Humminbird ice 55 vs Marcum’s lx7

Has anyone tested these two against each other? I’ve run an old vex next to my buddy’s 55 and I turned green with envy. I’ve always heard so many negatives with Marcum that I’ve completely shut them out for improvement… Seems they’re taking over the league now though. What kind of battery life are you getting from lx 7’s, how much do they interfere with older flashers or other Marcums, how is screen visibility in comparison to the ice 55 or fl20 when outside in the sun?

I bought a vexilar fl22 last year and never looked back! love it!

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I bought a vexilar fl22 last year and never looked back! love it!

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Did you get a chance to run it next to a marcum?

I have owned all three machines. All were good. My first choice by a small margin would be the Lx7. Next the 55 and then the Fl20.
I now run the Lx9. If I ever see a 55 for under$300, it will be in my sled as a companion to the Marcum. The 55 is great for hole hopping and the Lx units are amazing INSIDE the tent or house. The Fl20 is a nice machine, just seemed to me to be like using an 8-track while the 55 was like a Cd. The Marcum IS digital and I love all of the ways you can customize the settings to your own personal tastes.

Prospector,
Thanks for an awesome review in response to my post. I do a lot of hole hopping, fishing for trout and walleye on the flats, but I also fish long hours on the ice… 12-15 hours isn’t an abnormal fishing day for me (less the travel between lakes). Any remarks on the battery life comparison?

I run a 55 and the LX-7. Use the LX-7 for my jigging rod and the 55 for my deadstick rod. Work great together. Always fish in my otter so wouldn’t know how they work in the sun.

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I run a 55 and the LX-7. Use the LX-7 for my jigging rod and the 55 for my deadstick rod. Work great together. Always fish in my otter so wouldn’t know how they work in the sun.

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Is the response time on the marcum that much faster?

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Prospector,
Thanks for an awesome review in response to my post. I do a lot of hole hopping, fishing for trout and walleye on the flats, but I also fish long hours on the ice… 12-15 hours isn’t an abnormal fishing day for me (less the travel between lakes). Any remarks on the battery life comparison?

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I’ve never run short of juice in a day of fishing no matter how many hours I spent on the ice. The run time depends a lot on how much screen brightness you run. If you crank it up, you get less run time. If you turn it down, you get longer run time. For comparison sake I believe the max amp draw on an LX5 is 0.75 AMPS and if memory serves the max AMP draw on the LX7 is 0.80 AMPS. Of course if you turn down the screen brightness (I run mine at 35 – 50%) you’ll get your AMP draw down well below that 0.80 AMP mark and your run time will jump up accordingly.

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I’ve never run short of juice in a day of fishing no matter how many hours I spent on the ice. The run time depends a lot on how much screen brightness you run.

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Thanks James, I know you put in some hours on the ice too, so that is reasuring. I’m ready to retire my old vex, and it’s a tough call for me whether or not to go marcum or humm. I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me you tuck your lx9 in to bed at night, the gleam in your eye when you talk about it on camera says enough. I had this same battle over the lowrance HDS series and humminbird’s 98 CI model a few springs ago… Dang humms always put me in a pickle like this.

I will take a bullet proof vexilar anyday no domnloading new specks to get it to read right ,not a bunch of gimmicks!

I have really grown to love fishing with the LX7 / LX9 to the point where I can’t imagine going back to a mechanical flasher, even an LX5, which I fished with for a bunch of years. Once you get into setting up specific displays for particular fishing situations and species and see how that can really be a huge benefit… the mechanical flashers seem very, very limiting.

I get what Gill is saying though… My Vex is about 16 years old, sees 100 days of ice a year and still runs, that kind of craftsmanship is hard to turn your back on. But a new cane pole is still a cane pole.

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I’ve never run short of juice in a day of fishing no matter how many hours I spent on the ice. The run time depends a lot on how much screen brightness you run.

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Thanks James, I know you put in some hours on the ice too, so that is reasuring. I’m ready to retire my old vex, and it’s a tough call for me whether or not to go marcum or humm. I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me you tuck your lx9 in to bed at night, the gleam in your eye when you talk about it on camera says enough. I had this same battle over the lowrance HDS series and humminbird’s 98 CI model a few springs ago… Dang humms always put me in a pickle like this.

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If you own a vex already, I say keep it for hole hopping and definitely buy a Marcum. The 55 is nice but not worth the upgrade if you already have a vex. Buy a nine and don’t look back! You can leave the camera off if you don’t want to lug it around. The 9 is a little more $$$, but who cares! This is FISHING!

the old washer and dryers worked forever…alot longer than the new ones…but the new ones have some of the most amazing features. and with all that comes the potential for issues. you just have to weigh what is important to you.

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the old washer and dryers worked forever…alot longer than the new ones…but the new ones have some of the most amazing features. and with all that comes the potential for issues. you just have to weigh what is important to you.

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I agree with that. In fact I think the company that makes the old ones is the best as far as customer service! A close second is Marcum. In my experience, Humminbird SUCKS!

Google just found me an ice 55 for under $400 with a free jetboil flash! So glad my birthday is just before ice fishing season!