Thread: Humminbird New Features for 2011

Originally Posted by mduncan62

I'm sure glad that Lowrance and HB both have free upgrades and updates though.

I agree to a point. I'll make my point in a second.

First, though, it wasn't but just the other day that I was looking at the DI screen and saw something of interest, smashed the zoom button and ..... nothin. Hit it again....nothin. Oh yea, it don't zoom on DI. Well, now I can Zoom on the DI screen. I'll take it.
Doubt that I'll use the contour off function.

But, and I don't know how they do it, but I have marked stuff from the SI screen that was 70-80 feet to the side, put part of the screen on map and navigated to my new waypoint and when it said I was there, the structure showed up under my DI. I've marked suspended baitballs and fish and ran right on top of them this way.
So, when the guy says it is what it is. Maybe that ain't him sayin shut up but that it is what it is.

Now to my point. I don't consider these to be "free" upgrades. I bought these units knowing full aware that as they improved the units, those improvements would be backward compatiable. One of the selling points was the ability to do firmware updates. My AVR and DVD player offer the same thing. If they didn't have the capability, I'd have been reluctant to buy the units that I have. They are too expensive to be obsolete in a year or two.

Now with that said, the ethernet connection is the cat's meow this year. The other things are nice, but if ethernet does what is capable, I'll remain a happy customer.

Originally Posted by Stymie

I agree to a point. I'll make my point in a second.

First, though, it wasn't but just the other day that I was looking at the DI screen and saw something of interest, smashed the zoom button and ..... nothin. Hit it again....nothin. Oh yea, it don't zoom on DI. Well, now I can Zoom on the DI screen. I'll take it.
Doubt that I'll use the contour off function.

But, and I don't know how they do it, but I have marked stuff from the SI screen that was 70-80 feet to the side, put part of the screen on map and navigated to my new waypoint and when it said I was there, the structure showed up under my DI. I've marked suspended baitballs and fish and ran right on top of them this way.
So, when the guy says it is what it is. Maybe that ain't him sayin shut up but that it is what it is.

Now to my point. I don't consider these to be "free" upgrades. I bought these units knowing full aware that as they improved the units, those improvements would be backward compatiable. One of the selling points was the ability to do firmware updates. My AVR and DVD player offer the same thing. If they didn't have the capability, I'd have been reluctant to buy the units that I have. They are too expensive to be obsolete in a year or two.

Now with that said, the ethernet connection is the cat's meow this year. The other things are nice, but if ethernet does what is capable, I'll remain a happy customer.

I could take or leave the zoom. If I can see it, I can probably see what's around it and use my bait to zoom in. Marking a waypoint and viewing is completely different then looking at the contour lines. Both HB and Low can mark waypoints while doing a side or down scan and both are accurate. I've owned both, so I can say that.

As far as being backwards compatible, It's safe to assume that you don't own a 981, or 797 because they are now no longer backwards compatible. Bought one a year or 2 ago also. (I don't remember seeing a disclaimer or any warning that these units would not handle the future Free upgrades/updates. They are now obsolete, as new features apparently require more CPU or RAM then those units contain. I had a 797, and sold it with my boat so It's no longer an issue, but I'm always on the prowl to buy something new.

I agree, it's great that HB finally got with the times and added Ethernet. It's not exactly a new idea.

I have to ask, does anyone think that Low charges for updates or software upgrades? The answer is both companies offer these free. It's really a null point.

I have only dealt with 1 piece of equipment that has been truly backwards compatible, ever. Equallogic Sans, ISCSI storage devices, started production in 2001, and if you bought one in 01, and need another in 11, they can work together, and all software is written to be backwards compatible. When you are talking about Computer equipment, this is amazing. Think about the computer you had in 2001, compared to what is out today.