Garmin Fishfinders

[1979checkmate]

Hey everyone, i am in the market to buy an entry-level fishfinder. The Garmins are attractively priced and through a search in this forum, i can tell most people with them do like them. I am stuck between the 160c and the 300c. Can anyone tell me which unit would be the better one? I imagine it is only marginal differences. I believe the 300c has a water temp sensor while the 160c does not, so that is worth something. The 160c does appear a little more attractive though. however, i want the better fishfinder not the prettier. I also looked at the lowrance mark-5x, this is a black and white screen but is 5" compared to ~3.5 of the garmins. Is it better to have the bigger screen of the lowrance, or the color screen of the garmin(s)?

 

[beckoning]

Re: Garmin Fishfinders

Garmin and Humminbird have the best customer service and are both very reliable. Big screens look good in the store, but unless you're a charter captain making a living finding fish, a reasonable resolution black & white will do fine. Typically, I don't look at the finder for more than 2 seconds at a time. If you have money to burn, spend it on big fancy color finders, but I'll bet you'll use 10% of the features. If you fish deep, surface water temp is useless. If you fish shallow, you can get a good reading with a hand thermometer. Lowrance are high quality, but people I know have had bad luck with their customer service. good luck.

 

[craigman]

Re: Garmin Fishfinders

I'm currently looking at purchasing a finder also. Looking at the Garmin Fishfinder 140. Walmart has it for $99. Sounds pretty good for a first timer!

 

[fisherguy123]

Re: Garmin Fishfinders

I just bought a Garmin 150 at WalMart and I am throughouly impressed with it .I tried it yesterday for the first time and it never lost contact with bottom until I was going 22mph according to my gps . I chose it because It has dual search and I go in both salt and fresh water . the 200kz transducer is supposed to read up to 1500 ft and it worked at over 400ft out in the bay nearby. I used the 70kz setting up the river and it worked even in the mild rapids at 6 ft deep. It also reads the water temp. I had a Lowerance before and it could only work at slow speeds.The Garmin transducer mount is very strong and speeds of 30mph didn`t tip it up or bother it at all. It even comes with a kit to mount it to a trolling motor.My friend who has a Hummingbird liked this better than his own. It is very simple to operate and I just turned it on . it even has a voltmeter feature to tell you your battery condition . I certainly recommend it to You.