Which Fish Finder to buy?

[kj]

I am a Vex guy and a definite flasher advocate. Here is what I have learned. A vex fl 8 is sufficient if you stay in less than 40 feet of water. I generally fish in 20, so the fl 8 is great for me. The fl 18 will go much deeper and using the Pro transducer would be a real plus over any other transducer. Marcum's are weaker on the receiving end so they use high output on the transmitter end. The two married up make a great system. Vex is strong on the receiver, so they don't need as much of a transmitter. The Marcum's put out about 1500 watts and the Vex's put out 400 watts. Their system works well also. This idea of 70 year old technology is a little silly to buy into. It has progressed and been refined over the years. It just hasn't been necessary to make any "huge" advancements because the flasher technology works so well. As far as GPS... sounds good, but to buy a system for the GPS in my opinion is a weak decision maker. Take a hand held GPS and you get the same results. You just don't have to pay for it in conjunction with a fish finder. But... do what you think will get you results you are looking for. I would suggest going and fishing with someone who has a finder and see how each of the work. Without question, flashers are king on the ice, but are almost useless on a boat. Flashing lights being confusing? I suppose if you don't know what you are looking at, that can be true. I show people that I fish with what to look for and in less than a minute they understand the system and have no trouble reading and running one. The only guy that has ever had trouble with my Vex is a close friend who is color blind. That really is a problem for him.
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