I bought the Showdown Troller with a giftcard and had a chance to try it out today. I absolutely loved how it worked. It put me on fish very quickly (about the sixth hole I drilled) and seemed very accurate as well. The target separation and lack of zoom feature did not bother me at all. I was in about 10 feet of water, had the range set to "20 feet" and was locked onto a school of bluegills for almost 3 hours. This is a much better day than I had ever had at the lake I was at.
I am using this as my primary unit. Instead of buying the performance pack, I built a wooden box that holds the unit locked in place with a bolt, tilts the unit for maximum viewing from my bucket and has extra storage for the cord and float (bought a Vexilar float to use- I don't like those flimsy arms). This set-up prevents the unit from falling down the hole. The weight is a non-issue as it is still quite light. I chose this unit partly because of cost and because the sound of the flashers drove me nuts (have had prior experience with them). I know most of you think I'm crazy, but a lot of the enjoyment of ice fishing for me is the peace and quiet of it.
pannyjigger
