which vexilar?

[nofishfisherman]

And if you still don't want that marcum you have BassPirate let me know, I'll give you my address and you can send it over to me. I would seriously love a flasher even if its broken. I'll try to get it fixed.

[JollyT]

No company is going to let you do a refund when there is a rebate involved. Too much possible fraud. Pay $200, send in $50 rebate, Return item for $200 refund. Get $50 dollar check in the mail, free $50! I think not! This is one reason rebate qualifications are a pain.

In general, I hate rebates and think they are a terrible way to give buy money to the consumer.

[EBass]

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I am sure if you look back at some of the older posts, you will realize that bad transducers and buttons are common on the Marcums.

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Are common? Whatever happened to QA? Like I said before, not one issue with a Vexilar. Heck I dropped the whole FL18 pro pack TWICE last week (On the ice and on concrete)and she still works like new!

Also, I didn't like the mag sheild. I liked the concept, but I scratched the he11 outa it so I just don't use it.

[DTro]

This whole Marcum vs Vex thing is very comical to an outsider who has zero opinions either way. Especially when the original poster made his question very clear.

I did quite a bit of research and recently purchased a VX-1. Mostly because of the price.

It's the old Ford/Chevy Dem/Rep White/Dark Plastic/Paper...etc etc

Just remember that not everything you read here are personal opinions and you can be guaranteed that there are financial aspects to a few "opinions".

Some are hidden, and some right out there in the open

Whatever happened to going out and having fun and relaxing?

Instead, it's "my (insert product here) is better than yours"

[Bassboy1645]

I see a war coming on here.......just picture it. The vex guys are on one end of the lake and the marcum guys on the other.....everyone charges wiht auger blades pointed at their opponent......it would be alot of blood i think. Idk just a thought. Im on the vex side

[mrwalleye_13]

Well i am selling my 8, not becuase it is a bad product but becuase i purchased the 20 and let me tell you it is sweet... that flat screen is mint and the resolution is sharp and bright... some get confused by the new numbering system but i guess some people just need a math refresher. As far as the marcum products i havent seen many so i cant really get too into it but i know i had my 20 running, my other buddy had an 18 running... and one of the new marcums was turned on and completely ruined everything with any graph running in the lake i was on i am pretty sure.. we turned ours off to at least get him set up and he still couldnt make out anything anywhere near vexilar status and it doesnt take a rocket scientist to operate a graph, he kept telling me how there was fish down there when there clearly was not.. i guess it a kind of a ford/chevy type of deal but vexilars are sweet

[PerchJerker]

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i am in the market for a new vexilar not marcum so please dont reply about a marcum

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Can't be much more clear (or polite) than that ...... I guess some of the marcum guys don't know how to read too good

[riverrat56]

Or were all just to hellbent to get everyone owning a better flasher.

I think Marcum has had some problems because they can't keep up with demand, their customer service is head and shoulders above Vexilar. I bought there bottom of the line underwater camera in the bargin cave at Cabelas. It didn't have a charger with it and I contacted them about purchasing one, told them how and where I bought it and they sent it out to me for free, with in a week it was at the door. I don't know, that impresses me.....alot. Altough it isn't great business practice, I'm hooked for life.

And every feature that is on the Marcum's is being added to the Vexilars, not the other way around. Well except cosmetic improvments. Rod holder, Dim lights, nifty little tackel box. On/Off switch for the whole unit plus having to turn the flasher on........don't really need any of those features.

And I've seen plenty of Lx-3's and FL-18's side by side, both work with no interfernce pending the adjustment of the Marcum, I hit that IR button and everyone in the house goes nuts.

And Vexilar didn't make any improvments until they absolutely had to with a new product pushing the market, they were happy to sit on the FL-8 until everyone in the world owned one.

Thank God someone saved us.

[OldBear]

The original poster only wanted an opinion on Vexilar. We look at the Which Flasher Marcum / Vexilar at the top of the page every day is it really necessary we have two threads on the same subject.

