Garmin 240

[DanB]

I have read a number of posts praising the virtues of the Lowrance X-85. Does anyone have any experience working with the Garmin 240? The specs look very similar to the X-85 but the Garmin 240 is priced somewhat lower which could be a factor in my decision to buy one, as long as the quality / reliability are there.

Thanks for the help.

DanB

[Chris K]

LAST EDITED ON Mar-27-00 AT 09:07PM (CST)[p]Hi Dan. I have had experience with both and I do however favor the Lowrance X-85 myself. The Garmin 240 has 240x240 pixels, 3200 watts of power, and a regular backlight. I found that the screen on the Garmin was not as easy to see as the screen on the Lowrance. The X-85 is also 240x240 pixels and is 3000 watts. I like the way the X-85 shows fish arches on the screen and I am more comfortable with the zoom buttons on the Lowrance. As for as the greyline on the Lowrance, I feel it is easier to define bottom hardness. The 240 is a great buy for the money, but I do feel it is worth the extra money to go to the Supertwist, blue backlit screen of the X-85, and it is awesome for nightfishingg! Hope this helps, Chris.

***Last year I ran the X-85 and I loved it, but this year I am running Pinpoint. I have not got to use the Pinpoint on the water yet on tyhe new boat, but just from playing with it in demo mode I am very impressed. A fishing partner of mine has the Pinpoint sonars on his boat and after seeing them in action I was blown away! I decided to look into them more. I was so impressed after finding out all I could and comparing them to other manufacturer's sonars, that I made the decision to go Pinpoint for the new boat. You don't need to have a positioning motor to reap the besefits of their sonars. Check them out and see which of the Pinpoint sonars would suit your needs best, I think you will be impressed too. CK

[Gunga Guides]

I love my 240, it has great detail and is very easy to use. This will be my second season with it and I can't wait to hit the water!

[Orange Barrel]

I have the Garmin 240 and I am very pleased with its performance. To me there is better seperation between fish and bottom structure. The Lowrance X-85 is also a nice unit although unless you fish in salt water, you don't need 3000 watts of power. But as they say, "If your mad at your money, go ahead and through it away."

[fishlips]

There are three things that SOME people do not like on the Garmin 240. Refresh rate, the backlight and sometimes no arches just verical lines. I can live with the last two but is the refresh rate that slow? How do you find out what it is and what the rate on the other depth finders are?

[GreggB]

I have had both. The 240 shows excellent detail. Very good separation. But, the scroll rate (refresh) is very sloooooow. Also I don't like the speed feature on the Garmin. You have to calibrate the speedometer to an accurate source. Well if I had an accurate source I wouldn't need the speed on my locator! I have calibrated to my gps and its still way off. The garmin transducer is more finicky to setup than the lowrance. Its more sensitive to hull turbulence.

I bought the Garmin because of the price, but the lowrance is more user friendly. If your not going to use the speed feature then I'd probably get the Garmin, if you want speed then go with x85.

[REW]

In a couple of words -- refresh rate.

Too SLOW>
After you have fished with a depth finder that has a "fast" refresh rate -- you will find it unacceptable to use any thing else. If you keep trying to peer past the right side of the screen -- wondering what is coming next -- the refresh rate is too slow.

There are several brand depth finders on the market today -- where the refresh rate is just fine. I suggest that you compare before you buy.

Take care

REW

[hook-out]

I wonder if you have ever used one of these units. I have used mine for almost 2 years and also have a Lowrance unit in the boat (X70A). I really don't think that the Garmin is any slower than the X70. The Garmin has the instant flasher mode, that nobody has mentioned, it's really nice. Just like using a flasher unit. It seems you have information about every product on the market, or have used everything that has to do with fishing, boating, outdoors,and electronics, just wonder how much of it is "just blowing smoke".

Hook-out

[Zach]

I think REW is right on. I used the 240 for a year now. The screen scrolls too slow, especially if you do much trolling. Additionally, the unit has very poor shallow water performance. Detail is very good however and it has proven more reliable than any Lowrance locator I have ever owned. I love my Garmin GPSMAP.

Lowrance locators will scroll twice as fast. I will probably have another Garmin locator this year but it will be on the bow, not on the console.

Zach

[tbomn]

If you are looking for another one, let me know, I have one for sale. The one I field tested last year. Fully checked over by Garmin, returned to me and they sent new speed/temp. transducer,plus a new standard transducer, plus new cords. Testing the new Vexilar Edge2 this year, don't need the Garmin, although I really liked it, the scroll is somewhat slower than the Lowrance, but I really didn't find it to be a problem with the flasher mode. Email me if interested
tbomn@walleyecentral.com

The Big One

[REW]

No smoke --
I prefer not to mention brands -- but I have been through this a couple of times. The garmin is not the only unit that I bought and then sent back because it scrolls too slow. I tend to be very detail oriented and get extremely preturbed with I find that there is a product that is advertised to do a job but won't.
In a word - I don't put up with it. If I purchase anything and it doesn't live up to its advertising -- it is back to the vendor in a heartbeat.

I think that if you try a few different units -- you will see what I mean. Although the Lowrance units are fine, there are even better units out there. Check it out, and you will know whtat I mean.

Take care

REW

[Melonbob(ON)]

I think I agree with hook-out. Although I haven't tested my 240 on the water yet (still ice-bound), looking at the sim, I'm happy with the refresh rate so long as it's set at fast. The flasher mode gives me the instant info I need. Maybe it's just me, but I've looked at every finder I could find, including the ones with lightning fast refresh rates. What did I see? A blurry screen, no matter how you set your gain or contrast. I think I'd rather have a clear picture of what's below me than a blur, and rely on the flasher to give me instant info..........IMHO. But some ppl have money to burn, and more power to them. I'm sure if I did, I'd probably buy the most expensive toys I could find too. Instead, I got a unit with 240X240 res, 3200w of power, speed and temp, a unit that shows thermoclines well and I paid about 200 bones less than anything that will compete....

[bayside]

I own both an x 85 on the console and a 240 garmin on the front. You can buy the Garmin if want it $ 200 takes it and it's less than 1 year old. There's not much of a comparison between the two the x 85 is worth the extra money.

[jim h.]

to the big one what is the price on your garmin 240

[REW]

Get it out on the water and let us know how it fishes for you.

With the bad experience that I had -- I worked for over two months with the factory to try to get resolution to no affect. They stood behind their warrenty of money back guarentee, and returned all my money -- even though I had had the unit for 4 months. I had been in contact with them after the first week -- so no problem.

I wish your tests go well, and perhaps this years units have fixed the defects of the previous years units. If so, please share your results so that we can all profit from your experience.

If the unit is better now, I wouldn't hesitate on buying one for my son's boat.

Take care

REW

[fishlips]

I still do not know how to do this without buying every unit I am interested in. Does anybody know? I listened to the clicks from the Garmin 240 transducer and it is similar to the rate as my old Eagle unit. Any help on this?

[GreggB]

If you go to a store that has some demo units setup you should be able to get a good feel for refresh rate. See how fast the units scoll. What I mean is, look how fast the bottom and fish arches scrolls by. The faster it goes the better the refresh rate. Most units have ajustable scroll rates so make sure you when comparing you have them all set on their fastest setting.