I would like to know which black box people like better: Scotty Black Box or Pro-Troll Black Box?
I asked a couple different people at the Seattle Boat Show (a couple months ago) and the response I got was that Pro-Troll black boxes are cheaper, but they are cheaper for a reason. They started outsourcing parts to China and the quality is poor. They are on their third generation of black boxes and the two earlier versions have been known to catch fire. I don't know if this last one is true.
Talking with the Scotty guys (obviously biased, but backed by data) said that they measured the ouput voltage of their black box vs. the pro-troll black box. They said that the pro-troll black box has spikes in its output. This, in turn, may scare off any fish that are following your setup.
The way I look at it is, if we spend all the money in the boat, electronics, gear, and fuel...why skimp when it comes to buying a black box? I guess if I was going to buy one, I would go SCOTTY!