost a lot more.


Hmmm... I myself have been narrowing down to that unit.

(in reply to chauncy)
Post #: 12
RE: FishFinder - 7/16/2008 5:03:30 PM   
vinestbrew


Posts: 273
Joined: 11/8/2006
From: Pittsburgh
Status: online 		what about hummingbird???

(in reply to tommybanzai)
Post #: 13
RE: FishFinder - 7/16/2008 5:24:38 PM   
ShutUpNFish


Posts: 1135
Joined: 3/16/2007
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Carpet Bagger

Lowrance is just junk for the money.  Its over hyped, over advertised, and shoved down your throat from sponsorships and sponsored anglers.  Buy an Eagle before a Lowrance...you'll save alot of money and get a very similar machine

Lowrance used to pride its self on having the greatest customer service, but i can assure you that is no longer the case.  Furuno is the best bottom machine / fishfinder made.  You can find the very same units on commercial boats as well as recreational vessels.  I would not hesitate to buy anything by them.  Im sorry if you have a Lowrance cause you saw on on JOHNNY FISHMASTERS CATCHING SHOW! YEEH HAW!

Truthfully though if you want to get a unit that identifies bait good.  Be sure to get a color unit.  The advances in fishfinder technology compared to 10 years ago is night and day.  The high defination screens and dual frequency transducers offer you such an advantage when you are searching for active fish.  When i look at my furuno I can honestly say when im marking fish, im catching fish.  When i mark the green and yellow clouds we catch perch and junk...when i mark the solo red/yellow marks we catch walleyes.  I can pretty much identify what I am looking at on my screen at all times.

If you are looking for a combo unit.  Garmin is an ok bet.  They basically innovate everything that has to do with GPS systems.  From the mapping softwear to the operation Garmin pretty much sets the bar with GPS and Chartplotting.  The rest just follow behind.




OK, I've been a pretty nice fellow up until this point.  Eagle IS Lowrance.  And, as I said before, for the middle of the road sonars, Lowrance IS the leader whether you like it or not.  I could care less what advertisment is out there and who is advertising it.  Let alone some of the BEST fishermen in the country.  I'm speaking from personal experiences.  Time on the water with these particular machines.  Did I say any other was junk??  NOOoooo.  I personally owned a Bottom Line for a few years, I was not fond of it even though they claimed to be the best.  Just because they are the most expensive, does not necessarily mean they are the best.  Each fisherman has his/ her likes and dislikes.  Have you had much personal experience with Lowrance or are you just selling the "other" brands?  Come on dude, lets face it, if you were selling Lowrance, they'd be the best thing on the market, in your mind!  I'm done!

Oh, one more thing, as far as customer service....I had an LMS 337 color unit that I was having some trouble with shutting down at the end of the day...(had to unplug it)  I called Lowrance about it and the lady sent me a brand new one.  I asked if I should send the old one back...she said no, as long as its still working, keep it as a back-up!  I bet Raymarine would do that with their $2000 untis!

< Message edited by ShutUpNFish -- 7/16/2008 5:36:27 PM >

_____________________________

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
-Benjamin Franklin

(in reply to Carpet Bagger)
Post #: 14
RE: FishFinder - 7/16/2008 6:14:16 PM   
Carpet Bagger

 

Posts: 2050
Joined: 4/18/2001
From: Greenville, PA
Status: offline 		I feel furuno is very competitivly priced and similar in all qualities when compared to a 6" screen lowrance.

Shutup i have been an Eagle, Lowrance, Garmin dealer for the past 6 years now..lol so whats that tell you??....Lowrances main flaw is their inability to keep their NMEA cable colors consistant year to year on their high end machines.  Its often confusing when tryin to hook it up to a secondary GPS or auto pilot to their combo units.  They usually release a form each year to explaing the new color code and what is what i just havent looked at one in a long time.  Im giving an honest opinion on what unit I feel is best.

Im not affiliated with Furuno, sitex, raymarine, interphase, ect....I wish that I could become a dealer for them...  Want a Lowrance or Eagle??  Give me a call...Whats the main difference between eagle and lowrance...its certainly not quality...its the name...That and Eagle doesnt offer a unit with a 10-12in screen...Its a decent product...I shouldnt have called it junk...Pretty much all the new technologies in marine electronics are fairly decent.  Just Lowrance would not be my first choice if I were the one doing the buying.

