Give me some opinions on sounders please

[Davemmm]

I am looking for advice on sounders in the $300 - $400 bracket.

Unfortunately the posts in the sounder review thread are a little out of date.

The sounder is for my oldman ( birthday gift) and will be used mainly inside but occasionally he will fish outside but not miles way from the coast.

Any help will be appreciated.

Dave

[The Incredible Hull]

I got

http://www.lowrance.com/Products/Marine/Mark-Series/Mark-5X-Pro/

for $290

I'm a total noob though, cause I find it does the exact same thing as my cheap NAVMAN sounder that came with the boat.

Either I'm a noob or I have no idea how to use it yep I now I have 2 sounders on the boat

All I look for is depth (drop offs) and structure.

Edited February 16, 2012 by The Incredible Hull

[Plumb]

I have a Lawrence elite5x purchased on line, works great for me. I generally adjust the sensitivity every time I move spots, however I've never seen an image with a screen full of fish like the screen that runs on demo mode...

Cheers Luke

[Davemmm]

I am leaning towards the Lowrance Elite 4X DSI.

can anyone tell me why I shouldn't

Cheers

Dave

[Plumb]

Depends on the Max depth he wants to fish. I sure the DSI's only read to about 80 m. Where as the non dsi will go up to 300

Luke

[bisso]

Essentially, they generally all do the same thing.... only difference being the quality of the unit, the resolution and features. no matter your budget, most sounders available perform adequately for the average joe who would have a hard time distinguishing the difference. try to find the simplest operation model that would suit you dads needs as he would be the one using it. generally, other than a few different functions, they do after all, tell you how much water you have below you. i recently bought a Lowrance Elite 5 combo which is great. i still think though as far as ease of use is concerned, that my Humminbird Pirana still is the easiest and best bang for your buck sounder that i have used. (my opinion only of course).

Edited February 17, 2012 by bisso

[a boat]

Hi, I have had the chance lately to use these new Lowrance Elite-4 sounders and in their price range they are the best and at the Raider price if you can strecth your budget by about $30 you can get your old man the combo Elite-4.

Cheers,

Huey.

[Davemmm]

Hi, I have had the chance lately to use these new Lowrance Elite-4 sounders and in their price range they are the best and at the Raider price if you can strecth your budget by about $30 you can get your old man the combo Elite-4.

Cheers,

Huey.

Thanks Craig but the deed is done