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The inexpensive ones from Humminbird, Lowrance and Garmin are all fairly similar. They work great for seeing the bottom contour, showing the depth and sometimes for locating bait. Do they actually "find fish"? Probably not. Are they useful and better than nothing if you are on a tight budget? Probably yes. You can get these units for around $100.
With fish finders, you definitely get what you pay for. The better units have better resolution, more sensitive receivers and extra features. As some who own the better models will no doubt tell you as they chime in, some of the best ones are sensitive enough to tell the bust size of a mermaid if she happens to swim under your yak. The best fish finders can cost $1000 or more.
If you are a rookie, you probably will not get much more out of an expensive one than a cheap one. Since these things only last a year or two one path to take is to get a budget model until you know what you want out of one of these units. When your first one craps out, you can upgrade with the better knowledge of what you want.
One piece of advice. Western Marine offers an extended warranty for about 10% of the cost of the unit. This doubles the factory warranty and provides for an instant exchange. They will even apply the value of the exchanged unit to the cost of any upgraded unit you want to buy. This is a good way to basically get to use your first FF for free until it breaks in a year or two.
Bob
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