Blackie,
Clammie and Bee were the guys who originally sold me on the Troller. I figured I'd try new technology.
When I had to send it back right away because it didn't work Marcum replaced it no questions asked...but like I said it was a PITA to have to deal with it.
At first I kinda liked the vertical aspect to it and I used it for a season.
But honestly when you have used something for a long time like I have had my original flasher...I just decided I liked the circular aspect and multicolored display better.....The most awesome aspect of the Troller however was it was light and it was small...the actual usage however left me flat.
I suppose if you always used a vertical display and were used to using it it would be fine...the problem is I had been using the other kind of display for 20 years on the ice and probably more like 55 years on the ocean! It is hard to teach an old dog new tricks evidently!
So I gave the Troller to my kid.....Then I saw that the VX1 was a circular display like the one I had so I invested a 2nd time in a Marcum. This one had a problem too right out of the box! ARRRGGGHHH....Marcum replaced again...no worries...but like I said What the hell? Everything I buy from these guys gets out of the factory before it it ready? Kinda left a bad taste...(I figure it is like what some people say Ice Gators are like originally).
So this one had some newer stuff like zoom...but I never used any of the new stuff...I just like to turn it on and go fishing like I always have for 50 years. My buddy invests in an Ice Machine, I think it is a 55 or something?...We both like the awesome colors but the whole package is huge and it weighs a lot and the digital display runs down the battery faster.
I decide that my old flasher works fine after all...I don't need all the extra stuff...I give my VX! to my other kid...I know how to use my old fiasher and I have had enough feedback from using it that I can inherently feel when a fish is gonna bite...many hours of gazing at it I guess...I don't need or want to go through the effort of learning something new not only in how to operate it...but to get where it is almost like a new sense when you can watch the display and in your mind you can see what is happening on the bottom...slight differences in color and movement get directly transferred to your brain.
My friend after two years still hasn't figured out all the features on the "Tower of Power" Ice Machine, but the colors are swell (blue and white? hell ya!) and the display is large a bright.
My old crappy machine still keeps on ticking, it is good enough for me, in fact it is better for me than new technology because I actually know how to use it correctly...it's like a Timex watch...and I'm an old curmudgeon.... but at least i have some fun and i mange to catch some fish despite the fact that I have supposedly "inferior" equipment.
Like I said ...I'll be happy to purchase any other people's old stuff if they think it no longer services their needs and they have upgraded to better stuff.
