Eagle/Lowrance GPS-Sounder

[fishingdan]

Is anyone running or know someone running one of these units?

I hoping to finalize my decision regarding a new gps/sounder and really like the number of freshwater New England lakes available from Navionics. Garmin doesn't have any near the same number available. For example, Garmin Hotspots has 1 lake for MA, but Navionics covers 23 MA lakes. The differential is even greater for NH and CT lakes. I am assuming that the Navionics Gold charts are equivalent to Garmin Bluecharts for New England waters.

I have narrowed my decision down to a Garmin GPSMAP 178, Eagle SeaCharter 480 or the equivalent Lowrance models.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks,
Dan

[mctrout]

I have used Lowrance for about 8 years and have NEVER had a problem and am very happy with the results for both fish as well as GPS. I have the 240 which is great and can imagine what the 480 would be like. Color would be nice but nor necessary to me. Remeber the Eagle is not the same power as the lowrance as it is mostly for fresh water which I beleive needs less watts to survey the bottom and dosen't need to go as deep
good luck

[fishingdan]

Thanks for the info. I think you are the first person I have heard from that has a Lowrance or Eagle unit. I am from the midwest and Lowrance/eagle is by far the most popular.

With my 16' boat, I don't go very far offshore and I am rarely in water deeper than 100'. The Eagle FishElite 480 is supposed to be good to 800', but I assume much less in saltwater. If I go the eagle route, I may look at the Seacharter 480DF it is 500w (4000 peak to peak) and supposed to be good to 1500'. I just can't see spending the extra $ for the equivalent Lowrance units. There are a couple of feature differences, but I am told (by the eagle/lowrance tech support people) that the guts are the same for this tier of Eagle\Lowrance units.

[SageBoy]

I have never heard that the Eagle's are mostly for freshwater. That's a new one to me. I have the Eagle 480DF and have had great success. When I compared apples to apples with the Lowrance model they both had the same features. Having said that I chose the Eagle because it was much cheaper. To boot it had the same power as the Lowrance so I'm a little confused as to the earlier post about the Eagle's being more for the salt. :rolleyes:

[fishingdan]

Sage,

Do you have just the fishfinder or the gps+fishfinder? If the later, do you use the Navionics maps? If so, how do you like them?

I too don't see a lot of difference between many of the Eagle units and similar Lowrance products.

Consider the Eagle Seacharter 480 DF and the Lowrance LMS 480DF. The differences appear to be:

- The Lowrance is rated to 2000ft depth, the Eagle 1500ft.
- The Lowrance has a white back light, the Eagle is amber.
- The Lowrance has a NMEA port

Other than the above, they appear to be identical. For my needs, the differences do not justify the additional expense.

Regarding the perception that Eagle is for freshwater (I have heard that from more than one person), I think this belief originates from the fact that the Eagle brand includes the entry level units. Some of those units may simply not have enough power to perform well in saltwater. Honestly, when I started researching these units, I was surprised by the fact that Eagle had middle and higher end units that seem to compete directly with Lowrance units. From a brand perspective, I don't get it. Were Eagle and Lowrance separate companies at one point?

Regardless, I'm still personally debating between the Eagle and the Garmin 178.

Thanks,
Dan

[SageBoy]

Dan,

I don't have the combo unit. I just have the sonar. I have always been a little reluctant of buying a unit that has more then 1 tool on it. I have this fear of something going wacky with the device and being down 2 tools or more instead of just one. I need to get that out of mind because I think it makes more sense. Makes for a much cleaner and neater cockpit.

[fishingdan]

I have gone back and forth on 1 unit versus 2. I have concluded that I will go with a combo unit and move my old sounder to the bow as a backup.