Ive owned my 600L furuno for 7 years now.  They FINALLY changed the design last year and added the HD Resolution as well as some other cool options, but i am unfamiliar with the newer ones.  They even made them look like alot of the other recreational units available for recreational boaters and fishermen.

As for garmin.  They are the innovators with the GPS systems as i have said.  They started it all in GPS Land.  Their fishfinders are nothing of the quality of their chartplotters.  Garmin also has recently bought out TR-1 Autopilots (nautamatic).  TR-1 is one of the best hydro auto pilots on the market and is also one of the only ones to operate flawlessly without a rudder feedback unit.  They also make an auto pilot that mounts up to your kicker motor (only company who offers them)...Again no affiliation with TR-1 but i have one, and if you asked me about auto pilots id tell you they are great too.

Just cause I dont just shop for my boat out of the cabelas catalog doesnt mean I dont know what i am talking about...Ive been playing this game an awful long time and have been into sportfishing boats and electronics since I was very young....And when did this guy ever say im gonna buy a fishfinder off Carpetbagger, so tell me what to buy so you make money?....You need to take it easy...

Just buy a Lowrance so Shutup can sleep tonight...I dont know where all this animosity has stemed from all of a sudden...Is this over worm harnesses? If so please accept my apology cause i would really like to go back to being friends and not continue this small argument.

_____________________________

CB

(in reply to ShutUpNFish)
Post #: 15
RE: FishFinder - 7/16/2008 6:56:12 PM   
mothermoose

 

Posts: 56
Joined: 3/25/2008
Status: online 		Well i have a lowrance 332s for a while now and it was starting to do the same thing .  turning on and going bright to dim.   I don't use the sonar at all.   just the gps because I can't see it with the split screen mode on and  to be honest to many buttons to push to change screen from gps and sonar. so I use a different fish finder (bottomline 10"screen )  
that is another story but I called lowrance and waited 30 min 2 times till I was disconnected could not talk to any one .
went to there web sight and filled out a form for RA # and prepaid $199 to get it fixed  I next day shipped yesterday ..
I never heard of sending a new one and keeping the old that sounds fishy lol lack of a better word

My advice to any one don't buy a combo get 2 seperate units and spend the money on a navionic memery card it will show you much much better bottom contours and water depths,trenches,mountains,holes ect.

(in reply to Carpet Bagger)
Post #: 16
RE: FishFinder - 7/16/2008 7:03:04 PM   
Indian Summer

 

Posts: 89
Joined: 6/11/2008
Status: offline 		Ding ding.... back into your corners gentlemen.

I think many threads lose sight of the original poster question. He wasn't looking for a Chevy or Ford but he didn't want to spring for a Ferrari or BMW. Answer.... the Cadillac: Lowrance. I think that would answer his question most accurately. Someone asked about Humminbird. My take on those is if you are going to consider that brand you should only consider their very best models. For that though you could buy a Lowrance which is no contest. And by the way dude.... that includes Eagle if that fits your budget better and suits your needs. To answer the question..... the Eagle will show all the bait that's there. Their Lowrance line is more sensitive on auto. Right off the bat skip those little fishy symbols and you go to manual and bump the sensitivity a bit on the Eagle and it will do what you want it to. That is speaking from experience with an Eagle.

I'd suggest what I do to any questions similar to yours...... buy the best you can afford & you'll never have any regrets.

P.S. Navionics cards are a MUST for anyone that plans on fishing Erie or any big water if you plan on staying on fish once you use it to find them. Great for inland lakes too running contours or weedlines.

< Message edited by Indian Summer -- 7/16/2008 7:06:31 PM >

(in reply to Carpet Bagger)
Post #: 17
RE: FishFinder - 7/16/2008 8:28:44 PM   
Carpet Bagger

 

Posts: 2050
Joined: 4/18/2001
From: Greenville, PA
Status: offline 		Navonics or Blue Chart....

I remember the 1st blue chart i saw.  We had a rep from garmin come in on his 15" labtop and started showin me the maps...i was blown away!!  Then he took me up to erie and showed me the trench and all the ports...i was like when do these come out??? he said in about 2 years...lol

Biggest mistake i made with the GPS was #1 i didnt get color #2 i didnt buy one that was big enough...but the little 182 with the card works pretty good...

