Fishfinders Archives

Lowrance Marine Electronics Reviews

Lowrance is a leader in manufacturing GPS, Sonar, depth finders, chartplotters and fishfinders. Lowrance Marine is one of the most recognized brands in marine electronics among commercial fishermen and boating enthusiasts of all types because of the wide selection of devices they supply.

Lowrance Fish Finders

Fishermen may be interested in Lowrance marine fish finders. They are equipped with dual frequency sonar, 480 X 480 resolution, up to 2500 feet depth penetration, and other advanced capabilities. Fish finders are also available with large screen monochrome monitors. The new fish finder and combo units do an excellent job at finding fish. The popular fishing and boating kits can be found in quite a number of sizes, prices and colors matching distinctive requirements.

Lowrance 000-10235-001 Elite-5x DSI DownScan Imaging Fishfinder with 5-Inch Color LCD and 455/800 KHz Transom Mount Transducer
List Price: $549.00
Sale Price: $402.91
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days


Lowrance Mark-5x 5-Inch Waterproof Fishfinder
List Price: $159.00
Sale Price: $154.85
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days


Lowrance Elite-5x 5-Inch Waterproof Fishfinder
List Price: $449.00
Sale Price: $396.00
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days


Lowrance M68C S/Map 3.5-Inch Waterproof Fishfinder
List Price: $419.00
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days



Lowrance Marine GPS

Marine GPS is easily one of the most common GPS types and Lowrance Marine GPS is at the top of the list. The Lowrance GPS antenna is built-in on most of the GPS-enabled systems so installation and use is effortless.

Lowrance HDS-5m 5-Inch Waterproof Marine GPS and Chartplotter (With Nautic Insight Maps)
List Price: $599.00
Sale Price: $736.77
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days



Lowrance GPS Chartplotter

A step above standard GPS is the Marine GPS chartplotter. These can help you stay on course. Chartplotters also can offer you advance information about buoys and also tides. In addition, they are great for understanding the weather and many supply you with the sonar and radar images.


Considering the number of professional-grade solutions currently available from Lowrance, it simply makes good sense to add new Lowrance marine electronics to whatever type of boat you have.

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Gift Ideas for Boaters

Looking for the perfect gift for the boating enthusiast on your list? How about a new, great-sound marine stereo? Or maybe some waterproof speakers to kick-up the sound quality? Below we’ve gathered some great gift ideas that are sure to please the boater in your life.

1. Marine Stereos

If your loved one is a music lover as well as a boater then you can’t go wrong with a marine stereo system. There are lots of great choices with prices to match any budget. Below, we’ve chosen some of our favorites.

PYLE PLCD3MR AM/FM-MPX In-Dash Marine CD/MP3 Player/USB and SD Card Function
List Price: $197.99
Sale Price: $69.26
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days



Both the Pyle and the Sony marine stereos would be great choices.

2. Fish Finders

Does your man love to fish? How about giving him a little help bringing in the next catch with a new fishfinder?

Garmin Waterproof Fishfinder 300C with 3.5-Inch Display and Dual-Beam Transducer
List Price: $249.99
Sale Price: $248.00
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days


Humminbird PiranhaMAX 170 4-Inch Waterproof Fishfinder and Dual-Beam Transducer
List Price: $99.99
Sale Price: $94.82
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days



3. GPS Marine Navigation

Every boater should have a GPS marine navigator. Chart your course with ease!

Garmin GPSMAP 421 4-Inch Waterproof Marine GPS and Chartplotter
List Price: $399.99
Sale Price: $331.51
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days


Garmin GPSMAP 78 2.6-Inch Marine GPS Navigator and Worldwide Chartplotter
List Price: $349.99
Sale Price: $297.86
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours



4. CB Radio

Staying in touch is important out on the water and a CB radio let’s you communicate no matter how far out your are.

