Which would you choose? SONAR

Hi all of you electronic guru’s out there…I’m looking for some advice on Sonar.

If PRICE was taken out of the picture, which Lowrance unit would you go with? Both the 330c and the 480 are sonar/gps combo units. The gps features are the same in both, so I’ve not included them in the specs. Also I’ve tried to eliminate all duplicate features. It really boils down to a question of more pixals and power or color.

Please remember to keep price out of it. Which would be the better unit to find walleyes and catfish holes with…mostly on the St Croix. Mostly fishing in 30 feet or less of water.

Thanks in advance!

Lowrance LMS 480M
Fishfinder GPS Combo
Single Frequency

Magnificent 480×480 resolution monochrome display in a compact case. Combination Sonar/GPS/WAAS/Mapping unit combines the best from all worlds to give you the performance and features you need!

Features:

View Points
5.0″ (12.7cm) diagonal high-contrast Film SuperTwist LCD display
High-detail 480 x 480 (w x h) resolution
16-level grayscale

Sonar/Sounder
Depth penetration to 1,000 feet
4,000 W peak-to-peak power

Special standard features — GRAYLINE®, programmable “Windows,” Advanced Signal Processing (ASP™)

Lowrance LMS-330C Color Fishfinder GPS

320×240 high-res 256-color display with all the features compressed into a compact case! The 1/4 VGA color display.
Display
5.0″ (12.7cm) diagonal 256-color, 1/4 VGA liquid crystal TFT display
High-detail 240 x 320 (w x h) resolution
Wide viewing angles in all light conditions

Sonar/Sounder Features
Depth penetration to 900 feet
2,400 W peak-to-peak power

Special standard features — COLORLINE™, programmable “Windows,” Advanced Signal Processing (ASP™)

Here is my latest purchase…

Garmin 162

and the Lowrance X136DF

the 136 has a 5″ screen with 480×480 pixils and 4,000 W peak-to-peak power…Dual frequency 200/50 kHz Skimmer transducer with built-in temp/speed/distance readings.I don’t really care about the speed and distance but thats what it comes with..also a 16-level grayscale and 4 background gray tone choices for a great picture read out.

I prefer the full screen display of each unit not a split screen…

I chose the Garmin 162 because of all the great reports i have recieved on this website…Several guides and tournament fisherman from here have spent a lot of time with this unit and they really love them…My biggest feature that i’m intrested in is the quality of the speed reading under 1 mph……

so there you go !!

Jolly Ann Marine Prices

GPSMAP 162
with Internal Antenna
& Fishing Hot Spots CD!
$389.99!

Lowrance X136DF Fish Finder
$434.99

If PRICE was taken out of the picture I would go with the Garmin GPSMAP 172C Color GPS

I got the lms-330c have not gotten to use it to much, but from the little I have it is awsome. I really love the color, so easy to see!!

If money isnt an issue, the Vexilar Edge is an excellent river locator.

Sorry Derek…that’s not one of the options…but I would agree….even if money was in the picture…can’t go wrong with a vex!

Just purchased a LMS-330C and love it after using it on the Mississippi and Lake Osakis.
I also purchased the Navionics 3′ contour lake maps chip that you install in the unit and that baby is on the money!
The graph/gps screen is as accurate as any map i’ve ever seen.
The color really tells you the difference between rocks on the bottom and walleyes on the bottom as the walleyes will have a red hue in between the top outline of the mark and the bottom, where as a rock is solid blue! And we had a undewater camera to verify what we were looking at.

Lowrance LMS 330C , that’s what I am running this year. So far, so good.

I also have a new 330c. I fished Pelican in the Brainerd area for the opener. My Dad has a New x19. We were fishing the same spots, in fact pulled together and compared what we we’re marking. Only 2 differences…I saved $800. My screen is smaller

I love my 33oc

Thanks guys…Some great feed back here.

I’m looking for someone that owns and runs one of these babies!

PM or Post…Thanks!

Hmmm….can’t change the Subject line in the forum anymore…I’m looking for owners of Lowarance 19 or 19c gps/sonar combos.

Thanks again!

I seen 3 of these units(Lowarance 19 or 19c gps/sonar combos)in the bargan cave at Cabelas ifthat tells you anything… and they are still there !!

I fished with a guy last weekend who had two x-19 gps unit on his counsel. He kept one on gps and the other on sonar mode. Seemed like an awful waste of money to me.

Gator Hunter

Thank Dave…the guy Gator fished with must have bought them at a good price…they are gone now!

Bought one last Tuesday. I went out yesterday and was not very impressed with it AT ALL. Iadjusted the screen every way i could but still could notsee it in the sun. It works well at Cabelas and in my garage but thats it. If I could get some one to tell me that I am doing something wrong with it i would like to hear from them. Thanks Much/////////

Thats why they are sold indoors.

My 480 works great in the bathtub….

Plasticman…I sent you an email….