I am considering buy a new Fish Finder, and have got it down to a Lowrance unit, and a Garmin. I am thinking about the new Lowrance X-67c, it is a color unit and saw one yesterday for the first time. The resolution looks fantastic, and is a small unit, with a very bright screen. I've never owned a color unit, but this one looks great and very affordable @ $320 w/ speed & temp. I am also considering the Lowrance X-51, any one out there have one of these?
The Garmin is the the 240. I don't know much about Garmin but it does have some pretty cool features. Not sure about their reliability too, there are many sites selling refurbished Garmin units.

Do a search under FISH FINDERS. You will find lots of info. When asking someone what they recommend, ask how many other units they have owned. I am personally disappointed with my garmin 240's performance. Maybe lowrance is the better way to go.

Hey juggernaut, what is it that you don't like about the 240? I have one too, I "upgraded" from a Lowrance X65, and the '65 is a fine fish finder, the 240 works only in deep, but not too deep water. It seems to have a lot of noise in shallow water and is overly sensitive to an adjacent boats FF. I have the 240 blue, and from the hype and specs, expected more, I am glad I got a killer deal on it as it wouldn't be worth list price IMO

I have a garmin 160 blue and am very pleased with it. From what I've heard and read the garmins have a great reputation for quality service. It took a bit to get it dialed in just right but it's been a fine unit.

You named a couple of the problems. My unit seems to sensitive also. One of the other problems seems to be that it has a hard time locking in on the bottom.

When I bought my 240 I also was looking at the X-85 and decided to go with the 240 because it had more power than the 85.(owned an X-75 prior) It was also the first year it was put on the market so there were some bugs that had to be worked out. 2 trips back to the factory for separate problems but the service was great. Usaually a week turnaround time. Have'nt had any problems with it since. The speed and temp feature is a great tool. I like the transducer on the lowrance units better but the garmin units perform well as long as they are mounted properly(critical for optimum performance) Good luck!

I just got rid of my X-85 and bought a Garmin 160 from cabelas for 150$. The Lowrance cost around 400 if I remember correctly. In my opinion the Garmin is a much better unit, much more sensitive. It will show my buzz bomb at 80 feet down. The Lowrance rarely even showed my downrigger balls, and lots of times it wouldn't show fish when there lots of them down there. I haven't noticed the problems with Garmins that I have read above. Fine shallow water performance and rare interference problems.