Anyone else love their Garmin 240?

[Mr T]

After nearly a year now with my Garmin 240 I have got to say it's the best finder for under $300 I've ever seen. The detail on mine is amazing and the menu's are easy to use. I own a couple of lowrance units and although I like them, they can't compare dollar for dollar. For some reason Lowrance sticks doggedly to their 600 watts peak to peak power system, and lower pixel counts in the lower price units. I think it's a big mistake. My Garmin has now replaced my Lowrance at the helm of my boat. To my knowledge, Lowrance doesn't have anything with 240 verticle pixels and 3200 watts of power for under 300 bucks. And you probably need to spend closer to four or five hundered to get a unit that compares with the Garmin. I'd bet Lowrance responds with a competitive unit in the next little while for a similar price. If not, Garmin will really begin to carve out a major chunk of the lower mid range fishfinder market. Something that before now was the exclusive domain of Lowrance and Humminbird. Sorry to go on and on but I do love my Garmin 240. And for the price I'm really pleased.

[JKJ]

I agree 100 %. I love my Garmin 240. After initial tinkering with the transducer, (adding the shim) this unit performs just as good or better than my old X-70.

[EYES R US]

Did you guys get the $25.00 rebate that was offered from their home page. I also am very happy with my 240 plus. And I had my rebate back within one week.

[JKJ]

Yes. They also sent me a hat, patch, couple of stickers.

[SLIPKNOT]

LAST EDITED ON May-14-01 AT 10:41AM (CST)[p]I do not love my 240. I hate it. In my opinion it sucks. I have 2 lowrance units and love them. Just my opinion.

SLIPKNOT

[IFS]

Whats the shim for? My 240 has started losing the bottom more frequently and it comes back on with readings of hundreds of feet until I turn it off and back on , whats going on with it?

[mckoc]

As of yesterday my 240 (which is only on the boat as a back-up) will not even power up any longer. Worst piece of electronics on the boat.

Mike

[JKJ]

The shim tilts the transducer. (Dropping the rear end down) Without the shim I lost bottom at about 20 MPH. I never lose bottom now. My top end is 47MPH.

When you lose bottom, you usually get those hunderd foot plus readings.

[greggb]

Cant say I love mine or hate it. It works so-so, rarely ever marks fish, but shows good bottom detail. I hooked up my vexilar this weekend to compare, cant believe what I have been missing. Fish. I'm guessing I will put it on ebay and replace it with something better.

[MIKE]

I like mine except I have yet to see an arch for a fish. Ido not trust the fish-id mode. That does so "fish". Ant ideas on how to see the arches. Tried more gain less gain. One time I think I got half an arch. Do most of my fishing 20-60ft. Walleye and some salmon in the fall.

[Rookie]

I'm no pro when it comes to knowing about locators, but I think the only way you get a perfect arc is if you are completely still over a fish that is completely still?? I've just heard it really only happens in the simulation??

[Walleyeman]

I have had my 240 for almost 2 years and have had no problems with it. For the money it is absolutely the best unit out there. I have even decided to complement my unit with the Garmin GPS Map 162. Two great units.

[Greg W]

I don't have the 240, but probably will pick one up cheap after reading some of these posts. I do run a 160 on my boat and am very happy with it.

I added a 162 GPS map this year, had it out saturday nite for the first time, what outstanding detail. I can't wait for the free hotspots maps to come too.

I guess I don't have time to only watch the fishfinder 'cause I'm too busy fishing ;)

Greg W

[WalleyeDriver]

Greg W-

I own a Garmin 162. Can you tell me more about the "free" fishing Hot Spots maps? I know about the maps but I've heard nothing about this free stuff before. Please inform. Thankyou

WalleyeDriver-

[Melonbob]

ditto here, got it, love it, glad I didn't spend 150 more on the x-85....

[SLIPKNOT]

Have any of you that like your 240's ran one along side with a X-85? If you haven't you should try it sometime. Then you will understand why I hate my 240 and love my X-85.

SLIPKNOT

[Jared]

You boys need some serious education onn how a depth finder works. May I suggest you go to the lowrance web site and read up on the subject. doesnt matter what kind of unit you have the theory of how they work is the same. also, you will never see a fish arch sitting still. All you would see is a straight line all the way across the graph. The better you understand how sonar works the better you will understand what you are seeing on the screen and ultimately the better fisherman you will become. Good luck and have fun.

