# Garmin echo 300c or Lowrance Elite 4x



## CanuckChubbs (May 2, 2010)

Both of these 2 sounders share similar specs and features. One is on sale currently for 199 and the other will be on sale for 199 next week. Not having had either, and having read online about them I am still undecided on which one would be a better fit.

Who has one? 
What do you think of it? 
Why do you like it? 
Any issue?

Thanks


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## SharkNett (Feb 20, 2006)

Chuck, Spongy/Jeff has the Echo 300c. Think he is pretty happy with it but maybe give him a call. He doesn't get on here much of late.
Outings have been pretty limited for both of us this year, him with a new job and me going back to school full time.


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## Guest (Jun 6, 2013)

Ignore the vote. Ignore the internet. They all look good in the shop. Make your decision after seeing how readable the screen is on a sunny day.

FWIW, I own a Lowrance, but did not look at the screen in sunshine before buying.


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## Guest (Jun 8, 2013)

Digger said:


> SteveR said:
> 
> 
> > Your experience also helped me decide recently.
> ...


I'm not saying "don't get Lowrance". All I am saying is the OP should make his own judgement after seeing the display in conditions that will match the majority of his use - making a wild assumption the OPs fishing isn't limited to night time and/or rainy days


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## Wrassemagnet (Oct 17, 2007)

I have the Garmin echo 300c and am very happy with it Chubbs. Easy to use and great screen. Absolutely stunning discrimination of small objects, much better than my Humminbird. I can watch a 3 inch soft plastic or a 3.5 squid jig descending through the water column underneath my yak and stop them 1m off the bottom, I've only done this in water up to 12m deep though and I wonder if it makes a difference that it's shooting through carbon-fibre rather than plastic? The brightness is easily dimmed for night work and then bright enough to see in full daylight with sunglasses on no worries. Doesn't use much juice - I'm running a smaller-than-usual 6800mAh Li Ion battery and the longest session I've had has been 8 hours no probs. I don't know how long the battery would last actually.








On the other hand I think the Lowrance is also a good unit, they have a scrollback feature which I think would be pretty nifty. I don't know how much juice they would use. Maybe someone with a Lowrance can comment on whether they can discriminate a soft plastic with it?


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## Squidley (May 8, 2010)

I have a Lowrance Mark 4, which is greyscale but has the same screen resolution and transducer as the Elite 4x, and I can see where my jig is. The screen can be made really bright but in direct sun with some salt on the front I sometimes need to shade it.


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## Guest (Jun 8, 2013)

Squidley said:


> in direct sun with some salt on the front I sometimes need to shade it.


Put some cuts in and icecream bucket so it slips over. Shade and spray protection.


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## Guest (Jun 8, 2013)

Digger said:


> SteveR said:
> 
> 
> > Squidley said:
> ...


Don't worry. It leaks away when you cut the side down ready for mounting :lol:


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## Jeffen (Jan 18, 2011)

Hi CanuckChubbs,

Is the sounder for the Marauder you have just purchased?
If it is, keep in mind that the moulded scupper is designed for a Lowrance/Eagle transducer, so the Garmin may or may not fit,
and at the least you will probably have to have a mounting bracket made up.

I have the Lowrance Mark 5X which is a pretty basic unit, but does what I want, and seems reliable.

Regards, Jeff


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## Squidley (May 8, 2010)

Steve, I reckon the icecream'll make a good glue to keep it in place. Thanks for the idea.

I haven't got any tubs lying around so I'll give the flavour some thought.


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## CanuckChubbs (May 2, 2010)

Great recommendations and suggestions, thank you. I ended up getting a bucket of cookies and cream ice cream and a Garmin echo 300c from BCF for $199. Spent all day today installing it. I will post up some pictures because there is not a lot of info on the web about Cobra Marauder sounder installs

As for the scupper hole sounder install...as per mentioned above, the Garmin does not fit properly nor does it come with a fitting adaptor. I had my old Lowrance bracket that I tried to use but the Garmin sounder has some stupid plastic around the sounder...a genius design. :? :?

I found a fellow who used bungee cord to hold it in place, that is what I did. It is not pretty but will have to do for now. I will test it out tomorrow with Nigel on Botany.

Thanks again for the help.


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## mrimpact (Sep 3, 2012)

I have a question for those using these sounders? Is there a minimum depth limit? I would like to use 1 to find structure in shallow water...


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## Jeffen (Jan 18, 2011)

mrimpact said:


> I have a question for those using these sounders? Is there a minimum depth limit? I would like to use 1 to find structure in shallow water...


I have the Lowrance Mark5x which is a similar price range to these, it will work in 1 metre of water, but gets confused if it's any shallower.
So if you are thinking about the 1-4 metre range being the depths you want to work, then I would imagine that these would be fine.

Jeff


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## mrimpact (Sep 3, 2012)

Jeffen said:


> mrimpact said:
> 
> 
> > I have a question for those using these sounders? Is there a minimum depth limit? I would like to use 1 to find structure in shallow water...
> ...


Tyvm


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