Help deciding on a fish finder that is $500 or less

[Seth]

I've been looking at getting the Lowrance X135 unit, but I figured I would ask what you guys would recommend before making the purchase. I would like to not spend more than $500 on the unit so keep that in mind.

[Grumper]

I've been looking at getting the Lowrance X135 unit, but I figured I would ask what you guys would recommend before making the purchase. I would like to not spend more than $500 on the unit so keep that in mind.

For the money, and if youre not wanting a GPS unit, I think that a Humminbird 565 is hard to beat. 320 X 640 pixels. I picked mine up at bass pro for $179 on sale. It should be comparable to the Lowrance, I had a LMS 480M on my last boat and i think that the X135 has the same pixels 480 X 480. JMHO.

[Mr.T]

For $500, I'd buy the best Lowrance I could find - not necessarily the most current model, but one with the combination of best resolution and power output, placing more emphasis on power than resolution if all other features are equal. Color is nice, but I'd rather have more power and resolution than color.

[Seth]

I checked out the Quadrabeam Humminbirds and those look like a good unit too. Does Lowrance have any dual beam fish finders or are they all single beams? Would a dual or quadra beam fish finder be a lot better than a single beam fish finder or is it just marketing hype?

[dougc]

There may be something to it...

http://www.catfish1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49041

I know some of the professional catfisherman are excited about the new side imaging models. There's still so much to learn...

[777]

You might check out Reeds sporting goods. They are usually real competitive on their prices.