ok, I have a budget 350. Looking at the new showdown or the fl-18. The store I have gift cards to doesn’t carry the Lx3 so I have to chose between those 2. I like the power of the showdown, just want to make the right choice. Fish mostly by myself and am usally chasing crappies with the a little walleye fishing mixed in. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
If you are chasing crappies, moveable zoom will really help you with late winter suspended fish. Does the store carry humminbird units? the ice 45 is nice!
I would ask them to order it for you, LX-3tc is a really nice unit. What store are you buying from?
I’ll put a plug in for the showdown, I’ve had mine for four years now and absolutely love it. If I were you I would go with the dual beam transducer though especially if you are fishing deep water for eyes the 8 degree cone will be awesome for that application (although the dual beam will cost an additional $50 extra). The unit is dependable and pretty darn rugged too, which is a necessity for me. Plus very good target separation at .5 inches and I have personally never had any interference problems fishing next to lx-5s or vexilar units. And also the showdown is quiet! Don’t have to listen to the motor run on the vexilar all day. Hope this is what you were looking for.
X2 on the showdown. No problems, lots of fish. Tight lines!
FL-18 over the SD anytime.
FL will show way more info than the SD could ever.
Bottom types, fish out of the “cone”, size.
Have yo ever heard one complaint of a Vex not working properly?
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FL-18 over the SD anytime.
FL will show way more info than the SD could ever.
Bottom types, fish out of the “cone”, size.
Have yo ever heard one complaint of a Vex not working properly?
X2
I would go with the showdown. I have the troller 2.0 and love it. It not the same unit but same concept never had a problem with it and you will love the zoom. I have friends that use the showdown 5.6 and never heard a problem. We can fish 2 feet apart and no interference. 
I’ll put a vote in for the Showdown as well. I wasn’t going to say anything because I haven’t used both units.
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FL-18 over the SD anytime.
FL will show way more info than the SD could ever.
Bottom types, fish out of the “cone”, size.
Have yo ever heard one complaint of a Vex not working properly?
Showdown will show more than the fl-18 because of the increased sensitivity and target separation. It will show bottom type just as easily the fl, maybe even better, you just need to learn to read a gray scale display.
No sonar is going to show fish outside of its cone, its not possible. Think of it as looking through a monocular (one side of binoculars), you can only see what is in your cone (field of vision).. Basic physics.
You will be able to tell sizes of fish easier with the showdown because of the increased target separation and fine line display. You just have to learn how to read a gray scale.
I have heard several complaints with the Vex’s. Mostly with the tribeam and dual beam transducers, along with the display fading due to warn brushes (something that cannot happen to the showdown).
So in conclusion (yeah, I hate those three words too), the showdown will show the same IF NOT MORE than the fl-18 if you learn how to read it properly.
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FL-18 over the SD anytime.
FL will show way more info than the SD could ever.
Bottom types, fish out of the “cone”, size.
Have yo ever heard one complaint of a Vex not working properly?
coughtribeamcough
my vex needed warranty work as well
that being said im a colorful guy and would prob buy the fl18
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FL-18 over the SD anytime.
FL will show way more info than the SD could ever.
Bottom types, fish out of the “cone”, size.
Have yo ever heard one complaint of a Vex not working properly?
X2
x3. There is no comparison.
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Quote:
FL-18 over the SD anytime.
FL will show way more info than the SD could ever.
Bottom types, fish out of the “cone”, size.
Have yo ever heard one complaint of a Vex not working properly?
X2
It depends on the context. Working as intended? Vex is dependable and a good machine. But a 10 hole harmonica works as intended… While a 20 hole gives you more options. It may take a bit longer to learn but your music won’t be as limited. I really like seeing the bottom, and more often than not you miss the bottom 4+ inches on a vex! The target separation on a vex also gives you a cloudier view as to how the fish is reacting to your presentation. I’ve been a vex guy my whole life until I started using the Marcums just recently… I will likely never use a vex again; not because they are bad units, but because there are better ones out there.
FL 18
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ok, I have a budget 350. Looking at the new showdown or the fl-18. The store I have gift cards to doesn’t carry the Lx3 so I have to chose between those 2. I like the power of the showdown, just want to make the right choice. Fish mostly by myself and am usally chasing crappies with the a little walleye fishing mixed in. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
As for the fl-18 my wife took mine the first time out fishing with it and she gave me the fl-8 
. The unit hole hops great and the bottom zoom is a nice feature. Never used the showdown but it looks nice, only thing I can see bad is it is narrow and might tip over a lot and can go right down the hole. Check out how it hole hops my ice55 sucks it seems to get confused on the auto depth function but the variable zoom is great.
If you want a used fl-18 hit me up I would like to get another ice55
I have the FL-18. Don’t have a Showdown to compare to. I am almost addicted to my Vexilars, so I have to say the FL-18.
I have the Showdown 5.6, a previous FL18 for many years, a FL20 and a new FLX28. The Showdown is a nice machine however if you have never had a unit for ice fishing I would recommend the FL18. A Showdown will show you everything that an FL18 does but the 3 color display (Vexilar or Marcum) really helps you to more quickly understand the interpretation of the signals. With the Vex red is the strongest, orange is a weaker signal (I believe -6db), and the green the weakest (-12db). It becomes very easy to interpret location of a fish in your cone, sometimes size, whether you have lost your waxie or minnow, and even aggressiveness. The Showdown is basically a black and white unit with various shades of gray as the target gets stronger it gets darker. As stated it will show the same things but in a completely different format. I also believe that the FL18 is simpler to use as it has 3 basic controls, on/off/depth scale, LP/N/Split zone, and gain. The Showdown has push buttons and requires a number of “pushes” to adjust if needed vs a simple visual turning knobs. The Showdown is lighter and the transducer bracket is plastic, which I broke the first day then bought an aluminum aftermarket one. The FL18 has the floating transducer so it doesn’t require a clean edge by the hole to work. I love my Showdown for hole hopping and for my friends who don’t have electronics but the Vex is my go to machine, I guess I have a fondness to the color display.
I love the color display of the vertical Showdown type on my LX-7
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