Best Sounders for around $300

[megan]

Hi,

Does anyone know of any good sounders for around the $300 mark? Looking to get one for the little tinnie.

Cheers.

[whiteman]

I've got the Eagle Cuda 242 ($220) for my little tinny. Works well.

[pegasus]

Hi,

Lowrance/Eagle and Humminbird have credible sounders with in your range and certainly will be competitive. You might like to do a search an come up with some advice an opinions from the past as it is frequently comes up. There was a fair bit past that had garmin range favourable as an intro. Generally the higher you go in the budget the better - so your budget gives you a better choice. The sounders under $200 generally coarse in resolution. I think highly Matrix 12 - good res ( for price),sufficent power,good features- easy menu/great swivel and rotation, good rep- yes I have a leading as I have its bigger brother (matrix 37). Grab the info and do the comparisions. good hunting :)

cheers

[davo73]

BCF has 50% dicount on selected sounders which started on Sunday.
I had the same budget as yourself and looked on Saturday and was told on the sly to wait till the following day.Went back on Sunday and ended up buying a Navman colour sounder which was reduced from $535 to $269. This was the money i wanted to spend on the ole tinny.
All the best
Dave

[bluefin59]

keep an eye out lowrance have the new models coming out soon so old models will be going cheap lots of luck....8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

[Pual]

Heh Megan, why don't you check out the Furuno LS6100 I have for sale in the sale electronics thread, you could do a lot worse than one of these on your boat.

Cheers

[davo]

I'd go for a Matrix 12

[kelkhesha]

Yes, I agree. The Hummin bird Matrix 12 would have to be the best value sounder retailing for around $330. Stay away from the Piranah's as they are next to usless. The Matrix 12 has the option of fitting a GPS reciever to it at a later stage, or plugging a handheld GPS into the unit. They also have another option of fitting the "Smart Cast" remote transducers to them (up to 3 of them I think, but dont quote me on that one) which is a transducer activated by water and sends a radio signal back to the main unit. These are apparantly handy for casting out with your rod to have a look under river banks ect. If it were me though, and that was around the budget that I was going to spend, I would probably hold off for a bit and save an extra $100 and buy the Matrix 17 for around $429. These have a higher resolution screen and ar also a dual beam unit with all the other features being the same. The Matrix series sounders are able to be uploaded with the "weathers sense program", which I have noy used personally, but it would no doubt come in handy.;)

[Scalem]

If all you are after is a basic sounder, why not think about the Lowrance M52 which is also a GPS? The GPS does not have mapping, but it will remember your routes, and waypoints or marks, which is all I need. It does a great job for an economy class combo.

Scalem

[jerson]

My vote is for the Matrix 12. great value for money, perfect for the bay & rivers

[trueblue]

Mate, hate to spoil the party, but I'd wait till you can put more cash into it... Buy a new cheap one now, and you'll only wish you hadn't later on.

You are guaranteed to want to upgrade later, and your $300 today will only be worth $130 or so when you want to sell is as a near new second hand unit.

My suggestion is that if you are strapped for cash right now (nothing wrong with that we all go through that phase from time to time)- buy a second hand one from someone else who is already upgrading, for $100 - $150. That'll be as good in the boat for you as spending only $300 now on a cheap new one but You'll save a lot of money now. Then the balance you can put away till you are ready to buy a high quality fish finder...

Cheers

Mick

[banshee]

My pick out of everything mentioned so far would be the second hand Furuno,probably a bit of overkill for a small tinnie but a reliable genuine performer.

[jerson]

When I was buying my sounder I was told that the Furuno's were to powerfull to get clear readings in 2 meters of water or less, with clutter on the screen from all the information received by the sounder.
They said the Furuno would be the best if I was going outside as well as the bay.
Have I been lied to again.

Jerson