Marcum vs Lowrance

I'm looking into buying a flasher for jigging docks and ice fishing. I've been drooling over a Marcum LX-5, but just can't justify a 500-dollar price tag. Last evening, I was checking out the Lowrance x67c Ice Machine and really liked what I saw. All my fishing is in less than 30 ft of water, most under 20. Ice fishing season is something we measure in weeks here in Kansas, not months.
Is the Lowrance unit "good enough" for what I will be doing, or will there be a noticeable difference between it and the Marcum?

In a case like this where shallow water and a short span of use comes into play I'd say go to the LX3tc. The big difference between the lowrance unit and the LX3 is at the hit. In shallow water that unit can show you a water bump from the gilling action of the fish where the other will struggle to show that kind of target seperation. The LX3 will have features that smoke the other.

An LX5 would be the great choice, but it would also kind of be like buying a Cadillac to run three blocks to the grocery store once a week while your budget is saying an S10...lots more utility and far less money. The Lowrance would be compared to a Ford Focus. I'd suggest a Humminbird flasher over the Lowrance.

hell even a vx1 would be good for what you do.

Oh heck, why even bother with anything QK? LOL Just go out and buy you one now. This year we will be in 5ft or less water fishing East Lake!

I appreciate the commentary so far. So what's the difference in the LX and VX models?

The VX is simply an entry level unit. It has slightly less power and not as many bells and whistles as the 3 or 5. In some instances where $$$ is an issue or where the water fished is consistently shallow and the power is not needed to get the job done, the vx would be an appropriater unit. If a parent is looking to get a young angler a unit as a Christmas present, this would be a dandy to get him/her started.

CTom, I appreciate your time to respond. Due to this information, I think I'm going with an LX-3.

The LX3 is one solid unit and will serve you very well. Great choice. The LX3 will serve you in any ice ituation that can be tossed at it. I've used my fishing lake trout thru the ice in water 175 feet deep and had nothing but good to say about how it performed. I guess with that deep of water I could have wished for a split beam transducer like that of the lX5 so a narrow beam would have offered a cleaner picture down that deep but I only did this fishing once thru the ice and have no plans for a second round anytime soon. But I do use my LX3 a lot on the Mississippi River where water depths of up to 55-60 feet are often found and the LX3 is flawless in water that depth.

i made a up grade this year and also went with the Lx3

If you buy one make sure it has the newest features on it, the new one come this year with a Snow Shield face plate and a 9 amp battery, also make sure to use the 25.00 Mail-In Rebate

Id go with the Marcum

i have the marcum lx-3 that i found at a bait store last year and for the money it served me great. this was my first year using something like this and i really enjoyed it plus if you fish with other folks that have that other brand (vex) the static that they get can be toned out with the marcum and that proved to be a great feature for me cause while they were tuning i was catching fish.