[Mr T]

Slipknot,
I have a buddy who has an X85. And I agree with you they are an execellent unit. However, my point is that they are also about 50% more money.You would expect them to be better. I have yet to see a similarly priced unit from another manufacturer that offers the same power and pixel count. As for Lowrance units being better than Garmin, I would only offer that all makers have good and bad units. I'm sure there are Garmin 240 owners who have bad units. I do know that Garmin has had a software problem on some of the 240's that causes them to turn off on their own. I've been told that Garmin is fixing it. The new Lowrance X15 has had problems too. And I KNOW they are right on top of it getting the bugs worked out. I like my Lowrance units, BUT I know of no other maker of fishfinders who is offering the power and pixel counts of the Garmin 240 for under $300. And that was my original point. As for the fish arches some of the posts have talked about my 240 draws them very, very well. But, I think that I probably have my transducer rigged just about right as others on this post have said they have had problems seeing arches on theirs. One thing I do agree with I HATE cartoon fish. Give me the raw sonar data. I'll learn to read it. If X85's come down near the price of the 240 I'll certainly give them another look. I like Lowrance products.

[Silver/MI]

Jared here is absolutely right. Its rare to see a perfect arch. When I see a suspended object I assume its a fish. Many marks I take as fish look like a sideways carrot, or typically droop on one side. I have a 240 and like it but to be honest have never run an x-85 so I cant really compare. My speedo no longer works on mine.

[bayside]

I owned both an x-85 and a 240 Garmin. I still have the x-85, I sold the 240 after 1 summer for $150. There is no comparison with on the water performance between the 2 units.

[Melonbob]

I'm sure there are die hard Lowrance fans who will argue with me no matter what I say, BUT I have run my 240 alongside an X-85 and could tell NO difference in returns. I will admit, the X-85 is easier on the eyes, but I'd rather put on my shades than spend 150 more for a sonar that has the same pixel count and less power. But loyalty is another thing altogether. I could offer a finder with twice the pixel count and twice the power, and there will still be people that say, "Lowrance is the best, anything else is junk". Kinda like the quantum response STI. It has twice the bearings of a Shimano stradic, the bail is titanium and holds its shape no matter how you bend it, and the bail has a lifetime guarantee. Tell that to a Shimano fan and he'll say, "junk".

I'm not trying to offend here, my point is, buy what make you feel good. If you don't like it, you won't use it, and that's no fun at all. And that's the whole point of fishing....

Take care,

Bob

[Greg W]

Walleyedriver,
I got a coupon for a "Free" Garmin AC Adapter & Fishing Hot Spots CD offer when I was looking into purchasing one of the units at BPS during the Spring Fishing Classic. BPS didn't have any units as they were sold out so I had to find one locally.

I was also told to watch the Garmin website for similar offers.

Greg W

[Sunny]

I agree the garmin is the best unit for the price. I also have the pinpoint and at times I'm surprised when the garmin shows a perfect ^ and the pinpoint either shows a half ^ or nothing at all. But then again I have not really taken the time to adjust the pinpoint transducer. They are both good units but I think the garmin display is much clearer and detailed then my pinpoint.
Good luck!

[Mr T]

Mike,

The way to get fish arches on your 240 is to:
1. Make sure your transducer is set correctly on the transom. Re read the directions on mounting the transducer that came with your 240.Remember things need to be correctly set up to see fish. The bottom is a much bigger target for your unit to "see". Just because you are getting bottom reading doesn't mean it is perfectly set up to see fish. You may need to use the shim to get the right slant on the transducer. Although I didn't on my Crestliner 1750.
2. Play around with the sensitivity or "gain" till you start to see arches. The more gain you can get away with the better. But the more gain you have the more "surface clutter" you will see at the top of the screen. I have mine at +1 most of the time. Though there have been times when I've had to turn it down some from there. Be sure you have turned off the Fish ID. That way you'll be reading the raw sonar data.
3. I seldom get a perfect arch like you see in the advertisements. It is usually more like an unbalanced arch. Kind of like an upside down NIKE check mark. That's because the fish seldom swims through the sonar cone in perfect fashion. Lots of times the fish don't make an arch at all for the same reason.
4. Make sure you have the other settings correct. Like set the unit for Freshwater not Saltwater and the check the other settings talked about in your users manual.

When I went through those steps and got things correct, I started seeing fish arches.If I'm in a good spot, lots of arches. Something I had never seen too much of before I got my 240.That's one of the reasons I like my Garmin so much.Hope that helps.