Re: What is the difference between the Eagle 320 and the 480 fishfinders?
I don't think Eagle are going out of business or being discontinued... They seem to have released some newer products recently which would suggest otherwise.....I have the Eagle Fishmark 320 and it is an excellent unit for the price.
The Eagle Fismark 320 IS a great unit, but is a
bargain at $109.99
I spoke face-to-face with a Lowrance Pro Staff rep Friday aftgernoon. He confirmed that while Eagle is not "going out of business," Lowrance is discontinuing most if not all of the Eagle line except for the FishEasy and Cuda.
To get the same unit and features as the 480/500/600-series you will have to spend the little extra coin and buy the Lowrance. Lowrance typically has more features and upgraded software over the Eagle. Look for the Lowrance "Mark" and "Elite" series which roughly correspond to the Eagle "FishMark" (B&W) and Eagle "FishElite" (color) series. One welcome feature on some of these units is the instant scrollback of the display history. Another is the Mid-depth Alarm which allows you to set an 'alarm' for anything that appears, say, between 20 and 30 feet for example- a handy tool not found on the FishMark 320 but comes standard on the 480.
So having learned that- and not seeing anyone carrying Eagle 400-, 500-, or 600-series sonar/gps, I actually bought a 640C Sonar/GPS friday at Cabelas for $364!! They had one Fishmark 480 Sonar/GPS for $259, too.
Anyway, the "sister" Lowrance units do have some useful additional features over the Eagle "equivalent."