Cobra 29 LX 40-Channel CB Radio with Instant Access 10 NOAA Weather Stations and Selectable 4 Color Display
List Price: $149.95
Sale Price: $94.99
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days


Cobra Electronics MR F45-D Class-D Fixed Mount VHF Radio
List Price: $119.95
Sale Price: $85.00
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days



5. Binoculars

Binoculars are a must when out on the water. Great for viewing birds and other marine life.

Bushnell H2O 10x42 Porro Prism Waterproof/Fogproof Binocular
List Price: $123.95
Sale Price: $69.24
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours


Nikon 7223 Action 16 X 50mm Binoculars
List Price: $190.95
Sale Price: $119.99
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days



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Garmin Fishfinder 300C Review

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The Garmin Fishfinder 300C is the first of the high-end of the price range for the Garmin’s sonar fishfinder units. However, this is one time you will definitely get what you pay for. Featuring one of their best screens in this niche, you are sure to be pleased with what you see in a variety of ways.

Screen

The screen is, admittedly, not at the level of modern-day smart phones or even some portable camcorders. But with a three-and-a-half inch QVGA color display, offering 320 x 240 pixel resolution, it is superior in the sonar display category niche.

The view is ultra bright even in full sun light and offers the thousands of colors you would expect from the QVGA display technology. For comparison, the otherwise fine Fishfinder 160C offers only sixteen colors. Making it even more useful, the Fishfinder 300C offers both automatic and manual 2x and 4x zoom.

Transducer

Thanks to Garmin’s dual-beam transducer, what the fishfinder has to display is equally clear and detailed. It’s user-selectable for either a Narrow (15 degree) beam or a Wide (45 degree) beam to explore the shallows or the depths with equal clarity.

The depth range is considerable, as well. The Fishfinder 300C can measure depths accurately in water less than one foot deep. Yet, housing electronics that produce 1200 watts of power output (peak-to-peak, 150 watts RMS), it can operate effectively down to 900 feet.

The AutoGain feature ensures you won’t have to worry about adjusting the screen across the depth range. The unit will automatically select the appropriate gain to most clearly show the right level of detail. However, it is manually adjustable, if so desired. Users can also turn off or on the Fish ID and the Whiteline feature (which shows how thick the bottom is).

The case is both robust and modest sized, so you can take the Fishfinder 300C literally anywhere. Drench it and it works just as well as when perfectly dry. Come in after dark and you’ll see the screen just fine. At a slender 4.5″ x 4.5″ x 2.4″ it won’t take up much room, either.

Installation

With Garmin’s simple mount kits you can install this model on anything from a 40-foot fishing boat to a kayak with equal ease. And, since it weighs only 9.6 ounces, it wouldn’t be a big burden to move back and forth between them, either.

Garmin’s mounts aren’t just easy to install, however. They operate well, too. You get a great view in any scenario. Tilt the screen up with ease then lock it down for a stable view. Give it a firm sideways nudge and the swivel lets you turn it to face you at all times.

Overall Opinion

The company makes several other sonar units that are more expensive with larger screens and more bells and whistles. But, even at this mid-range price, the Garmin Fishfinder 300C offers a number of high-end features, not least a superb display. For freshwater lake fishermen, this could be an ideal choice.

Click here to purchase the Garmin Waterproof Fishfinder 300C from Amazon.

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Garmin Fishfinder 160C Review

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Garmin markets the Garmin Fishfinder 160C as a mid-range sonar device. That description is accurate, so far as it goes, but it doesn’t fully convey the range of fine features this unit offers.

Those fine features start with what’s the most obvious – the 4.5 inch display. Surprisingly for a screen that is only 128 x 128 pixel resolution, it’s sharp, clear, and bright in all lighting conditions. The 16-color technology – distinguished from the 4-tone grayscale of the entry-level Fishfinder 140, for example – helps that along considerably. Garmin’s UltraScroll keeps the screen constantly refreshed, so you always see up-to-date information.

