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I have a 798SI and was speaking with a buddy this weekend that fishes alot of bass tournaments. He was telling me the Lowrance HDS units are very nice and he preferred it over the Humminbird SI's
Any of you go through this comparison? What were your thoughts?
I looked and played with both for over an hour last week at bass pro and couldn't really say one is better than the other. Lowrances have more what I call junk on em(stuff other than SI/sonar/maps). Far as the scanning of both, some of the images on the lowrances looked very good and some not so good, same as the birds. Humminbird still has the ease of use by a mile IMO. The biggest negative to me on the lowrance units is the price. The HDS8 unit is priced around $500 more than the comparable 998 humminbird and I do not see anything on the lowrance unit that is worth $500 more bucks. Another negative for the lowrance units is you have the buy the structure scan module that is quiet large I might add and mount it somewhere in your boat where as the humminbirds are one self contained unit.
Well I am like your buddy I prefer the Lowrance. But I started with the flasher and the X-15 paper graph. So operating a Lowrance to me is more comfortable. They are both good units. I am glad they are in such a heated competion for our business right now. I think it will result in a winning situation for the fisherman.
I feel the 2D is still the backbone of any unit and in my humble opinion that still goes hands down to Lowrance.(even with the upgrades to the HB)
I also like the LSS-1 module being seperate from my graph. The three ethernet ports are great and if it has issues I still have the graph in the boat. A lot of folks will disagree with me on this but from what I have seen this is my opinion. My boat came with HB and after a couple of trips I replaced with HDS units as fast as I could get them in.
How many screens can you pull up at once on that Humminbird 998? I do know that you can have 4 separate visuals all at once on the HDS8.I do like that feature on the hds8 better because the Hds7 only allows 2 screens up at a time.On the hds8, I can watch my gps/river channel ledge and my down scan, and side scan and the sonar all at the same time.Four pictures on screen all at once on the hds8. I will also say this about the hds8. I have gotten to where I can easily see a school of crappie on my down scan. They are much easier to catch when you are fishing over them too btw. Just my 2 cents. I almost bought the Humminbird and am sure they are good units as well. As the guy said a couple post back, Lowrance does have alot of things you can do with the unit and I almost learn something new every trip now with it. I just bought an sd card and plan on taking some screen pictures and posting them.
I have had both units, humminbird and lowrance, the lowrance has a real good structure scan and clear as a bell. easy to use, no junk, easy to use preloaded maps. and overall comparison lowrance 9 humminbird 4
Both are great units, but bird cant come close to lows 2D.
"Different strokes for different folks, said the farmer as he kissed the cow". If they all were exactly the same, life would be dull.:( I cut my teeth on Humminbird & Minnkota, therefore they're the best. Have owned Eagles, Lowrances, keep go'n back to HB. Have owned Motorguide & Johnson trolling motors, keep go'n back to Minnkota. I love my 788ci Humminbird & plan on buying another. :)Good fish'n.
Rich
I have HDS/structure scan and satisfied. Never owned a bird so I would not know, I am sure they are good units as well. My .02 cents
I've owned both. IMO the Lowrance is somewhat better as far as the DI. The GPS is much better and has no donut. I won't be switching back to HB, unless they want to sponsor me and put the units on my boat and pay some money. The biggest HB supporters you'll find online are the ones that are sponsored, and they will go on and on.
Normal people who have to buy the units, will probably be a little more honest.
If specs is the only concern, you can download both manuals and compare them or better yet, get out on the water with both. That's what I did.
If other factors like price, reputation, ease of use, space constraints etc are involved, then only you can properly weigh based on what is right for you. For me, I was limited on number of transducers that I could mount on transom. Difference in price had some bearing as well.
This is one of those issues that will be debated forever. Each individual will ultimately have to make their own decision. I have been a Lowrance user since I bought the orginal box, which I still have along with a paper graph and etc.
I went thru a very long and detailed evaluation recently when I decided to equip my boat with Side Imagining. In the end, considering all factors, my needs directed me to Humminbird. Some of the dominant criteria were price, functionality, and definitely Customer Service. I have always had a little difficulity with Lowrance Customer Service and it seems to have gotten worse recently.
I put a 898c SI on the console and an 798ci SI on the bow and am extremely satisfied with all aspects of these units.
I hope you make the decision that best meets your individual needs. GOOD LUCK!!!
I am going to purchase a Humminbird , either the 898 SI combo, the 998 SI combo, or the 997 SI. The 898 SI combo comes with down imaging as well as side imaging. With the 998 SI you have both down and side imaging or just side imaging on the 997 SI. Is the down imaging worth the extra money on the 998 or would you just purchase the 997 with Side imaging? I like the fact that the 998 and the 997 have a 1" bigger screen than the 898 does. If anyone has expierience with the down imaging please give your opinion.
Thanks,
Kellog,
All three units have both the Side Imaging and Down Imaging capabilities. All three come with Si sonar already in them. The 898 and 998 units will already have Di sonar in them but for the 997 you will have to download a free software update file and update the unit to have the Di sonar.
I purchased the 998 earlier this week. Should be delivered today. After playing with the Lowrance HDS 8 at bass pro I really liked how it functioned/worked but the extra cost and customer service horror stories were just too much for me to chance it with them. Hope to get it installed and test it out next weekend.
I have a Humminbird 997 and am very satisfied with it. I also use a Lowrance LCX-27C on the bow because I think the 2D is superior. I have not looked at the HDS units since both of mine are working well and the cost of a dual HDS setup is very, very high. The one thing I really like about the HDS units is the ability to have side scan on two units with only one transducer.
I have the same setup and I agree with you.Quote:
Originally Posted by PanMan_VA
i have a 997si cant get over the air bubbles around trans,thinking about getting a hds5 for 2d going down lake.are there trans any better?
Well, I went ahead and ordered a 898SI combo and a Navionics SD/PREM-E6 card. I hope to have them in hand and installed by next weekend. I noticed another thread here about 898SI woes. I had the same feeling about the I-Pilot add-on for my Riptide-SP when it arrived. I worried myself half to death thinking it was going to be difficult, but once I got to it it went on with the greatest of ease. I hope I have the same ease of installation with the 898SI. I am not going to overthink it. I am just going to do it. Will let you know how I made out with it after completion.
I really appreciate all the post on this thread. They gave me a lot of insight as to which unit to buy.
Thanks,
From what I am hearing, Navico (Lowrance) is really trying to improve their customer service. Hearing a lot of fast responses.Quote:
Originally Posted by ykkapslabhunter
I got the 898C-SI monted on the Skiff. Installation was a breeze. The only problem was with the template Humminbird has for drilling the tranducer mount screw holes. They don't match up to the actual mounting bracket. This really pissed me off. After realizing this I had to fill 2 screw holes with marine grade white epoxy and wait for it to cure before I could continue. Other than that it was no problem. I really like the way it works. In comparison with the way I was fishing with my old Lowrance units, well there is know comparison. Kudos to Humminbird for producing a product that I think has changed the way we fish.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kellog
My template matched up with the transducer bracket. But I do recall almost following the steps for installing a different kind of transducer before noticing that it was different than mine.
Just got my HDS8 for the bow. I'll see how it compares to the 997 on the console.
I bet you will be surprised rockmike