Help With Decision Garmin Echo 200 Or Hb 570?

[buffresources]

I fish 30 ft or less and want to home in on brush piles after I locate them with my garmin hand held. Which one to choose? Garmin has more watts but less pixels.

Anybody have experience with either one?

[moguy1973]

I'd seriously think of bucking up a few more bucks and get a color unit. I just picked up the Lowerance Elite-4x DSI for $50 more than that monochrome Garmin...I haven't used it but I'm anxiously awaiting trying out the downscan imaging...

[junkman]

I see bass pro has the Garmin 300 on sale till the end of April. With the mail in rebate it comes to 149 dollars. Been thinking of buying one but the Garmin 550 looks very good as well.

[Stoneroller]

both companies make good products, both products have their pros and cons as you stated with power vs pixels. in shallow water, you typically don't need as much power as in deeper water. If I were spending my money on a unit today, I'd have to lean really hard towards a hummingbird DI unit in which case you really don't need color. Look at the features that are available in the units at your price range and take into considerations any deals/rebates/sales and get the one that has the features that interest you.

I will say, color is quicker to read, but not something you need. (hey that rhymes) things like dual beam, down imaging, gps, bigger screen(which typically means higher resolution but not always), availability of accessories ie charts, extra transducers, spare parts, etc. are all things to consider too.

[riverfish]

figure out how much you want/or are willing to spend on a good unit and then spend just a little more and get the next one up i say that because my experience is that if i just get what i think i can afford im usually unhappy in a short period of time and wish i would have got the next one up even though it would strectch me a little more