For that price range don't forget to look at Garmin also.

 

Or Raytheon Color... Why would you spend $500 on a depth finder??? $200 will buy you all you need for all but Ocean or Great Lakes...

 

the lowrance x-15 is now in that range...its B&W but it has a big screen with gps and mapping...I was abe to mark fish in the river all the way down to 70fow...and after a bit of tuning it, I was able to see fish right on the bottom

 

R,
I have been a big fan of Eagle/Lowrance. I would never consider Hummingbird over them but I would take a look at Garmin. Personally, I have always felt that the Eagle were a little bit better value than the Lowrance. The Eagles have a couple less of the bells and whistles when compared to its Lowrance counterpart. And if you are anything like me, you will hardly miss them. Good luck. Paul

 

Little King is right about the Lowrance X15, plus you can keep it up-dated with downloads at there web site. Make your own maps or download maps with Map Create 6 which comes with the unit. For just a little bit more you can get the X16 unit which is the Colored screen LCR.

 

The option of using a split screen was not appealing with my old tired eyes,and a bigger screen was a deffinate. So an X-15 and a Globalmap3200 are now at the helm of the Lund. Still have an old Lowrance X-70 on the bow,now I'm thinking about another x-15 hmmmm.

 

Thanks,
I was looking at the LMS 337 w/ the GPS or the Eagle 500c DF. Something that lets me save to map/mem card.
I'll take a look at the Garmins.

 

EAGLE 480 is alal ya need, or similar. less than 200. Save the money for a nice hotel, on your next trip. or you could buy the 480 and a gps by eagle, both units would not set you back 500.

 

Do yourself a favor and spend the money for a color unit in sonar and GPS or combo. Personally I prefer separate GPS and sonar in case one goes bad.

Eagles are great for the money but I pref, probably the bester the backlighting of the Lowrance. Garmine makes a great GPS, probably the best, but their sonars don't impress me at all.

I wouldn't buy a Hummingbird if it was the only product on the market. Bad, expensive experience 15 yesr ago lost me as a customer forever. I'm sure not fair thinking on my part but they aren't the only game in town.

 

Check out the Lowrance LMS332c, a lotta bang for the buck. Also check out the site www.jollyannsales.com I bought mine from there, no shipping and no tax. My unit only cost 604.00, but I got in just before they had a price increase. Even so they are cheaper that most anybody else.

 

I USED to own Hummingbirds, but now I have Lowrance Intellimap 2000 in one boat and an Eagle Fish Elite 320 in the other. Both are combo units with sonar & GPS. If I were buying a new unit, it would definitely be a color Lowrance.