By Engfish from Faribault, MN on 1/2/2008

For years I've toted around the FL-8 in the Genz blue box. It became difficult to see the colors on the screen, especially in the sun. The "Blue Box" didn't fit into a five gallon pail. The FL-12 gave me great graphics, portability, and the all the functionality of the FL-8 with a few more bells and whistles. For the most part, it's a great product, but I don't like the fact that the battery is so inaccesible. That was not the case with the old FL-8 where a new battery could be utilized during a long day of ice fishing. If the charge starts to drain on the FL-12, it takes a lot of work to put in a new battery. Extremely cold weather can make the 100% drop to 75% and then 50% in a relatively short period of time. A lot of days you need a solid 8-10 hours of battery life to be mobile. I'm worried that the battery "memory" is going to leave me high and dry if I continue to charge each night insted of when the battery is completely discharged, like I did with the old FL-8. The other problem is what to do with all of that dangling transducer cord. It's a pain to have to weave it through the plastic holders on the side of the handle. Still, a nice change from squinting at the old FL-8.