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What brand is best ? Looking at Lowrance and Hummingbird but I know both are probably good. They are great for fishing now but afraid in the long run will hurt fishing. Most the folks seem to be giving up on building cover and opting for high end electronics. Guess I'll be joining the rest soon . Why spend countless hours building cover for everyone else? It will hurt fishing after what's out there is gone .:twocents
CA, THey are both good, but in my opinion Lowrance customer service is the worst. Will hardly ever talk to anyone that can speak good English.:twocents
I will say that both brands are top notch though.
Humminbird makes a more user friendly unit but when it comes to HD clarity for side scanning none compare to the Lowerance
Ford vs Chevy.......I run Lowrance for 10 years. Have HD12's for my boat. Takes time on the water. Dr. Sonar videos speed you up quickly for Lowrance. Took the DVD's out on the boat with me several times early on! I say I would have a 14 ft john boat and a 9.9hp and put all the money into electonics if I had to choose.
I had Lowrance and switched to HB to be compatible with MK. Wish I'd stayed with Lowrance.
Nimrod, I would suggest reading a lot on the electronics board. They are both good, humminbird customer service is far and away better than Lowrance. Ease of use is easier on Birds. To me the biggest thing is with birds when it is out of warranty you can always get a unit repaired right here in the US for a flat fee. Yes it is expensive ( around 400.00) but a 1500.00 unit after 3/4 years for basically a new unit is cheap. Lowrance customer service sucks and out of warranty they will offer you a discount on a new unit if you want to buy another one. And yes they both break down. If I was buying new today I would sure look at the new Garmin units. They have come out with some units that are really nice and very competitive on pricing couple of good threads on electronics board on them.
Not sure that electronics will lead to the decline of crappie fishing. Once a person learns that structure attracts fish and does not last forever, they may be inclined to replace and add new structure. Those who have never put out fish habitat and only fish off other's efforts.......well that's for a different thread.
I'm a Lowrance guy, but Humminbirds are equally nice. I've heard some good reviews for the new Garmins also. Go to BPS and play with the demo units for awhile. Pick the one YOU like best.
Humminbird Onix 10
Humminbird has better SI and Lowrance had better DI IMHO! Humminbird stepped up their DI in the Onix series I would put It up against any of the Lowrance units. You have option to link it to a Minnkota trolling motor, make topos of your favorite fishing areas of a lake or the entire lake, plus you can add 360 if you want.
Both are good units
i have used 2 different Humminbird units for side scanning and scanned lakes and certian areas looking for piles that i knew where there but coulnt find , used the Lowerance in the same areas and piles were everywhere , this is just my expirience and the units were a 598 and a 998 birds i now have 2 HDS 9 gen 2 touch Lowerance and if theres a pile there i will find itQuote:
Originally Posted by SlabMeister
I've never hard problem. Comprende'?Quote:
Originally Posted by hawgdog
Not trying to stir the pot! I to have had Lowrance units and Humminbird 1198cSI. I would agree that Lowrance had the 98 series on DI but not on SI. The Onix series is totally different than the 98 series the DI is much improved. We can go back and forth all day. I like having 360 because I can see 360 degrees around my boat while sitting on a brush pile. I can see fish moving in the brush. The 360 functions with the boat anchored and not moving. I can link my unit with my Terrova and run contours of a lake, great for pulling cranks, spider rigging etc. I like the options that Humminbird allow me. These are features that I like that Lowrance didn't offer at the time they may not fit your needs or Nimrods.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crappie Greg
What at it boils down to is Nimrod has to make his choice based on features that he likes and wants. Get in as many boats as he can and see the units in action. That is what I did! Looking at simulator eat the big box stores won't cut it. It is his money and his decision to make.
I have been in a couple of tournament bass fishermen's rigs that had a Lowrance unit mounted for DI and Humminbird for SI. There was a difference in the two units that is for sure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crappie Greg
X2. I have had the same experience on Dardanelle. Scanned a large portion of Illinois Bayou with a Lowrance touch 9 and marked piles everywhere. Went back with a buddy the next weekend and struggled to find the same brush with his HB 1198, some of them never appeared. My money is on Lowrance for sure.
LOL....I really can't say from experience. Just did a lot of research before I put the Helix on my small stick steer boat and that was most of the negatives about the lowrance .......But that was it, other than that, they all had good reviews. I tried to get yo butt to put one on it!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by BigRiverMarine
I think the 'Bird is much better at side-scanning, but for down imaging, I don't think the Lowrance can be beat. I've run both and have Lowrance on my boat. The Ilink feature on the Birds is incredible though. If you are a troller, that is something to consider strongly, in my opinion...