[CNY Tim]

EBass - You want quality assurance... How about Vexilar releasing 150,000 FL-18 units with zooms that could not pick up soft bottom content or hold it on the display once attained??? Or the quality issues that customers are not aware of with the dual beam 9/19 deg. transducers?

What about the few thousand consumers that were not aware of this or may not own a computer? How were they taken care of? In fact let's get right to it... Your not really getting zooms on the Vexes are you? Look at the blobs on the right and then look at the blobs on the left are you in fact seeing that separation? Look hard.... What your really getting is a magnified section on the left that gives you the illusion that your target seperation is less than an inch when in fact it's an optical illusion and no different than the the 2.65" on the right.

Heck I bought an FL-18 a year after they came out and all I can say was a year later retailers were still sending out flawed units.

Now how's that for quality assurance.

No there is no excuse for MarCum's having an occasional power button loose or the problem with a sub contractor whipping a run of LX-3 transducer's together with the improper epoxy mixture, or the display stickers for there units not giving the full picture and I'll even go further with the unveiling of the VS 560 the original unit and the release, and the release, and the release and the first run units were not very reliable.

The one thing that both companies have been able to do is provide quality customer service. Quality customer service.

I am sure we all have our stories and the one I like to recall is my first LX-3 4 years ago now. Coming off Lake of the Isles my transducer toppled out of the car an the transducer landed face first on the asphault and I had a crack right down the middle of the ceramic and it worked two more seasons after before I had to replace it, that's not too bad in my book.

I recall an email I received from In-Fisherman's Doug Stange stating that 3 out of the 4 dual beam transducers Vexilar produced for him did not function correctly, hmmm.

What I don't want to see is any company screwing the customer regardless of the manufacturer, as consumers we demand the right to get what we pay for. I can say my mind and I have no allegiance to any, what I do provide is knowledge, I'm a research junky...

Here's the deal., I don't care a lick about what you buy but I do care when it comes to the consumer getting the facts and the fact is that MarCum gives you more for your dollar and that's not opinion that is fact.

You can also add last years Aqua View Scout camera and the VPG to the list as well of unit's with flaws but the truth is in how the problems are handled, that is how we truly can determine if were getting the entire package for our money.

You see the same thing with jig manufacturers that unveil a hot jig on the market or a spring bobber rod that is the answer. Make no mistake companies all want to make money that's what there in businesss for, however, quality assurance unfortunately get's a back seat to producing mass quantities of a hot item. It's unfortunately the nature of the beast. All I can say is educate yourselves talk to users that are not staff and read, read, read and you will have all the information you need to make an educated decision.

To answer the original post if I had to choose only one Vexilar unit from my personal experience and what I know through research it would be the FL8SLT with the 9 deg. transducer. I'm just thankful for competiton and choices;)

I hope you all have a very happy New Year and catch lots of fish!

[wiskodie1]

I believe fish graphs are a must on the ice, it can help you cut out a lot of bad water in a hurry, but I much prefer my Lowrance X67 to a flash graph of any type. Not saying flash graphs don’t work, but there is a lot better technologies on the market these days. Ill take a digitally enhanced graph with a large easy to read display over a flash graph any time. best of all it shows a time history on the graph, which helps identify fish and lures, with this feature you can afford to take your eye off the graph for a bit and not lose track of what’s going on, your buddy can take over your hole and know what’s been happening for the last 20 seconds at one glance of the screen. If you think it’s easy to see your lure and fish on your graph wait until you come out fishing with me and watch my graph. Then tell me which one is easier to read, understand, control. Sorry but flash graphs have been the only reliable ice fishing graph for so long, and have such a large following and word of mouth sales force that I don’t think anyone takes the time to look at what else is on the market. Even the salesman at the store tried to talk me out of buying the Lowrance in favor of a flash graph.

I was just out fishing a few weeks ago with my dad (he hates electronics of all types, thinks they’re a gimmick, and has a hard time operating and understanding them) and brother, my dad took one look at my Lowrance in action and turned around and told my uncle (who was looking to get a graph) to buy it. I will say this about flash graphs, they do work, and every time I see one, I think back to when I was a little kid watching my grandpa’s flash graph mounted in his boat 25 years ago.

