Eagle Electronics - are they being phased out?

John_S

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No product releases in 2008, and no s/w updates in 2008. Was there an official announcement that Eagle is being phased out by the parent company?
 

Silvertip

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Sep 22, 2003
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Re: Eagle Electronics - are they being phased out?

Eagle has a full product line for 2008 and since 2008 is drawing to a close, there will probably be some new products for 2009. As for software updates, that's a good thing. It means there are no apparent problems with existing software. It is also possible they provide software updates (if any are needed) at the end of the current model year. Since 2008 is not over yet, they will not provide those updates until they release the 2009 models which would likely have the new software. No sense doing two software releases. It's called backward compatibility.
 

triumphrick

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Re: Eagle Electronics - are they being phased out?

My Eagle Fishelite 500c was purchased this past year and will not navigate on gps function to an entry without me paying Eagle $20 for a software update. The unit has worked this way since I installed it, used it three times and finally went to enter lat. and long. and it would not take. Eagle agreed to a software glitch but wnated me to pay for them to send me a mmc card with the fix. They finally relented and agreed to send it to me for free. Sounded kinda cheesy to me...:(
 

John_S

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Re: Eagle Electronics - are they being phased out?

The Eagle programmers need to go work on the Lowrance units then, because they have had a ton of s/w updates in 2008. :D

There are always S/W bugs. No updates means no money being spent on fixing them.

In fact, given all the beta releases listed, I'd say all the programmers are busy over at Lowrance.
 

John_S

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Re: Eagle Electronics - are they being phased out?

Rick,

The units are easy to update. If you had a SD card and a reader on PC, should have been an easy update. Was the version you received the latest listed on website, or newer?
 

triumphrick

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Re: Eagle Electronics - are they being phased out?

Thanks, John. That's what the tech at Eagle told me, but I do not have an SD card or the reader required to load it. It meant me having to purchase one to accomodate the fix, which i thought was unreasonable. Also I am aware of a lot of Lowrance complaints on another forum. Anyway, they say it is on the way and I should be good to go.
 

Faraway

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Nov 17, 2008
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Re: Eagle Electronics - are they being phased out?

My Eagle Fishelite 500c was purchased this past year and will not navigate on gps function to an entry without me paying Eagle $20 for a software update. The unit has worked this way since I installed it, used it three times and finally went to enter lat. and long. and it would not take. Eagle agreed to a software glitch but wnated me to pay for them to send me a mmc card with the fix. They finally relented and agreed to send it to me for free. Sounded kinda cheesy to me...:(


I am going nuts trying to decide on a fish finder. I'm leaning toward Eagle, and was thinking of the Fish Mark 500CDF. Is this similar to the model you've had trouble with?

All I want is a larger screen, accurate and large print depth readings (for my aging eyesight), water temp, clear, uncomplicated, easy to read screen even in direct sunlight, accurate fish signals would also be a plus.

With The demos I've seen in stores, the color screens seem to be the clearest and easiest to read vs the gray screens. I don't need GPS so I don't care if it's on the unit or not.

Any good suggestions as to which Eagle (or Lowrance) might best suit my needs that any of you have had experience with?

Much thanks in advance.
 

gss036

Commander
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Jan 18, 2003
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2,914
Re: Eagle Electronics - are they being phased out?

Faraway, I had an Eagle 500DG about 3 years agom after 13 months it went whacky, Eagle said they wanted $75 to fix it. I had heard/read about AMEX extending warranty protection, so I called them, gathered the documents they wanted and filed a claim, which the paid everything except the shipping charges. Good on that end, I still wanted something with big letters that I could read from the back of my 23WA, I settled on a Hummin Bird, which I am still using and pleased with. Even found out it ws GPS capable, so for another $100.00 I found an antenna, so now I have a back up GPS for my Garmin.
I started out with a Sitex depth sounder years ago (1989) and it was exteremly hard to read in the sun, it still works, but I don't even carry it on the boat anymore. I then went with an Impulse combo depth sounder/Loran, it was rebuilt(fixed)once, they have since gone out of business, but it still works great.
It is hard to recommend one unit over the other, but my point being, they are only guarnteed for one (1) year and that is probably the expected life. Buy the cheapest one you can get by with. I have everything B&W except my Garmin GPS, which has the BlueWater Mapping system and very critical for usage in the heavy fog we get here.
 

triumphrick

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Jun 26, 2008
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1,737
Re: Eagle Electronics - are they being phased out?

Faraway, I bought a combo unit, and have had problems with the gps function only. The sonar part has woked great, even with me having the transducer mounted inside the hull. I like the screen resolution, and the price of the unit. I tend to agree with the other poster, these units are in a harsh environment and don't have a long life.
As an update, the mmc card arrived yesterday and the fix was quick and easy. Also, it worked! Hope there are no more surprises in store. :)
 
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