Totally agree with with this except that the Onix has equal DI now. The 98 series didn't! I bought the 360 and was very disappointed in the clarity with the 98 series. The Onix changed that I love the 360 now it is clear plus the DI is second to none.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pool13_Jeff
As I mentioned earlier I have some friends in LA that tournament fish for bass. They run 1199's for Side scan and Lowrance for down imaging. One just added a bow mount 360 to run with his bird. I informed him that I wasn't happy with the 360 on the 98 series. I hope it is clearer on the 99's! Maybe they have made updates to clear things up now.
CMJ were you at Peckerwood Friday? Blue Tracker boat? I think you were pulling into load as I was heading out. I was in a gold War Eagle by myself. Man the crappie were hammering. Caught 30 fish limit in just over 2 hours and that included culling dinks. Monkey Shine Strike King tipped with minnow was the ticket. A little bit tougher yesterday with wind there but still managed to get them just took longer. Purple and Chart or black and chart joker tipped with minnow was the ticket yesterday. Cloud cover yesterday seemed to favor darker colors.
For the money the Helix is a good unit regardless of the configuration you buy. Should work well for the reason you bought it.Quote:
Originally Posted by hawgdog
Quote:
Originally Posted by SlabMeister
No sir. We fished from daylight to dark.
Maybe you didn't load but sure thought that was you pulling into Herman's Landing. If it wasn't you, you have a twin brother out there somewhere that is in a blue tracker boat with a rod rack! lol!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SlabMeister
Well, way to bust me out! So much for going incognito. You shoulda said hello.
Lowrance is my preference , and transducer angle on the SI makes all the difference in the world . Try one you will like it guaranteed
Seems like every time I think I've decided which brand to get, I read another thread like this and it's back to the drawing board! I want to keep it under a grand, and I'm still not sure which one I'll get. I'm gonna try to not get in a hurry.
For right at 1k $999.99 get the 899 bird. I've got one and I love it.
When you buy it, don't forget to do the transducer exchange with humminbird. The hdsi transducer will give you better resolution on the 400khz si and also enable the 800khz si on the 899 just like the 999. Some transducer exchanges are free, but I think the exchange for the hdsi has a fee.Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Sarge
Quote:
Originally Posted by RCC
I just did what RCC suggests and it cost me $89.00 free shipping from HB for the upgraded transducer. It did cost about $6.00 shipping to mail them mine. Be aware that you cannot have opened the "hardware bag that is used to install the original transducer and you must return it at the same time. The upgrade also includes the mounting hardware for the $89
CA, I used Lowrance/Eagle products for around 30 years and then I bought a HB 798. Not real hard to figure it out. I always had just sonar and stepped up to DI about 2 years before I got the 798. What a difference I saw when I went to DI. I'm not a huge electronics fan. All I ever wanted to know was how deep is it and what's the water temp. Where I fish, brush piles are not in the picture because of all the natural cover.
After fishing Dardanelle and getting my butt stomped because I couldn't find the brush piles, I bought the 798. That has opened a whole new world. I'm finding all kinds of things and it's quite fun to ride around and "look" at the stuff in the lake. I even found someone's old trolling motor in Reelfoot! That's pretty cool.
What all that adds up to is that if you get a SI, even a lower end unit, you will see more than you have ever believed. You won't know what your missing with the HD. You can always upgrade if you like what you see and these units are getting good resale prices.
I bought the HB 798 and I am having some issues with it. It's got to go back to the factory and be rebuilt. For the 798 that's about $250 to return it and be completely refurbished. I'll have a brand new unit. I've been satisfied enough with the HB 798 that I just bought another HB to put on my console and I will move the 798 up front. I'm not pushing HB, but they are easy to understand/learn to use.
What a different world there is to see under the water with my lowrance HDSI 9 it's amazing what you see and find. :yikes
And another question-----which seems to be a no-brainer to me. This unit will be at the bow. I'm planning to get a TM mount for the transducer. Any problems with that? Can't have it on while running of course, but I have another unit in the console.
CA, go to Kentucky board and see rnvinc on the board, i bought a D'daducer from him for the bow and it works greatAttachment 202825Attachment 202826 i modified it to fit both transducer's on it.