Looking to buy fishfinder

[JasonJ]

I have been pouring through past posts, sniffing around on the web, looking for a good lower cost fishfinder. I am thinking the Eagle seafinder 240 would do the trick, it has the features that are pratcical for what I will be doing. I fish a river that is up to 30 feet deep, and will also be fishing my lake that is up to 1200 feet deep. The typical prime areas are 300-500 feet deep. It seems Humminbird is not well liked, and that Eagle is a good finder to go with. I'll take any opinions and real practical experience before I flex the credit card. $200-ish is about what I am willing to spend. Thankx...

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Looking to buy fishfinder

Jason, last week I bought a Garmin 240 Blue, which is capable of 1500' because of it's 500 watts of power. If I'm not mistaken the Lowrance and Eagles only have around 200, but I may be wrong. Anyway, I love it, and it was 159 brand new, minus the 50 dollar dual frequency transducer. It has 240 x 240 screen resolution. It was easy to install, works fabulously, but the transducer makes a very quiet clicking sound. Nobody else has ever heard of it, so maybe I'm whacko but I know what I'm hearing. For the money, its a very good unit. I can't speak for any other brand, as this and Humminbird are the only one's I've dealt with.<br /><br />I've been told the Eagle is good, but they are the cheaply manufactured Lowrance. Connectors aren't as beefy, wires aren't as strong, etc. This is hearsay from a West Marine salesman. I find he had some credibility because the Garmin was cheaper, yet he was pushing the Garmin, and not the Lowrance, which would have put another 80 bucks into their pocket.<br /><br />It's your call dude. You'll get good advice from others in here who have other units. <br /><br />One other thing, the little Garmin is very compact and doesn't have a million buttons. I find it's menu is very easy to use.<br /><br />Guys, keep in mind he said 200, so that will shoot down the Furuno 6100, I know someone will suggest it anyway!

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Looking to buy fishfinder

I checked out the 240 blue, and it does have twice as much power as the Eagle at the same price range. Hmmmm<br /><br />(edit) I also looked at the Garmin Fishfinder 160, it seems like a good unit at $195.00 delivered. 90% of my fishing is in less than 30 feet, and I want to start fishing in the deeper area, but that area is around 500 feet. The 240 blue seems like it is more finder than what I need. I am also looking at a Lowrance X51 for about the same price, but it gives me 240 vert resolution as opposed to the 160 vert resolution on the Garmin 160.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Looking to buy fishfinder

I've been eyeballin' the Humminbird Matrix 15, and I hate to say it, but feature/powerwise/pricewise, it is closer to what I am looking for. Since nobody seems to have any practical experience here on this series, I am forced to base decisions on reviews, which seem good. As far as past H-bird experience of those here, it seems there is an even split on those who have had or heard about bad and good experiences with the H-bird product. I will continue research before opening the wallet, and unfortunately whatever I buy I won't be able to use for a few months.

 

[i610288]

Re: Looking to buy fishfinder

I just bought the eagle fisheasy 2. I haven't used it yet but I know it's almost the same as the x51 and less money.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Looking to buy fishfinder

Jason, the same guy at West Marine sells the entire line of Matrix depth finders and he stated that so far he hadn't gotten many back, and that they "seemed to be holding up better." <br /><br />Take that how you wish.

 

[Boatist]

Re: Looking to buy fishfinder

Jason<br />You say you want to fish 300 to 500 feet deep so I guess you would like to see fish at that depth. If that is correct then the Lowrance X51 is out and so is the discontinued Garmin 160 or 160 blue. The Garmin 240 blue would probably work for very large fish 30 lbs or more.<br /><br />To start with when they say depth to 800 feet what they mean is if you are over a solid rock hard bottom and the gain is all the way up you might be able to get a bottom signal at that depth. A fish does not reflect sound like a rock bottom. I would devide their number by 4 if you want to see fish. So You need at LEAST 500 Watts RMS or 4000 watts peak to peak to see fish at 500 feet with a 200 Khz 20 degree transducer.<br /><br />Also a resoultion of 240 at 500 feet is not enough. Try to follow this. 500 feet = 6000 inches. So with 240 vertical pixels each pixel = 25 inches so to get a 2 pixel display the fish has to be 50 inches tall at 500 feet. With 4 times zoom then each pixel = 6.25 inches and a 2 pixel display is 12.50 inches. So a 12 and 1/2 inch high fish will light 2 pixels. 2 pixels you will be able to see but it will be a very small line.<br /><br />The Garmin 240 Blue is 500 Watts RMS and also the 200 KHZ transducer is a 10 degree so compared to a 500 watts RMS unit with a 20 degree transducer its effective power is 1000 Watts RMS or 8000 Watts Peak to Peak. I do not belive the Garmin 240 blue has a bottom lock or bottom track feature to expand the bottom more than the 4 times zoom. Without this feature I think to fish 500 feet deep you need at least 480 vertical Pixels. With 480 vertical pixel each pixel would = 3 & 1/8 inches and a two pixel fish would need to be 6 1/4 inches high. That is still a large fish.<br /><br />A better choice might be Furuno 1850 or at least a unit with bottom track or bottom lock is you really want to see fish at 500 feet. These units are not cheap<br /><br />A new Lowrance unit the X136DF $449 might work for you. 5 inch screen with 480 by 480 pixel dual frequency 500 watts RMS or 4000 peak to peak. also has speed temp and distant readings<br />good luck

 

[Ralph 123]

Re: Looking to buy fishfinder

Jason, I have a Garmin but I think you should check this out but hurry. Time is limited...<br /><br /> Click Here

 

[whiteknight]

Re: Looking to buy fishfinder

Check out Garmin 250 at cabelas 239$ they will have them 1st week of Feb or garmin 240 for 199$<br />(good buy)

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Looking to buy fishfinder

Thanx guys, especially Boatist, your info helped my decision. <br /><br />I went ahead and ordered an H-bird Matrix 27. It has a 640V x 320H display, 500 watts rms 4000 peak to peak power, dual transducer with temp, claimed 1500 feet depth, all that, to the door for $240.00. I figured the Matrix's have recieved good reviews from what I have found, and no one here has claimed any real experience with this product so I'll be the guiney pig. I won't know for a few months, but I will post how well it works when I use it.

 

[JB]

Re: Looking to buy fishfinder

Jason.<br /><br />Did you think to check out the offerings by our host, who makes this site possible. . .at zero cost???

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Looking to buy fishfinder

JB, I sure did. I spent all day yesterday and half of today looking all over the web. This is usually the first place I look when I am looking to buy something. Iboats doesn't have the Matrix 27.

 

[Sloleak]

Re: Looking to buy fishfinder

Good Luck with the 27..I have a 67 on backorder so let us know how you like it!!