MyFishFinder.com Just like iceshanty but warmer
i'd go lx5 out of all you mentioned. i'd not even consider a fl12 if i fished over 40'. a zoom is a necessity.
Bird ice 35 you get dual beam and zoom for the price of an fl 8 or vx1. Just throwing that out there. on my 4th year with mine and nothing but happy.
I really like my Lowrance x67c. Graph, Zoom, AND flasher. New units are the Elite series 4 and 5's. Best of both worlds. Then in the summer you can fit them to your boat.
Actually, for your first one, you should consider buying a cheap used one like a FL-8 and learn ow to use one, figure out exactly what more you want and the resell and buy exactly the one thats right for you.
Why? Why make it cost you $100 to "learn" when you can learn on a better unit. I guess if you can afford to upgrade every year it would be fine. But most people I have taught how to use a flasher picked it up in 5 minutes, and it was not on a fl-8. Just does not make any sense to me!