High End Sonar

[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]If given the choice and a healthy budget what upper end fish finder/sonar for private use would you buy and why? Don't include GPS combo units just sonar. I'm shopping and I've got a few units targeted but I thought I'd get some other views. [/size][/font]
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[DennisW]

[size 2]The best freshwater sonar is Genetron. They run around $3,000. Might as well get two at that price--one for the front and one for the back of the boat!![/size]

[size 2]I normally pitch Pinpoint, and while their graphs are still some of the best available, I'm more inclined to recommend products whose companies actually SUPPORT them (it's amazing what being sold twice will do to a product).[/size]

[size 2]Right now I'd lean toward the upper end Lowrance units. The X-15MT is their big bad boy (in cheaper monochrome), and for $700, the price isn't too terrible either. Plus, you can upgrade to GPS later if you choose. That's the route I'd go if I were to replace my current graphs.[/size]

[size 2]Or you could get one of those graphs with the castable transducer! [/size]

[Fishrmn]

BLM,
I'm a big fan of Lowrance, So here's my two cents. I'd recommend the Lowrance X-97. I am inclined to stay away from the X-15 LCR only because I use my GPS unit outside of my boat. I have a Lowrance x-85, and I'm saving up for a new X-97 myself. It has basically the same sonar capabilities as the X-15 LCR, without the ability to record to MMC cards, and no GPS option. It's going for about $399.00 at Sportsman's Warehouse now. I would have already bought one by now, but I raided the toy fund a couple of weeks ago for a new Lowrance iFinder GPS unit.
I've had Lowrance flashers, (LFP250 and LFG250) an X-15 paper graph, a sitex paper graph. a Lowrance X-40, an X-50, an X-60, and now the X-85. The X-40 didn't have enough power, and I traded it back in after only about 2 hours of use. The X-50 had about the same sonar as all of the others, but each upgrade has had more pixels, and more menu options.

A friend of mine has the Garmin 240 and likes it. But the high end Lowrance units have 320 vertical pixels instead of 240. That means 33 percent better resolution.

Whatever you get, make SURE to get one that has 3,000 watts of peak to peak power. Anything less is just a depthfinder in my experience. There are a few out there, but Lowrnce ( the guys who brought sonar to the masses ) questions the method of measurement on some of the other units. Kinda like rating horsepower. Do you rate it at a certain RPM, a certain torque value, a certain speed, at the clutch, at the axel, or what?

That's what I think, what do the rest of you guys think?

Fishrmn

[IceFanatic3]

I like the Vexilar Fl-18! it has helped 100% locating and catching fish and its fairly good price $300. You can buy various transducers for it! I love mine I wouldn't suggest anything else to anybody!!!
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[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Hey, Fishmn![/size][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Why wouldn't you upgrade to a Lowrance X98DF with 500 RMS and 4000 Peak to Peak. I too have an X-85 that has 375 RMS and 3000 Peak to Peak but I want MORE POWER! I also want KILLER resolution and outstanding Zoom. Another feature I want is super fast chart speed for vertical jigging and ice fishing. Flashers are fast but I like the graphical interface. I'd also want 320 vertical pixels; horizontal pixels are negotiable. The X98DF has all this for just a little more than the X-97. [/size][/font]

[url "http://www.lowrance.com/Marine/Products/X98DF.asp"]http://www.lowrance.com/Marine/Products/X98DF.asp[/url]
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[Kayote]

I would get the Garmin 240 Blue. It's not top end, but I feel it's the best combination of quality and price. You can buy higher resolution and gadgets, but you can't purchase a more durable unit. All my friends that have kayak fished through the surf for years recommended this unit to me because it never fails. They went through many units before settling on a recommendation. There is no more abused fish finder that one that goes through the surf on a Yak. Just my $.02.

Good Fishing, Kayote
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[Curtisfish]

I know you said to leave out the GPS combo units, but this one just needs to be here. It might not be what some call "top end", but it would do anything I would ever need out of a unit.

Bottom Line Tournament NCC 6300. It has the power, 650 RMS 5200 Peak to Peak. It has the screen, 320 X 480 pixel in a 3.7" X 6.8" screen. Max depth of 1200'. Max side view 240' each side. Bottom Line's "Bottom Track" is what all of the others try to keep up with. It has GPS capability. It has auto steer capability. It can control up to 6 Cannon Mag D20 downriggers. For $3,000. Cabela's has it with 2 Cannon Mag D20's.

And most importantly, as I have found with my older Bottom Line models, the company is based in Meridian, ID. If you have to have your unit repaired, and I have, they are close, they are very easy to deal with on warranty work, and have very reasonable pricing after the warranty wears out.
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[Fishrmn]

BLM,
A question that has gone through my head ever since I went to the Lowrance website a few weeks ago.

Availability I guess. 3,000 watts has always seemed like enough, and I've never seen the X-98DF in a store anywhere. The resolution and zoom are great, and come to think about it I might as well have the extra power. If there is one question in my mind, it is the dual frequency issue. Is that hard to get used to? Are there as many transducer choices? Nothing unsurmountable though. Sold. I'll have you to thank (blame) for helping me come to my senses when I get an X-98DF for myself. Then my 6 year old son will get the X-85 to use while icefishing.

I've used my graphs for icefishing for years, and have never felt that the flashers were any faster. You just have to look at the edge of the screeen instead of the middle. And with the hyper-scroll there'll be even less of a difference. On an icefishing board I keep getting into it with guys about how the Marcums and Vexilars are so much better for ice. I keep telling them a high end graph has more power, better resolution, and ten times the zoom capabilities. Graphs also let you look away for a few seconds, and still tell if something swam through while you were looking at something else.

Time will tell if I should have waited on the iFinder. Maybe I should have asked you about GPS units. I don't have the software to compare the mapping abilities of the iFinder with the Magellan units. I've never felt the need for mapping at all. I have had two other GPS receivers without it and done okay. Really wanted the WAAS capability though.

Let us know which unit you get, and good luck.

Fishrmn

[PREDATOR]

Hey dude, the X-98 operates on more than 500 rms, if you want it to. Switch it over to 50 khz and you are at 8000 watts and 1000 rms. Plus you get the plus you get the option of opertating at a 12 degree cone angle or a 37 degree angle. You can also buy the optional 21 degree cone angle transducer if you like, but 37 is owesome in shallow water and 12 is killer in the deep stuff. The difference in cost is so minimal I cant believe they even sell an X-97. Doesnt make any sense to buy it when you get so much more for such a small price difference.
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