I have worked with top of the line sonar systems most every day for the last 10 years.

Resume

United States Navy, Submariner, Sonar tech, 5 years

Deep-Sea Robotics, ROV Supervisor, 5 years and still going

[mrwalleye_13]

What an ongoing battle that is so frusturating... I like my vexilar have never ever had a problem... havent heard of any til reading posts from marcum lovers.. I will continue using vexilar and reccomneding it to everyone i talk to becuase i have seen the differences despite anything i have read on here..

[katoguy]

agreed, mrwalleye.

Some people get opinions and faxed mixed up easily. They also come up with numbers and stats to fit their opinions to try to influence others. 150,000? That is more than some flasher companies have ever manufactured. Someone on the sticky thread above mentioned that Marcum is aware of an issue they are experiencing with "dead zones"? QC issues can and does happen to every company out there. Stating "I recall" emails really is only sour grapes.

Be careful reading and believing all you see on the internet. Too many disgruntled people with personal vendettas.

[ice_it_06]

The entire idea here is to have a market of quality products with competition options for value. You will always have so called battles and frustration with a closed mind and defensive attitude towards progression or options outside your loyalty. Within our family we own (6) sonar units between myself and two adult sons. We still have (2) Vexilars in that group and the others represent Lowrance and Marcum. One must remember that new sonar ownership does not come from new people to the market alone. I like many others had to go outside my original brand to purchase another so there is always going to be loss & gain by all. With that said I'd recommend the The Vexilar FL8SLT to the original poster seeing I own one and have experience with it. My family also owns various hand held sonar as well so bias to one manufacturer I'm certainly not in any means. The products sell themselves and a good old product will stand on its own and new equal(s) will not be stopped by tainted opinions, facts, or stubborn loyalty on what ever side you fall. The average fisherman has a very good market of which to choose any of these sonars and be happy. The only loayalty I hold is to my own decision and research to best serve my needs and my hard earned $$$$. I have a house full of electronics supporting the industry as a whole which tells me its a healthy industry and everyone better get use to competition and options. All the childish distorted attacks and last word antics towards mfgs and owners of other brands does no good for the guy looking for help and direction on a sonar purchase. Someone sets a NEW upperline ice system from any of the three manufacturers on your door step, I'll all but assure you all will open the door and take it in no matter your allegiance or skill and be thrilled to death. Ones personal preferences or needs to a certain model # does not make other brands as a whole a negative. We all know these are all good units and should find other market products to fight over that do not hold such parity. JMHO

[dkf]

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It amazes me why people continue to pay more for the same old song and dance but hey if you want to buy Japanese go right ahead. I'll stick with the top dog U.S. built MarCum LX-5 backed by American speaking U.S. Naval sonar experts for less money and have more useful features than a flat screen, rod holder and tackle box. Loyalty is one thing but the thought of paying more for blobs, lousy zoom performance, crappy shallow/deep water performance and interfernce rejection is another.

Before I dropped a dime on a Vexilar do yourself a favor and fish the most exciting, rivetting piece of machinery that's proven and trusted by a growing community of satisfied MarCum customers. It's as simple as this, once you fished a MarCum you will wonder why you ever fished with anything else. You simply get more bang for your buck with MarCum. I know vex guys that have swallowed up MarCum DCS 100 charging systems for there vex units because there a better charger than what Vexilar offers and that's just the charging system not to mention the others that use MarCum's handheld LXI portable handheld for checking depths. You get more bang for your buck with a MarCum... Former FL-8 and disgruntled FL-18 user here.

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Both Vexilar and Marcum are both american companies and no doubt have units that get the job done. I can guarantee you most of the components that go into any marcum or vexilars flashers such as LED's, capacitors, diodes and etc are made by the millions in countries such as China and Taiwan. The fact is Japan is top notch in engineering and manufacturing electronics and I feel no shame in buying a vexilar because it is made in Japan. The Japs have electronics now that we won't see in the states for 5 years.

I bought an Fl-18 before the LX-5 came out and I plan on buying the Fl-20 in the spring.