cheap fish finders

[FishforFood82]

Humminbirds do have a problem sometimes with the screen flickin in and out but only at higher speeds. For the price they are great. probably isnt safe looking at the depth finder at 60+ mph anyway LOL. Low idle or trolling they are very dependable. as far as favorite for price would be 565 series! Eagles are great but way to many options and buttons to deal with. Lowrance way too expensive for my blood!

[bigfish5]

take a look at the eagle fishmark480 great unit for the money. it has 480x480 pixels very clear and easy to use. about 200 bucks

I HAVE HAD ONE OF THESE UNIT S FOR A WHILE NOW AND IT WORKS GREAT. FOR THE MONEY I THINK THEY ARE A GREAT UNIT. I THINK YOU WOULD BE VERY HAPPY WITH THIS UNITS PERFORMANCE IF YOU CHOOSE TO GET ONE. I HOPE THIS HELPS.

[jayhawk]

just bought a new cuda at wall mart works good 79.00

[Wannabe...]

If you don't mind the smallish screen, but absolutely want color: Eagle FishEasy 320C. Absolute best that can be had for your budget is the Eagle 480 IMO.
The lower end H'birds have a good reputation here as well but I don't have any experience with them.

I had a Garmin 120 that came with a boat that I bought and it was fine to tell you the depth, but the pixel count was too low for much else. Worked everytime though and it was put through the paces being a duck boat before I bought it and disposable in my mind there after. Not familiar enough with the Garmin line, but if you can find one 480x480 for your price, it'd probably be a good one.

As far as losing bottom signal at planing speed. Any unit is capable of holding bottom contact, but the trick is proper tranducer installation. Basically, if you've got a tin boat, you can forget about running 45 with good contact - some can, but they are either very good at ducer installation or very lucky. It's also hard, but more doable with a glass boat, but if that is your concern, you're best off setting the ducer inside the hull and "glassing" it in with slow cure epoxy. Of course, this will cut down on the effectiveness and power of the unit, but that's your best shot for WOT bottom contact.

Wannabe...

[birddog]

any hummingbird should be below that mark. i have all hummingbird on my bass boat. matter of fact i have 69.99 cuda series from bass pro on my duck boat that works better than the other 2

I have two of these Cuda series models and I like them very much. For the price I can live without all those bells and whistles.

[skunked_again]

I have a HB 565 and love it. But, it is my trolling motor fishfinder so I cannot testify about it losing the bottom at high speeds. I have an older Lowrance x28 at the console and it does okay at high speeds. I think most of the above mentioned units would be satisfactory in that price range.

[Scrapper]

Thumbs up on the eagle 480...I've had three 320s and love them...if I had the money I would buy lowrance. I do not know anything about the humminbirds but many love them...they all have their good and bad points though.

Go here

Product Emulators | Eagle

download the ones you want to check out and play with them on your screen. everything works on your computer just like the real one would. Its a great resource.

[slab_slayin_fool]

Thumbs up on the eagle 480...I've had three 320s and love them...if I had the money I would buy lowrance. I do not know anything about the humminbirds but many love them...they all have their good and bad points though.

Go here

Product Emulators | Eagle

download the ones you want to check out and play with them on your screen. everything works on your computer just like the real one would. Its a great resource.

thanks alot for so many quick responses everyone

and thanks scrapper for the link i guess it of to play around with finders for me

thanks again everyone

[NoMinners]

Get the Humminbird 565.

[bigdonkeyfish]

One more vote for the eagle fisheasy320. Same features and power as higher end units. Bought another one last week to bow mount for $160 at BPS.