Thread: 800 or 2000 Watt Fish Finder...Is There A Difference Except for the Price

The first fish finder I bought was a Cuda 242. I had this on my first boat, a 1970 aluminum v-bottom Sears jon. I was on a budget and the Cuda was on sale at Wal-Mart for around $50. So I figured what the heck cheap enough and I got a fish finder.

About a year ago, I bought a small bass boat and figured that I would get a better fish finder to put on the console and put the Cuda on the trolling motor. I talked with the guys at Cabela's and they turned me on to a Hummingbird PiranhaMax 240. It more expensive than the Cuda, but less than $150.00

As I started fishing with both fish finders, I noticed a difference in what the finders were displaying. The Cuda was displaying fish that the PiranhaMax wasn't. I thought, that's kind of funny. Wasn't sure why the Cuda was showing me fish all over the place and the Max was not. I used the Max as I was boating from place to place to locate fish depth, and the Cuda when I was trolling with the trolling motor to get the depth of how deep to fish. I dropped my jigs down to the depth the Cuda said the fish were at and most of the time I didn't get bites. As I worked the jig above or below the Cuda fish depth, I was getting strikes. I took me only a year to figure out that something was wrong.

So, I decided to do a little research. The difference was in the power of the units. The Cuda was pushing out 800 watts of peek power, the Max was pushing 1600 watts. It seems like the Max was able to cut through the clutter and give me a clearer picture of what's under the water. So, I decided that since 1600 watts was good, maybe 2000 watts were better.

I went to Cabela's and picked up a Hummingbird 565 and could not be happier. The unit pushed 2000 watts of peak power, has a large 5" display so I don’t have to hunch over to see what debt the fish are at, it has lots of features, and the fish are exactly where the finder said they are at. I've been fishing with the unit for a couple of days now and I can tell you that this thing has helped me catch fish.

I just wanted to post my experience with the fish finders I purchased.

SANTA CLAUS the watts and the pixels make a difference. I have or have had two hummingbirds and liked them both, the 777 would not work with my terrova trolling motor, but the picture on it when I had it on the console was awsome. glad you like your new toy, they in my opinion make a difference,
I bought a lowrance to put on the trolling motor and have no noise problems when I run the trolling motor, the humminbird would turn blue and you couldnt see the screen images. no trouble with the lowrance. enjoy

I have always been told to look at the three 'P's when describing sonar units. Power, Pixels and Price. The power, as you figured out, is how strong and accurate of a signal you get. The more power you have the more signal there is and thus the more accurate the returns are. The Pixels, much like a computer screen, are how accurately the unit can display the return. If the there are not a lot of pixels, it may not be able to show you the accuracy. Don't be fooled by the screen size. This has nothing to do with pixels. A 640 x 480 (pixels) screen could be 10 inches big or 5 inches big, depending on how big the pixels are. A pixel is nothing more than a light that changes color. That said, the more pixels, the more accurately the unit can display the returns. The third part is has the least to do with how the unit works, but the plays the biggest part of our decision and that is price. The key is to get the most Power and Pixels for the Price you are willing to spend.

OK, well, I didn't mean for this to get into that much detail, but that's my $.02. Hope it helps someone.

See you on the water!

Originally Posted by Camalama

I have always been told to look at the three 'P's when describing sonar units. Power, Pixels and Price. The power, as you figured out, is how strong and accurate of a signal you get. The more power you have the more signal there is and thus the more accurate the returns are. The Pixels, much like a computer screen, are how accurately the unit can display the return. If the there are not a lot of pixels, it may not be able to show you the accuracy. Don't be fooled by the screen size. This has nothing to do with pixels. A 640 x 480 (pixels) screen could be 10 inches big or 5 inches big, depending on how big the pixels are. A pixel is nothing more than a light that changes color. That said, the more pixels, the more accurately the unit can display the returns. The third part is has the least to do with how the unit works, but the plays the biggest part of our decision and that is price. The key is to get the most Power and Pixels for the Price you are willing to spend.

OK, well, I didn't mean for this to get into that much detail, but that's my $.02. Hope it helps someone.

See you on the water!

That is a better way of describing it.

I appreciate the lesson, Camalama. Thanks!

I belive the Lowrance 510C I have is 4000 watts. Love it. I can see an 1/8th oz jig dance on the screen.