Thread: a bug for Humminbird's ear...

Tell you a little story about how I ended up buying that Eagle Optima
in the first place... I had just bought a new boat, and was rigging it out.
All the advertising rage at the time was the new 3D model from H'bird.
Was front page news in all the catalogs, BPS, Cabelas, etc.
I started trying to order one, only to find nobody had any -
Ended up with one on backorder from BPS, Cabelas, AND Overtons.
See who could get one first. After several months, finally got tired of
being fishfinder-less, canceled them all out, and went with the little Eagle.
And after I ran it awhile, wondered what more could I have wanted.
Looked at Lowrance, but at that time, you could only buy them from a
dealer - no mail order Lowrances. Anybody else remember that time period?
Asked why, and basically was told I wasn't smart enough to operate one
without a dealer holding my hand. Like most of them really knew anything
about operating it.

what if the new antenna isn`t that much better,guess everyone will sone see

I'm gonna give 'em a little while to see - if not, I'll probably end up
with a Garmin like everybody else seems to be. And live with the small
screen on my 797 and quit jonesing for a 1197

I, for one, have no intention of shelling out any more money to resolve an issue that should have never happened to begin with. We have a unit that isn't even a year old that is bona fide piece of junk because it doesn't work as it should. Over the years there have been a few times when we have made major purchases when the product wasn't up to par and guess what, the manufacturer made it right! Wow, what a concept! For me, this falls in the category of a major purchase. Humminbird must make so much money and sell so much equipment that they don't have to worry about putting out quality the FIRST TIME. I am darn sure not about to spend my money for some add on or replacement item just to put a band-aid on their screw up.

I can absolutely guarantee one thing to Humminbird and I hope you are listening -

I will NEVER recommend Humminbird to anybody and if I see someone looking at their products in the store I'll be eager to tell them how poorly their GPS units perform. Any fishing tournaments I enter in the future, I will seize every opportunity to share my Humminbird fiasco with anyone who will listen.

J. White, i learned my lesson from HB about 8 years ago, when i had a problem with their product. Sent it in and they sent me a newly refurbished unit. It lasted all of two WEEKS. Sent that back and they sent me the unit i sent them. Same serial number. Got 2 weeks from that unit. Went and got me an eagle and never looked back. I was interested in getting a SI unit, but after reading reviews from this board for the last year, decided i can live without it. Gonna get an eagle or a lowrance with a big screen. Maybe even color. But i'm staying away from the birds. Dont need the headache.

Chaunc, ok - I hear ya. I believe they've changed owership since yours,
and I was hoping things were all better - anyway, I'm gonna take a lot
more of a "wait n see" attitude with electronics for awhile.
Seems like Lowrance has had a lot of problems lately too, from circuit
boards to software glitches - it'll all settle out in awhile, lots of new
stuff has come out lately.

Y'all just made me feel alot better because I was ready to spend some serious money on one as soon as I got the funds right. Will wait for Lowrance's version probably. Might take a long time but I don't have to worry about them. My two units are getting old but are not junk. CF

I posted a thread about how much im struggling with my 997 GPS tonight. I should have read more here before posting because it appears that Im not the only one that think the GPS su#ks. For the life of me I cannot understand how they released these units for sale to the public for 2 or 3 grand with the GPS that they have in them. I swear I cannot get on a waypoint to save my life. Whats worse is when you see this big beautiful brush pile on the sideimage and you move the cursor to mark it...then go to it and its not there....then only to find it 25 feet away from the waypoint! Sideimaging demands a great GPS to accompany it or else it all falls apart. Right now, its definetly falling apart for me.