Naturally, that fine view potential is useless unless there’s something picked up to display. The Fishfinder 160C ensures plenty of detail of the water below by housing a dual-beam transducer. Users can select the Narrow (15 degree) or Wide (45 degree) view to optimize the unit for varying conditions. Explore the shallows or the depths with equal clarity.

That clarity and granularity is increased by the onboard AutoGain technology. It helps outline more fish, more clearly. It also helps distinguish them from waving weeds, floating debris and other objects that would produce false positives.

Of course, experienced fishermen know they can’t keep their eyes on a screen all the time. That’s especially true near the shoreline where little movements can make the difference between moving to the right location and landing up on a sandbar. The Fishfinder 160C provides audible alarms that can be heard well over the engine, the wind, and other common sounds while on the water.

The sensor technology inside allows this unit to provide accurate readings in water as shallow as one foot, enabled by something Garmin calls SPS (Shallow Precision Signal). In this case, that’s more than just a marketing buzzphrase. Yet, the Fishfinder 160C is effective down to 600 feet, too.

There are optional settings for shallow or deep water. There’s an option to display water temperature on the screen at all times, a handy piece of information that helps judge the species you’re likely to find at a given time in your location. Users can also check battery voltage at a glance.

The physical housing is robust (waterproof, naturally) and the mount mechanism is sturdy and easy to install. After you get it in place, you’ll note another helpful feature: it swivels 360 degrees. No matter where you have to be, you can orient your sonar unit to suit you, not the other way around. There’s even a quick-release mechanism so you can carry it with you around the boat if you want.

Carrying it isn’t hard, since it’s 6.1″ wide x 4.9″ high x 2.9″ thick and weighs only about 18 ounces. The only tricky part is installing the transducer, which has a housing that’s a little on the bulky side (about an inch square).

The Garmin Fishfinder 160C doesn’t offer built-in GPS and some of the other features of high-end sonar units. But what it does provide is of durable quality and the view is just great.

Click here to buy the Garmin Fishfinder 160C on Amazon.

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Garmin Fishfinder 140 Review

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The Garmin Fishfinder 140 isn’t a GPS unit, really, but a sonar device. Sure, it’s made by Garmin and often winds up in the GPS category, but the name really says it all; the Fishfinder 140 does just that. Fortunately, names and categories aside, it does that very well.

Time on the water is always valuable, and always in short supply. The Fishfinder lets you maximize your time by minimizing the amount spent looking for your target. It has tons of features that make it easy to do that.

Starting right with what you see, the 4.7 inch display offers plenty of real estate. True, the glass portion is only 3.2 inches square, but it’s surprising how much detail you can make out on that smartphone-sized window. The 4-tone grayscale shows “where they are and where they’re not” very clearly, even with only 128 x 240 pixel resolution. That view is enchanced by the easy-to-use 2x and 4x zoom. A clearly visible white line shows how thick the bottom is. With 80/200kHz dual-beam transducers you get a good sweep of not just what’s below but well to the side, as well. The cone angle can be either 15° or 45° to narrow or broaden the beam as you prefer. That lets you search a large area well or a greater depth in greater detail.

The AutoGain keeps the view sharp and minimizes clutter on the display. At the same time, the Fish Symbol ID makes it pretty evident when your prey is nearby. The Fishfinder 140 is effective down to about 600 feet but operates well in shallow water, too.

Click here to read customer reviews of the Garmin Fishfinder 140.

As you know from experience, though, hunting fish involves knowing more about the sea than just what’s visible. You know that water temperature matters. The designers of the Fishfinder 140 know that too so they supplied both a log and a graph to let you know those at all times.

Audible alarms help with your search because, let’s face it, oftentimes you need to keep your eyes on the water. Those alarms alert you to shallow water, deep water, and fish size.

There are tons of convenience features built in to the Fishfinder 140, too.

