Almost any fish finder, flasher or graph, will read through clear ice. None will work through cloudy ice.
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I have done OK on eBay, but it is always a gamble not being able to see if a used electronic item works before paying for it.
I have fished with both a fish finder and a Marcum flasher. With the fish finder, I enjoyed the alarm and the past history on the display. I always used the screen with the vertical flasher on the side of the screen in addition to the regular display.
I have also owned a Marcum LX-5 and LX-7. I bought the Marcum LX-5 one season & then stored it through the summer. Used it for the first time at the beginning of the second season and it did not worked. I sent it back to Marcum (out of warranty) for repairs and they fixed it and had it back to me within 10 days - at no cost. I was extremely impressed with Marcum’s customer service. I have since upgraded to the LX-7 & love it. Having had both (fish finder & flasher), I would not go back to the fish finder. The flashers are so much easier to use (set up & take down), the batteries last longer on a charge, more enjoyable to watch & extremely sensitive.
Having said all this; a cheap fish finder or flasher (regardless of brand) is better than nothing. Get the most that you can afford, even if it means stretching the budget a little. You will not regret the purchase.
This is good news to me! This will save me hand-drilling at least 5-6 holes each time! 
I’m definitely getting a finder of some kind!!!
My Vexilar FL20 will last 3 to 5 day trips of 6 to 8 hours each (temperature dependent) before needing a recharge on the battery. It’s not a really big deal, but it is a nice feature to have I think.
SLA, or sealed, lead acid batteries will last longer if they are kept at full charge as much as possible. Charging every time you bring it home is much better for the battery than taking it out multiple times without charging it. If you’re someplace that doesn’t give you the opportunity to charge then that’s a different story. But if you can charge it, you should.
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I am interested in getting the Marcum showdown, which model is the best and is it worth the extra money going from the troller to the 2.0 or to the 5.6? What is the range that these can detect, meaning how many feet to either side does the tranducer detect? I like the simplicity of the Marcum set up with the bar graph but I am also wondering the range that it has. Also what is the effective depth that these are good up to?
Thanks in advance. I have fished for many years on the hard deck with no flasher or finder and have been interested for a couple years but its time to pull the trigger on one.
SLA, or sealed, lead acid batteries will last longer if they are kept at full charge as much as possible. Charging every time you bring it home is much better for the battery than taking it out multiple times without charging it. If you’re someplace that doesn’t give you the opportunity to charge then that’s a different story. But if you can charge it, you should.I bought my FL20 in 2009 and it still has the original battery in it. I’m happy with that.
My only flasher is the Showdown Troller. I was delighted with it last year, as it would show me not only my jig/spoon but the swivel above it down to 35’ (the deepest I’ve used it.) This summer, I sent it in for the $50 upgrade to the Troller 2.0 and I look forward very much to seeing how much better it is with the bottom zoom function and battery level indicator.
There may be better/more sophisticated models out there, but this one does everything I want or need.
Thank you for the input. I think that i will get the 2.0 but maybe I will just spend the extra money to get the 5.6. Does anyone have a preference between the single beam vs duel beam?
I use the wide beam transducer 95% of the time. I only use the narrow beam transducer at FG while fishing adjacent to the canyon wall (maybe at Strawberry while fishing the Narrows). It allows you to get closer to the wall before you start reflecting the beam off the side of the wall.
I second what Raab says, I have the showdown and it has always been perfect for me on the ice. Maybe thats because Ive never seen the 5.6 in action, but I have absolutely loved the showdown. I tracked a meal worm all the way to the bottom of 80’ of water at East Canyon one year. Couldnt believe it. But it is an absolute game changer when it comes to fishing. Either way you’ll do fine.
I can get a few days use out of my battery with my Vex FL8. I have never gone more than 3 days of 10 hrs each, before charging. I generally charge after each use, but on an extended trip, I don’t always have that luxury.
I have never used a Marcum, but I can always tell when one is around because of the wattage output. They interfere with everything. My Vex uses much less signal strength. 7 Watts compared to many times that with the Marcum. I don’t know how close you can setup two Marcums without interfering with each other, but I have had 3 Vex’s in my 8 ft long Ice tent. I can tune each out with pretty good screen clarity. I have had two 4 ft apart many times and they work well with minimal interference from each other. Ten feet apart with absolute clarity. Usually I sit at one end of my tent and my wife at the other end (6 feet, maybe 7 feet apart) and we have clear screens with minimal interference. In dirty water, the signal seems to bounce off the debris and we get a little interference. In clear water, the screens are very clutter free. I have had Marcums and other high wattage output finders as far as 75 feet away and can’t get a clean screen. I have often wondered if fish are sensitive to the high wattage output of some of these fish finders. Any thoughts?
As far as sensitivity, I can pick up anything 1/2 inch or larger in size. I can see my hook and sinkers 6 inches apart down to a depth of 10 to 15 feet. My Vex FL8 will go down to 120 feet. Seldom do I go deeper than 30 feet. Normally I prefer 20 to start and then I will go deeper or shallower if there are not fish around. Hardly ever do I not find fish.
RockyRaab, ChubbyChaser, or anyone else with experience with the showdown that can answer this question for me. My buddy who I ice fish with predominately uses a showdown. If I get one how bad will the interference be for us? Can the noise rejection tune the other one out or will the interference ruin out trip? We will be anywhere from huddled in a tent together for warmth to around 40 feet away from each other at the most.
There may be some techie out there that can predict interference issues, but when fishing with others using different finders, it generally is hard to know for sure what will happen without going out and trying. For instance, several of my ice fishing buddies have vexilars, all of them interfere with my Fishmark finder if I am fishing nearby. However, one buddy uses a marcum and there is little to no interference with my finder. Same for his hummingbird flasher. It sounds like others have interference problems with marcums while I don’t. You will have to experiment and play with the noise rejection out on the ice to see if it will help specific situations.
I’m liking this topic,very useful info.I am in the market for something also.Been looking at the showdown but I am seriously considering the lowrance elite 4 hdi just for the fact it has the capability for hard and soft water so I can dual purpose the unit for ice and run in the boat.
Is the lowrance 4 hdi ice machine a good unit?
I can’t answer that, kid. I can’t recall fishing anywhere near anyone else last year. I don’t like to “horn in” on people who are catching - and it’s pointless to set up near folks what ain’t, LOL!
I have the Lowrance 4x ice machine. I have had great luck with it. I use it in fish finder mode with the side flasher turned on just like the HDS 7 that I have on my boat so it was very familiar. I have had great luck with battery life. If you went by the battery life indicator it could easy fish more than 3 days on a charge but I charge it after each use. I was thinking that I would set it up for summer to use on my pontoon boat. The transducer for ice didn’t work to good on the toon and it has a different plug in than my HDS, I never did find a transducer that I can mount solid on my toon that would plug in. I didn’t research too much though. It worked pretty good at 100 feet ice fishing. If I fished for lakers that deep all the time I would probably look for something a little more powerful but it is sufficient. Anything 40 feet or less you can see a swivel a few inches above a jig. The gps is okay but I didn’t use it as much as I thought. I think the Navionics ap on my phone is a much better map. Hope that helps.
I don’t like to “horn in” on people who are catchingYou do know that you are always welcome to join our group on the ice - don’t you? 
Yessir, I do. And I did once! That was before I had a flasher, though. I’d be leery of doing so now, for fear of overpowering any lesser machine with my Marcum. LOL!
In all sincerity, sometimes the struggle of caught fish draws others to the area, so groups of anglers can benefit from each other. It isn’t a bad tactic.