I also have lowrance. I've had the opportunity to play with both units and honestly they both have pros and cons. I'm used to the display of lowrance so the birds were hard for me to use. In my opinion, the birds side imaging and 360 display are more crisp than lowrance but lowrance seems to do more things. I've looked into the birds simply for their capabilities to link with the terrova i-link system. With this, you can use you fish finder to control the terrova, follow break lines, or keep your boat a certain distance from a break. Only drawback is the i-link break line stuff must be in the map software. My fear is the lakes I fish wouldn't have the right maps. Gary (fishing couple) has it on his boat.

Because of my familiarity with lowrance, my new boat will have HDS 10 at the helm and HDS 7 on the bow. The touch is nice too but I am familiar with the non touch.

Also, buy from bbgmarine.com as they are way cheaper than the box stores. I'll be ordering my new ones as soon as my boat cover and air ride seats are in and I can bring the boat home.... Cats out of the bag now!