Opinions on Furuno 628

 Hi guys,

 

Just after general opinions of the Furuno FCV 628 sounder and P66 600W transducer - specifically for the 1k - 1.5k price range ?

 

I'm getting frustrated with my lowrance elite 5 sounder, especially not having bottom lock. I dont really fish in anything over 50m deep. From my searching and research, this seems to be the best choice - but i just want to throw this question out to see if anyone supports or rejects my opinion.

 

Keen to hear thoughts !


Posts: 23

Date Joined: 12/08/14

Furuno 628

Tue, 2018-01-09 17:19

 Mate,

Marine Deals NZ have a current offer for 628 and P66 for $788 plus postage.

Mine landed here yesterday for $808 Aud.

Just finished installing and now to test it.

Cannot go wrong for that price.

Cheers

Francis's picture

Posts: 326

Date Joined: 17/06/08

 Haha mate thats the exact

Tue, 2018-01-09 18:11

 Haha mate thats the exact site I was looking at! I think I might just bite the bullet, like you say can’t go wrong for that price! Will prob be able to sell the elite 5 for a few hundred anyway so it will be a cheap upgrade at that price !

Brock O's picture

Posts: 3160

Date Joined: 11/01/08

 I love supporting local but

Tue, 2018-01-09 18:54

 

I love supporting local but when it came to the sounder i went online and fitted myself...628 last boat but jumped straight to 528 this boat...kepted the lowrance for GPS only. 

Easy to set up...love my Furuno!

Francis's picture

Posts: 326

Date Joined: 17/06/08

 I agree - I do try to

Tue, 2018-01-09 19:12

 I agree - I do try to support local but with the sounders there is a big difference in cost when comparing online to local isnt there.... That 528 is a nice looking unit ! I've seen a lot of sounder pics on this forum from the furuno's and i really like the image they give !

Brock O's picture

Posts: 3160

Date Joined: 11/01/08

 Yeah for sure...spent plenty

Tue, 2018-01-09 19:38

 

Yeah for sure...spent plenty of time searching thd old threads and settings used including Ryans when he had the 527 from memory.

Going fully manual still takes some research but happy now after a few years of second guessing

Posts: 105

Date Joined: 23/11/14

furuno

Tue, 2018-01-09 20:44

 Lowrance vs Furuno, like chalk and cheese, the furuno wins every time. Both are recreational models but the furuno has many of the bigger model features. Choice of transducer is important but the furuno will out perform the lowrance in all areas. The furuno has a wider colour palette, a higher level of bottom discrimination and depending on model rez boost which works very well.

Francis's picture

Posts: 326

Date Joined: 17/06/08

 Thanks - I did some more

Wed, 2018-01-10 07:44

 Thanks - I did some more trolling thru these forums - I would of loved to get the 528 but just a bit out of my price range. So I went with the 628 that was on special. Should be perfect for what I need !

Posts: 115

Date Joined: 05/08/16

 Lowrance is pop better off

Thu, 2018-01-11 11:12

 Lowrance is pop better off keeping it as a gps and get the Furuno 

Posts: 115

Date Joined: 05/08/16

 Lowrance is pop better off

Thu, 2018-01-11 11:12

 Lowrance is pop better off keeping it as a gps and get the Furuno 

Francis's picture

Posts: 326

Date Joined: 17/06/08

 Thanks ! That's exactly what

Fri, 2018-01-12 08:53

 Thanks ! That's exactly what I am going to do - I quite like the lowrance as a gps. Waiting for the Furuno unit to arrive now.

 

I'm thinking I will also leave the lowrance transducer in place, and run the lowrance on 50mhz, and run the furuno on 200mhz. That way there shouldn't be any interference between the 2 and I can reference the lowrance with the wider beam if ever needed.

 

Will see how it goes running the 2 transducers next to each other - I hope it's not a problem but might need to move the lowrance onto the port side of the transom.

gruntre69's picture

Posts: 533

Date Joined: 15/10/16

 You will also have the

Fri, 2018-01-12 09:32

 You will also have the benefit of being able to mark waypoints on the lowrance sounder screen, you could run lowrance split screen 50/50 (map/50 hz) and run the furuno at 200. If you see good ground on the funuro screen that you have passed you can see where it was on the Lowrance and mark it because the picture will similar enough to find the spot on the lowrance 50 hz picture.... Then navigate back with the lowrance...

____________________________________________________________________________

 Marine trimmer NOR (available for clears, tops, carpet, upholstery, custom equipment covers)

dmck's picture

Posts: 405

Date Joined: 07/03/19

Does the Furuno have NMEA2000?

Mon, 2019-04-08 14:55

 If so, pushing the <ARK button on the F should set a WP on the HDS.

Bing's picture

Posts: 150

Date Joined: 13/02/11

628

Thu, 2018-01-18 15:33

As mentioned in the first comment marine deals have them very cheap, that's were I got mine from after getting quotes at the Perth boat show.

I'm running mine alongside a Simrad NSS9 Evo 2 with totalscan transducer and find the Furuno much more user friendly. At some stage ill look at installing the Markfish, I believe Ryan C has it fitted on Back in Black.

Posts: 4

Date Joined: 20/03/14

i have one mate beats my old

Mon, 2018-01-22 04:27

i have one mate beats my old hummingbird by miles, i love this unit

Francis's picture

Posts: 326

Date Joined: 17/06/08

 Mine just arrived in the

Mon, 2018-01-22 22:33

 Mine just arrived in the mail today from marine deals. Looking forward to mounting it and having a look / compare to the lowrance - not looking forward to drilling more holes in the boat tho 

Posts: 100

Date Joined: 02/06/17

 Gday guys, I know this is an

Sat, 2019-02-02 17:35

 Gday guys, I know this is an old post but wondering how the 628 went for the guys that bought them? I am looking to go to a stand alone sounder and keeping my combo for GPS.

Fish mostly 15-50m but do fish up to 150m at times, hoping the 628 will still suit in those depths.

Francis's picture

Posts: 326

Date Joined: 17/06/08

Haven’t been that deep yet

Mon, 2019-04-08 14:32

Haven’t been that deep yet but I can honestly say I wouldn’t use anything other than furuno now. I’m still learning lots but my catch rate has increased dramatically since switching to the 628.

 

And the price is just spot on...

 

You probably just need a better transducer than the P66 for 100m+ 

Bing's picture

Posts: 150

Date Joined: 13/02/11

http://fishwrecked.com/forum/screen-shots

Sun, 2019-03-03 15:02

 link in the subject is some old screen shots