_____________________________

CB

(in reply to Indian Summer)
Post #: 18
RE: FishFinder - 7/16/2008 9:41:25 PM   
Da Goose


Posts: 54
Joined: 9/13/2007
Status: offline 		You guys kill me. 
I think I'm more confused than before.
I think everyone is saying something digital and in color.

Goose

(in reply to Carpet Bagger)
Post #: 19
RE: FishFinder - 7/16/2008 10:05:26 PM   
Blowchowski

 

Posts: 132
Joined: 2/8/2003
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Da Goose

You guys kill me. 
I think I'm more confused than before.
I think everyone is saying something digital and in color.

Goose

How do you define "without breaking the bank"? What will be your primary use?

(in reply to Da Goose)
Post #: 20
RE: FishFinder - 7/16/2008 10:06:48 PM   
Blowchowski

 

Posts: 132
Joined: 2/8/2003
Status: offline 		I've seen some sweet deals on the Raymarine A60 system packs....

(in reply to Blowchowski)
Post #: 21
RE: FishFinder - 7/16/2008 10:39:02 PM   
chipmunk


Posts: 63
Joined: 9/18/2007
Status: offline 		Color is almost a must unless you just can't afford it no matter what.  Once you use one you won't want anything else.   A gps combo is really nice if you can bank it.  Especially if you don't already have a gps to take on the boat.

I use an eagle fishelite 500c.   Pretty good clarity for the price.  I  see lots of baitfish schools and the fish in/under them.  With a bit of experience you can tell perch from walleye.  I once tracked a small 1/32oz jig 20 feet down while crappie fishing but thats about the limit.  If your in that price range I would suggest it.  Unless you just really want one stay away from lowrance.  It's hard to justify it when the Eagle is pretty much the EXACT same thing at a lower price.  They put a lower resolution screen in them (i think - someone confirm please) but if i can track a crappie jig with mine I can't imagine needing more resolution.  The big difference is advertising.  They are kinda like Chevy/GMC

(in reply to Blowchowski)
Post #: 22
RE: FishFinder - 7/18/2008 2:48:16 AM   
gobyking

 

Posts: 911
Status: offline 		Chipmunk color is better no doubt.The installation of your transducer on the boat is the most important thing. If you have a thru-hull and it is not mounted right or have an air bubble,you're not going to see much of anything.  If you have a transom or bow mount,it had better be perpindicular or all you will see nothing or odd stuff. IF you're going to spend $400 on a black and white sounder, why wouldn't you spend $550 on a color GPS? It is common sense, $150 over a couple years to make your fishing trips 10 times better? If you can't afford $150 dollars over a couple of years,you shouldn't buy a fishfinder/GPS at all. Put it on the credit card,everyone else does. I have had Lowrance for 10+ years,no problems. Eagle is the same company,try that too.

(in reply to chipmunk)
Post #: 23
RE: FishFinder - 7/18/2008 8:54:23 AM   
Carpet Bagger

 

Posts: 2050
Joined: 4/18/2001
From: Greenville, PA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Indian Summer

Ding ding.... back into your corners gentlemen.

I think many threads lose sight of the original poster question. He wasn't looking for a Chevy or Ford but he didn't want to spring for a Ferrari or BMW. Answer.... the Cadillac: Lowrance. I think that would answer his question most accurately. Someone asked about Humminbird. My take on those is if you are going to consider that brand you should only consider their very best models. For that though you could buy a Lowrance which is no contest. And by the way dude.... that includes Eagle if that fits your budget better and suits your needs. To answer the question..... the Eagle will show all the bait that's there. Their Lowrance line is more sensitive on auto. Right off the bat skip those little fishy symbols and you go to manual and bump the sensitivity a bit on the Eagle and it will do what you want it to. That is speaking from experience with an Eagle.

I'd suggest what I do to any questions similar to yours...... buy the best you can afford & you'll never have any regrets.

P.S. Navionics cards are a MUST for anyone that plans on fishing Erie or any big water if you plan on staying on fish once you use it to find them. Great for inland lakes too running contours or weedlines.