  • Automatic display rescaling on range eliminates vertical lines that could interfere with what you need to see.
  • The chips retain your preference settings on a power down so there’s never a need to re-select them.
  • The battery voltage indicator and low battery alarm ensure you’re always aware of when you need to recharge.
  • The incandescent backlighting for both display and keypad make it easy to see the screen and keys in all weather.

The Garmin Fishfinder 140 is marketed as an entry-level model and, for sure, it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of other sonar devices. But for the price, it’s a happy surprise just how much this fishfinder offers.

Click here to buy the Garmin Fishfinder 140 on Amazon.

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Garmin Fishfinder 90 with Dual-Beam Transducer

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The Garmin Fishfinder 90 with Dual-Beam Transducer is on the low-end of the sonar units that Garmin offers. Yet, despite its low price and simple operation, it offers many of the features of their higher-end models.

Despite its low, low price, the Fishfinder 90 model still features Garmin’s dual-beam transom-mount transducer. That lets the user select a narrow beam (15 degrees) or wide beam (45 degrees). The wider setting allows for a broad sweep to explore areas well to the sides of the boat. The narrower selection provides more detail at greater depths.

That depth range is both considerable and accurate, as well. The Fishfinder 90 will provide views down to 600 feet and measure depths as shallow as a foot or less. The unit can differentiate depths with high accuracy, too. Manual measurements made for comparison to the figure displayed by the Fishfinder 90 showed a difference of less than one inch, well within any measurement error.

The only real limitations of the Fishfinder 90 over Garmin’s more expensive units are the screen and the mount. Both are good on this model, but not quite as good as, say, the Fishfinder 140 or the Fishfinder 160C.  For example, the mount lacks the quick-release mechanism of the 160C. On the upside, it’s equally easy to install. And, while it doesn’t offer the 360 degree swivel of the more expensive model, the tilt and swivel are pretty good. The other drawback – the display – is a little more serious. The screen on the Fishfinder 90 is certainly adequate. It clearly shows the difference between large fish and small fish, outlines the bottom well, and in general does the job it was designed for. But at only 64 x 128 pixel resolution, it’s decidedly on the low end of the scale. Even the Fishfinder 140′s 128 x 240 is modest (not to mention much less than contemporary smartphone or handheld GPS displays) and the Fishfinder 90 is much less than that. Still, the display is clear and bright in all lighting conditions thanks to overall good design and an anti-reflective coating.

Click here to read customer reviews of the Garmin Fishfinder 90.

The audible alarms could be louder, but the fact that Garmin chose to include them at all in such a low-price model is a good thing. You might have to strain a little to hear it when the engine speed is high, but other than that they’re clear and flexible. Users can adjust the alarm, for example, to beep when the depth reaches a threshold, great for avoiding problems in shallow water when you have to keep your eyes ‘on the road’.

The Fishfinder 90 offers one useful feature that differs from the higher end models. The case, at only 4.7″ wide x 4.9″ high x 2.4″ thick, is great for squeezing into small spaces. The 160C by comparison is 6.1″ wide x 4.9″ high x 2.9″ thick.

Yes, the Garmin Fishfinder 90 is a plain vanilla sonar unit. But even vanilla can taste really good when it’s this well made.

Click here to purchase the Garmin Fishfinder 90 on Amazon.

Garmin Fishfinder 90 with Dual-Beam Transducer
Overall Rating:
Total Customer Reviews: (15)
List Price: $109.99
Availability:
GARMIN 010-00459-00 Fishfinder 90 GPS Marine. The Fishfinder 90 wraps simple operations and Garmin s exclusive fishfinder technology into an entry level sonar. It is perfect for any vessel where space is at a premium. Dual beam transducer operation gives you better shallow water performance. The wide viewing angle /60 degrees/ lets you see fish even off the sides of the boat. With a basic black on white display, the Fishfinder 90 has one of the sharpest screens for the money. The Fishfinder 90 also offers Ultrascroll which allows boaters to get a much faster refresh rate on their[Read More]
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