Thinking about Eagle

koolerb · Oct 22, 2006

I'm thinking about getting an Eagle Fisheasy 320C for my bow mount depth finder. It tall and skinny, opposed to short and wide like the current Eagle Magna II I have there now. No swivel but it tilts. Not a whole lot of power, 800 watts peak to peak. But I'm fishing in water less that fifty feet deep 99% of the time, so I don't think I need more power. Any thoughts on this one anybody?

Silvertip · Oct 23, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

It's an Eagle -- it will work fine.

Barnacle_Bill · Oct 23, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

Several of my Crappie fishing friend use them and seem to like it ok. Personally, I prefer a higher pixel count for the higher resolution they give.

lowe160 · Oct 23, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

I have been using a 320c on the bow for 2 years and it works great.

Wayne

KYHunter2 · Oct 26, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

Ive had lowerance/ eagle finders for close to 30 years.

I have an Eagle fishmark 320 and a cuda , on my boat now.

They are both very good units.

If it were me , Id get the fishmark 480 instead of the 320c.

Ive used the color units, and they're nice.

It may be me , but I like the non- color units, just as well.

My next will be an eagle / lowerance with built in gps. I use a portable gps now . But would like having everything in one unit.

KYHunter

flagator1 · Oct 28, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

I have been running a Eagle 320 for three years and would not leave home without it. To use the GPS in conjunction with the fishfinder I mounted a simple bracket off the side of the 320 and attached a Garmin 76. With one glance I can check on both. Once you get your dropoff lines entered you will find that this simple attachment reduces your searching time and greatly increases your catching time.

Tight lines from San Diego Bay

mailman2 · Oct 28, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

What is difference between the fishmark480 ant the 320? I'm in the market for one and I only fish in no deeper than 50 FT. Can you see your bait under the boat on the screen?

koolerb · Oct 28, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

I bought the 320C but have not field tested yet. I'm waiting for the trolling motor mount to arrive from BPS. KYHunter2, I purchased before you posted, didn't check out the 480. Next year I'm going to upgrade the unit on the console to a wide screen combo unit. I think this one will work OK on the bow. I fished with a guy today that had one of the top of line Lowrance units on his console. I said "Man, that's an awsome depth finder, what did it cost, $600?" He said "No, about twice that." Crap, thats worth half as much as my whole boat.

ray estep · Oct 29, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

I just bought an eagle 480. The reviews I read on it made my mind up for me. The reviews on the Lorances seemed to have about the same amount of problems, but both had good reports on manufacturer responce. The main differance is higher resolution on the 480 but that will not matter until you get into deeper water. The other differance is the 480 is speed and distance capable with an add on sensor. good luck

Ozarks R&R

Texasmark · Oct 29, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

I run 2 Eagle 168 extra wides. Cost $99 at Cabellas and work great. No problem viewing in sunlight like my old Hummingbird; but that was '89 technology...probably ok today. Don't remember if Hummer was digital with pixels or not.

Also, get accurate bottom depth to 52 mph (fast as I can go) and it's transom mounted where there's a lot of turbulence.

Mark

KYHunter2 · Oct 29, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

Actually the higher pixel count of the 480 has nothing to do with depth Ray.

The power (watts) , is what is critical at deeper depths.

The higher pixel count , means more definition.

In other words a clearer/ cleaner looking display.

More little dots per inch , much better detail.

Being lowrance makes eagle, Ive never seen the justification for the higher prices, of the lowrance units.

KYHunter

ray estep · Oct 30, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

Hey Kentucky. I know what your talking about. What I meant was that at greater depths smaller fish would not be as big as one pixal. Someone on one of these threads had it figured out down to the exact size fish that would be missed at specific depths. I think it amounted to you might miss a six inch fish at 250 ft. Darn I hate when that happens. Thanks.

Ozarks R&R

gregtobin · Oct 31, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

I'll be interested in how you like the 320 in the long run. I've been trying to figure out which fish finder to get in the Spring. I'm limited to the less expensive models and am considering the differences between least expensive color vs. same priced gray-tone. You seem to pay a premium for the color as the pixel numbers, power, and screen size of the similarly priced gray monitors are better. Still, it is possible that the color offers more important information than the grayscales of similar price.

Considering the two Eagles:
320 C Color, 340x240, 800 Watts, 3.5 inch monitor, $223
480 grayscale, 480x480, 1500 Watts, 5 inch, $200

Opinions?
Thanks
Greg

koolerb · Oct 31, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

The 320C was $199 at ****'s and I had a $15 coupon. I was originaly going to get a higher end grayscale model. I fished with a guy a few weekends ago who seemed to be the "go to guy" for fish finder advice in one of our local bass clubs. He talked me into getting the color unit. He said he wouldn't buy anything but a color unit. The 320C semmed like a good unit for $200.

ray estep · Oct 31, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

I chose twice the pixals and more power over the color.

I got the eagle 480. I haven't got it in yet so I hope it

works out. I think you get more depth too. It was also

$ 199.00 at Sportsmans Warehouse.

Ozarks R&R

General0 · Nov 1, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

I have the 320 with16 level grayscale and a 5" screen with 1500 watts of power. I bought the speed sensor to go with it and love it!! I was looking at the 320c but like others wanted power/ resolution over the color for the price I could afford.

mailman2 · Nov 4, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

What advantage is the 320c over the 320 fishmark[besides color}?

Tacklewasher · Nov 7, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

They have a good comparison feature at www.eaglegps.com

Looks like the 320 Fishmark has a bigger screen, more power but that's about it.

I'd take the bigger screen over color, but then I'm looking at the 642C or the LMS 334. I have a Fishmark 240 thats about 4 years old. It works well but is hard to read from the back of the boat, so I definitely want color next time but my setup won't work with the bigger screens, like the LCX-25 and I want internal gps.

koolerb · Nov 27, 2006

Re: Thinking about Eagle

I tried out the 320C last weekend for the first time. Really nice little unit for the price. Now I'm trying to decide weather or not to get a handheld GPS to use with this one on the bow. Or buy a combo unit for the console. All the combo units I'm looking at are $500+. I'm not sure I can sink that much into more boat stuff before spring. The handheld seems like it might be a nice compromise.

Thinking about Eagle

Petty Officer 1st Class

Supreme Mariner

Admiral

Seaman Apprentice

Chief Petty Officer

Cadet

Seaman

Petty Officer 1st Class

Seaman

Supreme Mariner

Chief Petty Officer

Seaman

Petty Officer 3rd Class

Petty Officer 1st Class

Seaman

Cadet

Seaman

Lieutenant Commander

Petty Officer 1st Class