Lookn to update my fishfinder and would like to know what would you guys recommend. I have an old Hummingbird 100 and now that I am getting more into salt water fishing, I would like to upgrade. A sales rep at Boaters World told me that Lowrance/Eagles and Garmins would work best for salt water. He wasn't a big fan of the Hummingbirds. The 400's and below are mainly for fresh water. He did show me a new Hummingbird that just came out strictly for salt water Matrix35 that would work fine compared to the others. Plus the Hummingbird/Legend. He told me the ticket would be to have 500 watts and above to get good readings out of the unit.

Fish On,

ErnDog

Have the same question Earndog. I am also looking to upgrade from my Hummingbird. Have been looking at Garmin, but don't know how the compare to Eagles. 500 watts seems to be the power suggested for salt water. Definately want dual frequency and some where near 320 by 320 pixels. Have also thought about including a GPS in the same unit, but the power rating seems to go down. Nobody has anything bad to say about Garmin, but haven't heard anything at all about Eagle. Wish I could afford a Lowrance.

My tax return has Garmin 160 Blue written all over it...

Well I just bought the 188 garmin plotter sounder for all of those reasons, 500w dual freq, 10 level grayscale The only charting software that will cover the sound AND the columbia for $150 not $325 or more. Just the difference in chart cost brought the Garmin in several hundred under anything else. From what I understand the depthfinder in the 188 is the same as the 240 blue. If you want to know more this url will let you do side by side comparisons of a whole bunch of garmin products even discontinued ones if you are an ebayer, You can even compare fishfinders to plotter sounders...
http://www.garmin.com/marine/compare.jsp

Also the West Marine off Fairview has everything side by side and people who know how to use all of it...
looks like I will have an apelco 230 for sale soon...

JohnnyD, I hope they made you a deal on that unit, we (BoatersWorld) will have it at the Sportsmans show next week for around $775/w Xducer. They couldn't compete with us at the boat show, doubt they'll be able to next week either. Don't forget the rebates either!

i have a new 400tx humming bird that I got off of ebay for 200 that list for 400 or more . I t works just fine in the sale I love this unit. it comes with speed and temp plus you can put a side finder on it.

Fishkisser, I have a Garmin 160 and my advise to you is to spend the extra for the 240. My friend has one and the resolustion is much better on the 240. I really wish I had spent the extra $.

Erndog-

Go get a Garmin 240 Blue. They have come down in price recently and are great finders once you get them dialed in. Super easy menu's to navigate. Self-installation isn't that tough, and they have water speed, temp, depth. I checked them all out for a couple weeks before I purchased and it was the best deal. Decent warranty too.

Juggernaut,
Just an FYI Lowrance and Eagle are both made by Lowrance.

Thx guys for the info. I have my eyes set on the Garmin and Lowrance/Eagle. The sales rep from Boaters World told me that they will have the best price at the show and if not they will meet or beat the competion.

So Friday will be the the day I pick up a new Finder. So any of you guys be there on Friday at the show?

Thx again,

ErnDog

can't go wrong with either a garmin 160 blue or a 240 blue. I have a 160 blue and it is great. I also like the 240 blue (same as the 160 except for the pixel count on the screen) but I couldn't bring myself to spend the extra boat buck ($100.00) for a little better picture. Just my $.02.

ErnDog- I went from a Humminbird Wide100 to a Humminbird 3D Paramount. I love that I can really see what the bottom is doing in a 3 dimensional view. When we were off Dalco point, we could see the wall coming and avoid it. If in 2D view, we wouldn't have seen it until it ripped the balls of the downriggers. My partner has a Lowrance unit that we are thinking of mounting on the back of the boat so that the guys working the riggers can see whats going on. The Paramount sucks at a 2D view in that you can turn off the "fish" symbols and get just the raw sonar "arcs", but the screen speed is too slow even on its fastest setting to distinguish anything. This is my only complaint. The large screen is great, the greyscale levels are awsome. The Wide100 SUCKED! I would probably go with the Garmin if I had it to do over again. Let us know what you get and how you like it.