Yeah I just bought the X107cdf which can read up to 650m with the duel frequency. I have just done the same thing comparing all the brands and this is far the best on the market in the price range. I paid about $1100. It also has the best pixles for piture quality.

howdy there spooled i have recently bought a new sounder myself.it wasnt easy to pick which one to buy thats for sure.after weeks of looking on the net at specs for the different models i ended up with an eagles seafinder 640df.its a pearler .eagle are owned bye lowrance anyway.but i went this one due to the very high resolution at 640vert and 420 horizontal pixels the clarity is excellent.its exactly the same button setup as all the lowrance jobs as well. got it on ebay from a dealer in mandurah a bargain at $830 when the same sounder retailed for $1400 its a dual frequencey 4000 watt with 500 w at the transducer .ive only just fitted it in the boat and will be giving it a run in two weeks when i go to coral bay for the school holidays.i also picked up a dvd on ebay which explains in easy bloke english how to get the best out of your lowrance sounder.it was a real eye opener and have since passed it on to a couple of people who also run lowrance sounders and they have all said the same thing that it has deffinatly helped them set up there sounder better than there previous efforts .it helps take the guess work out and you know your doing it right
cheers mitch

always in it just the depth that varies

I have a X107cdf and am very happy with the unit. I bought a lowrance 400m plotter a few years back and due to having no probs with the unit i went with lowrance again. I looked at the navman 4500 and does not compare with the screen quality of the lowrance. As tapout said it with reach depths of up to 700mts and with an output of 4000watts rms its the strongest on the market for under $1000. Also having a LCD screen and a high pixel count helps. If you shop around you can pick on up for $900. Also with the lowrance you can fit an optional fuel sender kit which givs you a complete fuel management system. I have just fitted one to mine and will let you know how it goes. I also have to say the customer suport with lowrance is exellent. You speak to a tech who knows what they are doing. Will never look back.

I have the Lawrance LMS330C , hardest sounder I have ever tried to work out , so many menues etc to go thru to do something , I will never get a GPS/ sounder combo ever again!!

Well I will never get a Lawrance sounder / gps again anyway .

I leave it on full screen sounder now and use a handheld gps for plotting .

______________________________________________________

Strap yourself in , and feel the GGGGG's

The lying scumbag that I am .

I've had an X85 for ten years and will soon be in the market for another unit so the views expressed are exactly what I need. My X85 is still going strong and works bril, its far better than anything else I've seen for the price. Its just getting a bit too loose on the rear connection plugs and sometimes they work loose causing it to 'drop out'. If anyone knows of a method to tighten these up let me know. I've cleaned them as Lowrance advised but still not solved it entirely. The option is either a new transducer and cable (pretty pricey I rekon) or a complete new unit which will certainly be another Lowrance (X107duel). Lastly does anyone know when the internal memory battery runs out of power in Lowrance units?

Hi Paul,

No bagging other products but I will say the Furuno is the best by far, the most "important feature" on a modern sounder is "bottom lock" and I mean "true bottom lock" which will tell you (act as a lie detector) if there's fish there......THE OTHER SOUNDERS YOU'VE MENTIONED DONT HAVE THIS IMPORTANT FUNCTION!

The Furuno FCV620 is around the $$ your looking and I'll PM ya more details!

Sounders aren't sounders....IT'S FAR MORE INVOLVED ;)

Cheers

** Oceanside = Shimano,Penn,Van Staal & Jigmaster rods, etc...**

Owner/Operator
Oceanside Tackle and Marine
364 South Street,
O'Connor, Perth WA
Ph# 9337 5682
Fishing/Boating/Dive/Marine
** OPEN 7 DAYS **

there priced in the mid range and havent let me down yet . great range and decent price range for the average fisho.I own the trackfish 6500 happy as a pig in shit . check out there range.

i have the global map 4800m and a xd98 both are top quality gear i had a prob with the transducer, i rang lowerance shipped it from my work for free sorted the probs and had it back in under a week.

the lowerance team is very very friendly and their gear is second to none i reakon.

Hey Ryan Im just curious about the true bottem lock,What is it and what does it do. Ive heard of it but wasnt sure what it did.

Ive got the Globalmap 3500C and the X107CDF and had them for nearly 12 months now and could not be happier ....

Tapout,

This is the most important tool in a sounder and many recreational brands dont have, some do and the Furuno has a true bottom lock, many have a "sort of" bottom lock or zoom etc!

Bottom Lock enables you to see where the fish are ie next to the bottom, up high, in/around coral etc which a normal screen generally doesn't show.

Swell like yesterday showed me so much good lumps but they're not, that was the swell so by having my bottom lock I could see if each rise was a lump or swell as each lump has some sort of growth/hardness to it and will show up on the bottom lock, especially if it was loaded with fish!

I've had one guy say to me that bottom lock isn't that important, HOW WRONG he is, most all crayfisherman, wetlinners and experienced anglers use this......tell's a story eh ;)

The bottom lock works as a lie detector, what's really down there, what structure ie sand/coral/weed etc, where are the fish sitting?? all this can be read/understood by the "bottom lock"

The echo hit's the ground and comes back with info, it wont take swell or big hard structure into the picture so you see whats really down there and no swell issues!

I catch heaps of bottom fish with my Furuno colour sounder (some awesome fish in the last 3 outings recently), my bottom lock produces me even more..........call me if you want more info!

Cheers

** Oceanside = Shimano,Penn,Van Staal & Jigmaster rods, etc...**

Owner/Operator
Oceanside Tackle and Marine
364 South Street,
O'Connor, Perth WA
Ph# 9337 5682
Fishing/Boating/Dive/Marine
** OPEN 7 DAYS **

I agree with you ryan on the furuno, I have a FCV 600 and have had it for about a year and i am very happy with it. Working in the marine trade I get to play with alot of sounders and rate furuno as the best. As far as i understand with bottom lock, when the boat goes up and down over waves that will register on the sounder as lumpy bottom with the bottom lock it shows the bottom as a straight line showing only actual lumps/structure on the screen.