Hawgin you're going to get mixed and biased reviews. First I'll make it clear that I have a Vex FL-18. My buddy has the LX-3. I've only had them side by side two times. The case for the LX-3 is nice and looks very durable. The display is bright and looks to me that the target seperation would be better-finer lines than on my FL-18. The downside on the display-in my opinion-is the colors they chose tend to blend together. The LX-3 sounds quieter than my FL-18. The adjustable zoom is a nice feature on the LX-3 and my buddy loves it. The FL-18 has the AZ but the bottom 6' only.They are both equipped with IR . The FL-18 has LP mode for shallow fishing and BL mode for use in a boat. The FL-18 has the iceducer and the LX-3 an arm. Vexilar offers many accessaries for the FL's and Marcum doesn't as of yet. Another big concern will be durability and customer service - which Vexilar is known for. Good luck!
