The Garmin echo 550c is the top of the line unit in a new series of moderately priced fishfinders targeted directly at freshwater anglers. These sounders are due to hit the consumer marine market in the spring of 2011.
Buy one of the six available Garmin Echo fishfinders here.
With Garmin bass professional, Scott Martin leading the advertising blitz on these new release sounders and the fact that they ship with a dual beam high frequency transducer that includes a trolling motor mount you can expect to see them on the bass circuit very soon.
Garmin echo 550c
There are several models of echo fishfinders available. Next down from our test unit is the 500c which uses a 5-inch screen with 320 x 234 pixels of resolution or about half the pixels of the 550c. The 300c uses a smaller 3.5-inch color screen and has 300-watts of output power. Three models use a monochrome display screen, the 200 has a 5-inch screen and 300-watts of power, the 150 a 4-inch and 200-watts, and the 100 a 4-inch with 100-watts. The latter pair sell for under $100.
The Garmin echo 550c fishfinder package includes the display unit, two-frequency dual beam transducer, rotating single stanchion twist and swivel mount with a quick release, power cable, installation instructions, and owner’s manual. Hardware to mount the transducer directly to your trolling motor is also included. The mounting bracket holds the cable connections for power and transducer inputs securely into the back panel of the display unit.
The echo 550c display unit has a nearly square panel front that measures 6 inches across the width and just a tad under, depth is just under 2 inches.
To test the echo 550c on the water we mounted the display using the accompanying bracket on a test board and found that it held the display unit securely. The transducer was also mounted to a test board that was secured to the transom of our Seacraft test boat.
Screen Size and Viewability
The echo 550c uses a color screen measuring 4.0-inches high and just over 2.9-inches wide. On the diagonal the portrait layout screen measures 5.0 inches. Screen resolution is very high 640 pixels vertically by 480 pixels on the horizontal plane.
The display screen on the echo 550c was bright and sharp with good color contrast. Even in bright sunlight I could read the screen well when I positioned myself in front of the unit and viewed from straight-on. Upon donning my trusty polarized sunglasses I noticed very little screen darkening even out at extreme viewing angles. Reflectivity was minimal. I am rating the Garmin echo 550c excellent for daytime viewability.
A quick press of the on/off pushbutton brings up the brightness menu onscreen which can be adjusted with the cursor up/down arrows to one of 10 levels. Two daytime color schemes are available, either white or b