01-07-2010, 01:41 AM
Last season I researched all of these brands for my father. We finally decided on the Marcum LX-5. I'll tell you why we didn't get the humminbird:
1. The Marcum can zoom at 2x (20ft) and 4x (40ft +), whereas the Hummingbird only zooms to 2x.
2. The Marcum zoom feature splits the screen in half, with the full water column on one half. It is easier to read. The Hummingbird does not evenly split it, but places it based on the depth. This causes the half that covers the full water column to start at strange locations.
3. The Hummingbird charger is the old style (can't remember the details, but the Marcum is better).
4. The Hummingbird uses one main dial for most of the item selections and changes (pressing and turning). I believed that it would cause undue stress on one single dial.....destined to fail.
The main reasons we wanted the Hummingbird were the 1. cost (Marcum was purchased by another company, and their prices rose), 2. digital display, 3. additional colors for possibly better differentiation of fish, 4. Different frequency, thus reducing the chance of interference (less people have them).
After looking at the Vexilars, I wouldn't even consider one of those.
Now after a year, I can tell you what we think of the Marcum.
As a flasher, it worked just fine; no complaints for last year. However, when we got ready for our first trip this year, the battery wouldn't hold a charge and the charger didn't work (verified with different batteries and charger). It is still under warranty, and a battery and charger are pretty cheap. However, I'm still dissapointed.
In the end, we like traditional fish finders better. (have a Lowrance x-135, x-125, and a bottom line fishin' buddy). We like to see the history. I purchased a humminbird 345c that also has a flasher screen on it. It is far less expensive, has identical power as the Humminbird 55, greater depth ability according to the specs (not a big deal in Utah), 8x zoom, and far more functions. The only big con of the 345c is the inches of separation: 2.5" vs 1/2", but higher end fishfinders (700 series) can match the separation (same cost as the 55 flasher). You may also want to buy the ice fishing transducer xi 9 20 (it comes with the skimmer transducer), but I know many people that rig up a system to work with the regular transducer.
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1. The Marcum can zoom at 2x (20ft) and 4x (40ft +), whereas the Hummingbird only zooms to 2x.
2. The Marcum zoom feature splits the screen in half, with the full water column on one half. It is easier to read. The Hummingbird does not evenly split it, but places it based on the depth. This causes the half that covers the full water column to start at strange locations.
3. The Hummingbird charger is the old style (can't remember the details, but the Marcum is better).
4. The Hummingbird uses one main dial for most of the item selections and changes (pressing and turning). I believed that it would cause undue stress on one single dial.....destined to fail.
The main reasons we wanted the Hummingbird were the 1. cost (Marcum was purchased by another company, and their prices rose), 2. digital display, 3. additional colors for possibly better differentiation of fish, 4. Different frequency, thus reducing the chance of interference (less people have them).
After looking at the Vexilars, I wouldn't even consider one of those.
Now after a year, I can tell you what we think of the Marcum.
As a flasher, it worked just fine; no complaints for last year. However, when we got ready for our first trip this year, the battery wouldn't hold a charge and the charger didn't work (verified with different batteries and charger). It is still under warranty, and a battery and charger are pretty cheap. However, I'm still dissapointed.
In the end, we like traditional fish finders better. (have a Lowrance x-135, x-125, and a bottom line fishin' buddy). We like to see the history. I purchased a humminbird 345c that also has a flasher screen on it. It is far less expensive, has identical power as the Humminbird 55, greater depth ability according to the specs (not a big deal in Utah), 8x zoom, and far more functions. The only big con of the 345c is the inches of separation: 2.5" vs 1/2", but higher end fishfinders (700 series) can match the separation (same cost as the 55 flasher). You may also want to buy the ice fishing transducer xi 9 20 (it comes with the skimmer transducer), but I know many people that rig up a system to work with the regular transducer.
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