Can anyone tell me what the differance is between a garmin sounder module ( Black Box ) for a garmin 2010. vs a dedicated fish finder with a color screen. My black box show me the contour of the ground below but is very hard to spot fish with any accuracy- it seems like it is a video game with only fish symbals available. i was on charter this summer with a good guide and good fish finder and you could see the fish. They have an air pocket in their stomach which is visable and no video games lie mine. is it worth upgrading to a new fish finder. I am just a regular fisherman that wants to put a few more fish in my boat but not over kill them with every little gadget their is. Thanks for your help

As I understood it at the time I was researching theses a couple years ago, the Garmin unit was more of a solo GPS unit and then they added a black box feature so you could get a combo unit. I think the competition did drove them to do this.
Their GPS unit was slick when it first came out...but the FF unit was IMO not for the real serious angler....but it works OK form what I gathered. What you save (in terms of $) with a combo unit is not having to buy two screens and some dashboard real estate.

There are some very nice FF out there now, IMO you need to look at them yourslef and determine what you like/don't like.

IMO I would stay away from anything that draws a picture of a fish on the screen...that tells you right away it is intended for the uninformed. You want the raw sonar image, not some icon.

Originally posted by fishin
My black box show me the contour of the ground below but is very hard to spot fish with any accuracy- it seems like it is a video game with only fish symbals available.

You need to turn the fish symbols off. Check your manual. If you don't have one, you can get it from the Garmin web site. Good luck.