is the showdown one of the best icefishing sonars and is it better than the veclare?

hello dkaminski1 i am new on NAFC and this is my first post. i have never used either but i have never heard of anyone using the showdown so im not sure how it is. i have never used a vexilar either but i know a lot of people who have it and love it. the basic one is the fl-8 then fl-12, the main difference between the two is the viewer, fl-8 is mainly just for 1 viewer and the fl-12 is for multiple anglers. the next step up is the fl-18 and fl-20 different transducers i believe and also the viewer is fl-18 single angler and fl-20 is multiple angler. i just recently bought a humminbird 385ci. it can be used all year round. its got a flasher view and sonar view. it can tell u the temerature of the water, depth, speed if your using it on a boat, structure. it is colored and is pretty easy to use. it is my first fishfinder and once u play with it a little bit u get used to it. they run for 450 bucks in stores but i picked mine up new on ebay for 370 brand new and with warranty. i hope this helps u out.

Looks like I'm a little late to this party, as ice-fishing season is pert'near over. But I can forward your question to the magazine editors and post it here when I get an answer ... -- Web Guy Greg

thanks for the replies guys.