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[Kype]

Getting through the reviews and need to get us a Fishfinder/depth finder ........ anyone have any models/makes they love or equally importantly hate!?

Been looking at X-67 C SONAR by Lowrance but struggling to find reviews 

[Kype]

PS ideally looking to stay around or even better, under, the $250 mark

[zabber]

I recommend the Garmin echo 200. I picked one up at Poco Marine for $149.99 + tax. Good bang for your buck; high res screen, wide cone angle transducer. Also allows you to attach a speed sensor to it for $29.99. The speed sensor doesn't work with my float tube (the water wheel doesn't spin fast enough) but if you've got a gas engine it would be a good addition; will sell for $20.

The other downside to this unit is that it doesn't save your settings when you power down. Fortunately, I mainly use the default settings but there are usually one or two I like to change which just makes it a pain in the @$$. Seriously Garmin: get your my smelly socks together! This one should have been a no-brainer!

I had a Humminbird PiranhaMax 160 (portable version) for a while. Decent unit, especially since it saves your settings, but I opted for the higher res screen, wider cone angle, and speed sensor addition at the end of the day, for an extra $50 ($20 for a battery, $30 for the speed sensor). PM160 does, however, save your settings upon power down; point PM160

[Easywater]

Depends on what you want the finder/sounder to do.
It sounds like you want something that you can use on the ocean.

I mostly use a fish finder for stillwater fishing for depth and structure.
For many years, I used an older Eagle Cuda 128 that did everything that I needed - showed me the depth and indicated fish.

I bought a new unit this year for lake fishing that has a colour display.
The difference that I have found with the new unit (Lowrance Elite 4x) is that is more clearly shows the bottom structure that I am looking for.
It will show a mud bottom (for chironomid fishing) as a red or yellow colour.

For ocean fishing, you will need something totally different.
I am not sure of the specifics but there are several different frequency settings that work better in shallow or deeper water.
My friend has a guide boat in Tahsis and he has a top of the line unit that has GPS tracking as well.
It is useful for keeping track of where you hit fish out in the open water and when you are back on the same spot.

Provide a little more info on how you want to use it and what you want to get out of it and someone should be able to help.

[Kype]

Thanks both,

Easy -- actually both.  Predominantly lakes but with odd forays into the inshore areas, but never far from shore, etc - also meaning we don't need GPS.  We are running a Naden 14ft Aluminum.

Cheers

[ICA]

If you are basically using it for lake or still water fishing, you might be well advised to consider getting the "Fishing Buddy" by Garmin i believe. It scans the bottom and side and fully portable. Thinking of getting one myself. They have different models with varying degree of features.

[Kype]

Thanks - will take a look. Are they any use in rivers too??  Guess I am looking for an allrounder eh!

[zabber]

Fishin' Buddy's are now made by Humminbird. I was going to pick one up, but they only have the 120deg cone angle, which I find to be a bit small for lakes. Perfect if all you need is a depth finder, but I like to be able to mark fish and the wider cone angles cover more water. WalMart Langley sells the Fishin' Buddy 110 (I believe that's the model) for $129.99(?). They run on 4-6 AA's, so the costs can add up over time I think, especially if you already have a 12V on your boat that you can hook up a sounder too.

Garmin's echo line includes the 300C, 500C, 550C; all colour models (hence the C, as you're probably aware of), if you're into that. Apparently the echo line is good all around; from fresh to salt, but that is just what the marketing says I can't comment on how it works at speed, because -- again -- I use mine in my kickboat (1km/h?? lol...)

Anyways, just another unit to research a bit more; I'm no Garmin rep 

[Sandhead]

I picked up a Garmin GPS421s not too long ago from gpscity.ca it's decent unit. costs a little more than $250 and I like it. Plus the garmin maps are easy to acquire.

Would like to upgrade at some point to a HDS unit, but not sure it's worth the extra money