how do you like your fish finder

I need to get a new fish finder. Don't want to unload alot of dough. I got an old Humminbird 400tx that's tryin hard to go to heaven. Got a 16' center console boat. Of course I want to see the screen while I'm running, but I also want to be able to rotate the unit 180 degrees and aim it forward, so I can see it while I am operating from the trolling motor at the bow. That will mean there will be some extra glare through the windscreen on the console. Also the unit needs to be compact in order to fit on my small console and rotate around. Is anybody especially proud of what they have? Why? Maybe you know somebody else who has one that will turn 180 degrees around and work both sides of the aisle pretty good. Don't really care about the speed display, but I do want decent visability in the sunshine, and want to know the water temp and see the bottom features. Have already replaced the transducer and the separate speed/temp pickup unit on this recorder. It still wants to go to heaven. Use the boat in both fresh and salt water less than 60' deep. Been lookin on ebay. Also been to a few mfg's websites, but still would like some first-hand user recommendations.

I might as well start and be the 1st shot down.............
My own experiance
However,I run two units,one up front on trolling motor and one on top of the dash (transome transducer).
Eagles are a good buy,but lasted about as long as Lowrance (its just a cheaper $ version of the Lowrance)
Humminbird has treated me right, but it depend on the specific unit,I found out you either got a good one or a bad one.
Lowrance had the best of everything but was the one's most short lived.
Garmin to me is my favorite and has been the most dependable for the buck,I especially like it with the GPS feature even tho other units have it too

Like you, all I am mainly interested in, is pixel count,bottom detail,scrolling speed and water temp. But I want it to read those details reliable, at somewhat higher speeds too.
I dont care about all that trash that shows up as fish in some glory hole and goes beep beep beep.
Had a Humminbird side scan once,mine was a piece of cra*, wasnt worth the $'s spent.

Looking forward to see replies as I am about to buy another too and am leaning strong on Garmin once again
My opinon is just that, mine.
I hope other folks dont take exception with my experiances, with any specific brands that they may own.
I didnt intend to knock any particular brand or persons choice on purpose.

Mark me down for second to get shot down !!!

Last year I purchased my dad a 15' boat for fathers day. It was a bare boat and I did all the rigging. I budgeted money for a motor, trailer, trolling motor, depth recorder, and chartplotter. I was willing to go $250.00 max. for a depth recorder.

I am not big on combo units (sonar/gps), to me if the display goes dead you loose both. This goes back to my offshore days. I love color units and have a high dollar Si-Tex on my center console but that was way over my budget. I like Garmin and fell in love with their 300c model for $200.00 till I saw one in person. I'm 51 and my eyes are on their way down hill. My dad is 74 and even with glasses he's no better than me. The display is only 3.5", and from any distance I was straining my eyes to see it.

I ended up with the Hummingbird 565 model. Its not color, but so far I've been happy with it. It has a 5" display, dual beam, with 640x320 resolution. I did turn the "fish id" off, all I care about is bottom & structure. I don't think I've ever caught a fish I saw on display.

If you can afford color by all means go for it. It will help you a ton on reading what type of bottom your fishing in. But before you can read it, you first have to see it. And the 300c was way too small display for me.

Good luck and give us a review on what you bought !!!

Clyde

Here is 2 cents from my side. If I had my druthers, I would keep my little M68c on the dash, and have a good (without gps) finder up front with the 'ducer on the foot of the trolling motor. I like having all that info from the M68c to get me there, but want something made just for finding structure/fish up front. Have found when you get a combo unit, your gonna be missing out on one side or the other. Your either gonna have a kick butt gps or a great finder, but to have the best of both worlds in a combo, your gonna have to really dig deep in the visa account. As far as what unit I would have up front, Lowrance, Eagle, Garmin, Ford, Chevy, Dodge.....well you get my point.

Well, I did a couple things the past two days. I visited a Ganders and a West Marine. After being in that Ganders I gotta say that fishin has come a long way. Anyhow I did get to see several units. The Lowrance (and their lower line Eagle) look good, but the mounts I saw available did not function in the way I want them to swivel. The Garmin mount looks like it will work, however the ones on display left me unsure how easily they would swivel. The Garmin 160c was the right size and price, but the definition was pretty low. I didn't see any other Garmin in either store that I cared for, but their display line did not look complete. Ray Marine had one unit for a few $K. I would say they have come a long way. My first ever recorder off-shore was a Ray Marine. I gotta say it was akin to the first ever telephone but probably didn't work as good. Also, no Apelco or Furuno or Sitex-Koden models. Guess they are out of the game. That, for me, comes down to the Humminbird. The mount swivels like I want it to. The 500 line of machines I have not seen before. I think the color machine is going to be the one that works best in the sun. The 500 series has a 4 1/2 inch display which is just slightly under the 5 inch, but a whole lot more visable than the 3 1/2 inch. I'm down to the 586c and the 596c. The 596c has excellent definition. The 586c has less, but also looked good to me, and was way better than the Garmin 160c. They are both a couple hundred bucks more than I wanted to squander. So that comes to the 2nd thing I did yesterday which was change out a toggle switch and do alittle rewire job. I don't think it will help but I won't know until I get it on the water and bump along. I believe I will have to cut back on the wife's birthday and get me one of those new Humminbirds before too much longer. Thanks for your insights on this subject. I probably will lean away from a combo unit because I already have a Garmin GPS aboard (and my wife is probably less interested in this than she is her birthday).

Apelco is gone I believe; Furuno and Sitex weren't there because they are identified with big water fishing and tend to cost more. You can't compare a Garmin 160 (their low end unit) with the other units you mentioned, you need to look at a higher end model for comparison.

I have a H-Bird 717 and 565 that works well...I also Have a 383c combo that works great but the screen is on the small side. All of these units are reasonable and I have been satisfied with them. I also had a 717 on my smaller boat that I took off when I sold it. It is only 1 year old and in good shape. I thought I would just keep it as a back up but I would consider selling it.

Spent $700 about 4 years ago on a Humminbird,best investment yet.The rest of the boat cost me $450.When I save up enough I'm buying one of those side imaging deals.