Lowrance isnt even on the same page as Furuno in the fishfider department...They have a great marketing gimick with professional anglers, television, magazines, but everyone Ive ever known who owned one HAD A PROBLEM.  AND before their customer service was very good and handled these problems in a good fashion, usually just replacing head units...but that has changed.  Everyone I talk to now who owns a Lowrance with a problem has a story like MortherMoose, where they call and are on hold for days.

My cousin used to fish the FLW circuit in the am division.  He said their were so many Pros running lowrance who hated them, but the only reason they ran them is cause if they win a tourney they get a $20,000 bonus just for having a lowrance on their boat.  One pro in particular had 3 back up head units for his boat....just in case...  

I sent my furuno in this year to fix an input jack that I broke, they updated the softwear, gave me a new cover plate, and shipped it back overnight so I could get the unit back on my boat ASAP.

Save yourself the problems of the "name brand" and get the eagle if you are looking at these.  Furuno is about the only machine I recomend to anyone.  When you can go 10 years without changing anything about your machine, and sales never fall off, I'd say you have a pretty good product.

We were never comparing Chevy to Ford....Its more like a Cobalt to Cadalliac...both are gonna get you where you are going...but one is gonna do it so much better.

_____________________________

CB

(in reply to Indian Summer)
Post #: 24
RE: FishFinder - 7/18/2008 9:44:08 AM   
eyesandgillz


Posts: 682
Joined: 6/18/2003
Status: offline 		Just look at the saltwater use and you will see, Lowrance, Eagle, Bottom line, Hummingbird, they don't even show up on the radar.  Serious fisherman in the salt use mostly the units that Carpet Bagger describes.

If you go over to walleyecentral.com and check out some of their detailed threads re: this, you'll see that Lowrance/Eagle now rate near the bottom for quality and customer service.  Hummingbird has made A LOT of strides in recent years and in my opinion, has surpassed Lowrance as far as quality, technology and customer service.  Still not Raymarine or Furuno but for the money, a good buy.  Gander Mtn. had a great deal on an Hbird Matrix 67 combo unit 2 years ago and I bought one to replace the old Lowrance unit on my little boat.  Got it for $299 - 10% for putting it on their charge card.  I was out the door for $280 or so after tax.  Originally it was a $500 unit.  They still have some on close-out there for mid $300's I think but they have been discontinued.  I am very happy with that B & W unit.  I also got a free Navionics gold card for it when I bought it (had to send in for it).  Sure, I wish I had color but I couldn't afford it at the time and I couldn't pass up that deal.

There have been lots of accolades thrown around for the Hbird color sidefinder/3D units on several sites, including some saltwater use.  It is pricey but looks to be the next generation.  I would love to have one of those for the inland lakes.  

(in reply to Carpet Bagger)
Post #: 25
RE: FishFinder - 7/18/2008 10:07:33 AM   
Carpet Bagger

 

Posts: 2050
Joined: 4/18/2001
From: Greenville, PA
Status: offline 		See I dont know why hummingbird kept the name after its merge with vexilar....it should have went to just vexilar...When I hear humingbird first thing that comes to mind is an $80 piece of junk...

But they have made some serious strides in their higher end units.  I would say they are fairly decent and solid units, but i wouldnt buy one....The idea behind mounting multiple transducers on your boat is absolutly uncalled for....

I really dont know how many people out there are willing to spend $2k on a fishfinder, and then those who are going to spend the big bucks decide they are going to buy a humingbird.

Im just not a fan of combo units....I like stand alone units just for malfunction reasons.  If i lose my fishfinder, still got my GPS and vise versa.  Personally i think a 10in display is nice on the GPS and a 6" display is more than enough on the fishfinder.

< Message edited by Carpet Bagger -- 7/18/2008 10:11:44 AM >

_____________________________

CB

(in reply to eyesandgillz)
Post #: 26
RE: FishFinder - 7/18/2008 10:55:33 AM   
Indian Summer

 

Posts: 89
Joined: 6/11/2008
Status: offline 		He said he didn't want to pay for the Ferrari. If Lowrance was as bad as you say they wouldn't be in business very long. Myself and EVERY fisherman I personally know has Lowrance and loves it.... every single one. I'm talking my personal experience and experience with use on friends boats.... not I heard some guy fishing tourneys said this or that. If that were the case every product would have negative points. I had the Eagle Magna 2 for 15 years and going on my fourth with the Lowrance LCX 18. Haven't had a problem yet. ShutUp is the only one I know who had a problem and the customer service was four star. What is the cost for the least expensice Furuno that is full color and Navionics compatible anyway?

