I get to run a variety of boats with different systems. There are different strengths and price points. Since we are mostly talking Garmin in this thread I would say that I like Garmin better than the Simrad/Lowrance systems for fish finder (there are other things I like better about the Simrad). I believe this is mostly due to the better and more transducer options(I havent run a boat with a new Navico total scan transducer yet) . For the Chesapeake Bay where we look for striped bass 95% of the time in less than 100' of water I like the GT52HW transducer with the GT51M second. If we fished deeper water I would want the GT51 However I am not sure how it would due for flounder fishing like I used to do in DE Bay growing up. A more narrow beam transducer may be a better option there.
Both Navico and Garmin structure scans are very similar to me. Both use very high frequency (455kHz or 800kHz) "fans" to mark and see structure. The high frequency of the unit and the relatively low power makes for great structure detail in shallower water. The weakness is that it does not mark fish well or is good in deep water. It also does not do well running. You have to be off plane going pretty slow for clarity of picture. This may not be a problem because if you know about where you are looking and can use the structure scan to find the structure, then go over it with the traditional sonar to see if fish are on the structure.
If you have $$$ to spend, the new Furuno 3D multi beam system is a different ball game. It uses a much lower frequency (165kHz) and much higher power (900w). This system is better for marking fish but doesnt give quite the structure detail. To me it is more useful because I would rather see fish better around structure than the detail of the structure itself. I ran one the other week and it did well at up to 22kn marking fish and structure too in 3D mode with a transom mount transducer. (couldnt run faster in a 24' boat blowing 15+ kn). Downside to the system is that it is an add-on sensor box to a TZT or TZT2 head unit and it costs over $3000.