Need opinions on fishfinder

[ripcurl2785]

Well unfortunatly Our old koden fishfinder froze up on us while running up from chesapeak beach this past sunday. The screen just stopped moving and it started beeping like crazy?? I tried shutting the unit off and then starting back up but every time it did the same thing. Any ideas?? The unit is old i dont know how old but it came with the boat when we bought it. I would say at least early 90's probably older. Its a color 5inch unit. If indeed its shot whats everyones opinion on a nice unit?? Im not trying to break the bank but i would like a nice unit that reads accuratly and is one i can believe and trust. thanks ahead of time

[OneMoreBite]

Garmin has the 400c which is a good inshore unit for not much. Furuno has the fcv-585 which is an excellant stand alone sounder. Both units have full color displays and except a few different transducers. Good luck.

[Free Spirit]

Be sure to check out the Raymarine A series as well. The sounder is excellent.

[B-faithful]

What is your budget? Use mostly in the Chesapeake Bay?

Furuno is top dog. Lowrance HDS units look real nice (I still fear their reliability reputation though) Garmin digital and Ray digital units are close in performance upto about 120' (I fish the bay and rarely am deeper to judge the deep water performances) Ray is on the ropes financially though..

If it were me, If money werent an option I would go furuno
If money plays a roll I would try the new lowrance HDS. However I am very happy with my garmin digital (garmin analog was not up to par) and my fathers ray c80 unit.

call over to http://www.boemarine.com and see what Jim says.

[fmoore]

I ahve been more than happy with my Furuno FCV 620 and Airmar B 60 combo in depths to 300' and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

[aimless2]

Furuno all the way

[Lhowell]

I have the HDS 7 and I am impressed with it.. Had it for 6 months now and it works great only problem I have is customer service is non existent... You stay on hold forever.. But the detail as a fishfinder is pretty impressive....

[SeaBiscuit]

The key point to consider is transducer placement. If you plan to go with a transom mount, the airmar P70 (600 watt) is the current standard of practice with a 1000 watt large transom mount available soon from Airmar. 1000 watt and up transducers have always been through hull installs in the past.
You only need as big a bottom machine (measured in watts) as you have transducer, so if you plan for a transom mount transducer (never mind brand as they are ALL made by airmar!) go with the furuno 620. If you like a larger digital display go with the 585
Good luck,
SeaBiscuit