(in reply to Carpet Bagger)
Post #: 27
RE: FishFinder - 7/18/2008 11:38:14 AM   
Carpet Bagger

 

Posts: 2050
Joined: 4/18/2001
From: Greenville, PA
Status: offline 		Doesnt sound like moose likes his very much....sounds like shutup had issues with his.....So out of the 10 people that responded 2 have had problems...sounds like Moose is on his second go around with Lowrance issues as well.  Gota get your head out of the the Cabelas catalog if you want a top $ piece of electronics.

Lowrance doesnt even start its production of a dual frequency color unit until you get to the 515 series (which nobody seems to carry) they are about $750-$800 and are nowhere near Furuno in terms of quality.  Lowrance boasts about having 4000 watts of power (peak to peak) which i can assure you is a terrible thing to have in 20-100ft of water.  Its another marketing gimick to not show the TRUE output in wattage of the machine. 

Power is not necessarily a good thing in a fishfinder, you have to buy the right unit for the proper depth of water.  You transducer acts like a speaker.  It throws out waves (or current) that echo back to it.  Higher the power the louder it is.  High power units are made for deep deep water where a stroger signal is needed to hit bottom and get an accurate measure of depth (which i can assure you lake erie is not).  Fish can pick up vibration of a lure, or a crawler harness.  So If you had 4000 watts pinging up and down under your boat rest assure you can actually spook fish in shallow water...

As for producing junk, Humingbird has been in business for a long time...nothing they sold was ever any good until about 4 years ago...they survived.

Furuno doesnt make a unit that is a dual feature combo until you get into the higher dollar units with 10" screens that can take Fishfinder, GPS, Radar, closed circuit cameras, and television...lol....they are about $3k

He didnt ask for a combo unit...he asked fishfinder....Furuno makes a fishfinder that costs $8,000 does Lowrance...NO...Lowrance tops off where Furuno starts their technology...It is a true TOP TIER unit...Thats simply fact!...its not about who likes their unit...or who is gonna get into a fist fight cause Lowrance isnt as high of quality or status as Furuno....its just fact....

Furuno makes 2 fishfinders...the 620 and the 585 they differ in power and screen size....And im willing to bet they move as many of those 2 units as Lowrance does its entire product line...Thats without the help of Bass Pro, Cabelas, and West Marine.  Salt water guys will have nothing but on their boats.  On top of that they also make Radar, GPS, Weather stations, Underwater sonar (underwater radar), and Auto Pilots.  Its a completly different level of product and quality that Lowrance doesnt even offer.  Its pretty pointless to even begin to compare Lowrance to Furuno...they are not even on the same level of consumers or consumer market...

FCV 620 Furuno bout a grand

_____________________________

CB

(in reply to Indian Summer)
Post #: 28
RE: FishFinder - 7/18/2008 11:54:25 AM   
MuskyMastr


Posts: 1902
Joined: 6/30/2005
From: 20' up a 100 year old white oak
Status: offline 		I can personally attest to the customer service having gone to $hit at lowrance.  when I had my old paper graph in the 80's if something was wrong they overnighted me one for the next day and THEY CALLED ME to make sure it was working properly.  When dealing with one of thier new gps units recently for a friend, it took SIX DAYS, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 six friggin days to get a technician on the phone.  Unbelievable.  I have owned a lot of lowrance units, but will not buy another.

That being said, for middle of the road equipment the eagle stuff (which is lowrance) is a good deal for middle of the road equipment.

_____________________________

I love the smell of a warm gut pile in the morning.

(in reply to Carpet Bagger)
Post #: 29
RE: FishFinder - 7/18/2008 1:05:15 PM   
Carpet Bagger

 

Posts: 2050
Joined: 4/18/2001
From: Greenville, PA
Status: offline 		1 more lowrance hater who is not satisfied....

there goes that everybody loves them theory

_____________________________

CB

(in reply to MuskyMastr)
Post #: 30
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