# Which compact colour fish finder?



## ThomasW (Aug 19, 2006)

Looking into buying a new compact colour fish finder, have read through many of the previous posts but still can not decide on what unit to purchase. Plan to use them for fishing in 3-30m of water, would go out deeper at times.

800 watts units
Lowrance X67C 
Eagle 320C 
Garmin 160C (16 colours while others have 256, but cheap)
NorthStar 438 / 435

1200 watt units
Garmin 300C 
Humminbird 141C

Any other units?

Currently favouring the Garmin 300C, it has a powerful transducer and is one of the cheaper units. Although the marketing blurb suggests that it is designed for freshwater use....


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## blaggon (Jan 14, 2008)

Eagle 320c is a great unit, very impressed with its ability to show bottom composition and accuracy etc  
if you look online they are available for a good price too  
cheers
Greg


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## danofish (Jan 4, 2008)

I too have the navman 4380 good little unit - and bought a new one from an ebay store for just over 1/3 the price you can get one for here (including postage)!


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## ronotron (Nov 27, 2007)

I have the 320C on my OUtback and only have good things to say about it.

Two Thumbs Up


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## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

I've had a 320C & currently run an X67C (essentially the same unit), both have performed very well.


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## grinner (May 15, 2008)

had a lowrance on my first boat and the second one cmae with a garmin...must admit the garmin is a tough little unit and has never given me any trouble so that would be my pick.with all of them just be careful with the pins when plugging them in

cheers


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## ThomasW (Aug 19, 2006)

Thanks, from the sounds of the comments they all appear to be good products.

Think I would go for a Garmin 300C or Humminbird 141C because of the stronger transducer but mainly would buy on price. From the looks of things it might be cheaper to import from Canada then the US.


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## DGax65 (Jun 7, 2006)

I would go with the Lowrance x67 or Eagle 320 (practically the same FF) or the Northstar. They all have higher resolution screens which will make it much easier to discriminate detail in the return. You probably won't need the extra power of the Garmin. Even with an in-hull installation, you should be able to get returns down to at least 300' in saltwater.

The Humminbird 100 series are handheld models and probably not well suited for kayak use. They have the transducers at the end of 20-40 inch tubes. Unless it fits through a scupper hole it would be impractical to use while paddling. The 140 is powered by 6AA batteries. I doubt it would last on a long outing. I also didn't see anything in the specs about it being waterproof. That could be a concern.

The low-end Garmin units have terrible screens. They look horrible. The 160C is only 120 x 120 resolution and even the 300C is only 240H. The more pixels you have on the screen, the better the returns will be represented. On a 120V x 120H screen, in 120 feet of water, every foot of the water column is depicted by one pixel. On a 240 pixel screen each pixel would equal 6 inches. Obviously, greater screen resolution will provide a more detailed image. The higher resolution helps when trying to pick out fish near the bottom or structure and when trying to ID things like squid that only provide very weak returns.

The only concern that I would have with the Northstar is that it is rated for an input voltage of 10.5-32VDC. I don't know if 10.5VDC is the low voltage cutoff point. My current fishfinder, a Lowrance LMS-527C, will shut down at 10VDC. My old Humminbird fishfinders shut off at 10.2VDC. If you are running a bait tank pump and the sonar on the same battery, the FF will perform a low voltage shutdown well before the pump stops running. That difference between a 10 and a 10.5VDC shutdown could translate into an hour or more of fishfinder use. I would rather have the Lowrance unit that would keep going all the way down to 10VDC. Not a huge concern, but something to think about.


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## Jase (Aug 11, 2008)

Great thread - as I was going to post the same question!

Anaconda are having a 20% off everything this Thursday.

I was thinking about the Garmin GSP60 but am now thinking a compact high res colour might be more practical for a noob like myself. The chap said that he would get in what I wanted and gimme the 20% off in anycase.

I saw Lowrance and Garmin units dunno what else they offer.

Slightly off topic but I am wondering how good those GSP books that have local spots to plug in, or whether spots to plug in are readily available on the net??

Cheers

Jase


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## Rhino (Dec 17, 2007)

I have a Lowrance M68C on my revo. It's a combo gps/sounder. Great little unit.


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## Melbit (Jun 24, 2008)

Hi mate, I've also got a Northstar 438 rigged up in the kayak and it is utterly brilliant. Easy operation, really solid unit. Got it for all up including postage $230 Aussie from a seller on eBay.
I fully recommend one of these.


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## Nativeman (Sep 6, 2005)

I have a Humminbird 343c, a little dearer than the 141c, but heaps more power, resolution and I think the 343 has dual beam over the 141 but I'm not sure on that.

Also the humminbird have a great strong mounting bracket with the electrics all complete, the others won't have this and with the continual connection and 
disconnection the other brands plugs will wear. Well that's what happened to my Lowrance X50ds and I threw it away after 6 months due to connection problems.

Cheers


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## wobbly (Jun 13, 2007)

The 343c sounds bullet proof?


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## Rod L (Aug 29, 2005)

I just bought myself the Eagle FishEasy 320C.
Can't wait to rig it up and find those Snapps!
Thanks for the great discussion here everyone


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## Shufoy (May 28, 2008)

Just in regards to Dougs (no offence Doug : ]) words on the Humminbird 141c. I have just bought one of these, and its not a handheld unit, its a normal FF, with a standard transducer setup. Its a ripper unit, and for the use it's had so far, has performed faultlessly, with a superbly clear screen and readout, and excellent options.

I posted my mounting arrangement earlier, so have a look there and you will see what i mean.

http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=20517

I went thru all this just recently when i bought the Humminbird, and took it over the X67c/320c and the other units purely for the little extra power v's price. The Garmin is also a very good unit, and i have Garmin GPS and my last FF was a Garmin and they were reliable, well made units.

I honestly feel for a kayak, dual beam is really not required, as especially for WA fishing, i would rarely see water over 50m deep, and very rarely go over 100m.


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## DGax65 (Jun 7, 2006)

I stand corrected. The 141c does not appear in the current product page on the Humminbird site. You have to search for that specific model number to find it. All other 100 series models are in Humminbird's "Fishing Buddy" line, which are handheld/float tube models.


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