humminbird vs lowrance I cannot deside

[esp6606]

I do a lot of offshore fishing and I am wanting to get a GPS fish finder combo that will allow me to mark point of organ destination and will show me the rout traveled. I would like something fairly fool proof I just don’t feel very comfortable getting to far away from land just using a compass. From what I have seen the Lowrance HDS units will do that that they operate almost like a car GPS is that correct. Now I find out that Hummingbird have similar units dose any one have any advise on the two units?

[whofan]

Call both companys` customer service. Who ever picks up the phone first thats the one I`d go with.

[maidsrone]

thats a good one

[mtelkhunter]

Now THAT is funny!
Good advice, funny as heck, but good advice.

[Wall@y@]

Now let me get this straight in my mind. If you walk into a store and pick up an item to buy and walk to the checkout line and there are several people ahead of you and maybe there are other checkout stands not in operation, do you lay down your item and walk out of the store because you can't pay for your item RIGHT NOW because the store management can't, for obvious reasons, keep enough cashiers waiting JUST FOR YOU to check out?? I guess that would be called "shoppingcart roadrage."

I would look at choosing a depthfinder/GPS with a different perspective. 1. Which unit meets my needs the best. 2. Which unit is in my price range. 3. Which unit is easiest to operate. 4. If I am having problems with the unit did customer service fix the problem in a timely manner. And I could go on and on with this but I'm sure you get my point.

So, from my perspective about your question as to buying the Lowrance or Himminbird, I'd go and checkout each unit and see which one gives you the comfort YOU are looking for in a GPS. They are both good companies. That's why they have been in business for so long. They each have reliable products and, when something goes wrong they fix them or stand behind them. Just my two pennies worth of advice.

[Stripehunter]

it's a bit different than your checkout analogy. There are plenty of places to buy something. If you think this store has long checkout lines and you don't want to wait for an hour or two to pay, you can just set the item down, and go to another store selling the same thing that is either not as busy or is adequately staffed.

Customer service, you don't have that option. The only place you can get product support is from the company. If you set your item down and leave, your only option is to come back to the same place another time, when the lines may be even longer.

The other thing that comes into play is WHY the lines are so long. If they are just long because of not enough checkout clerks, that's a problem of the company management. But, if it is due to high volume of calls, that's a big indication that a lot of people are having problems which says a lot about the quality of the product. Whatever the reason (usually a combination of the two), you're out of luck when you need that support because you can't just go somewhere else.

Agreed, there are other things to consider when choosing, but it's a fun, simple statement that has a whole lot of truth behind it.

[Johnnie Candle]

Here are a few things I like on my Birds.

Very simple menu options.

One button, on push waypoint saving.

Easy to see screen, even with polarized sunglasses on.

The directional arrow on my Birds GPS screen rocks!!!

There are many other reasons, but those jump to mind first.

[tracker 1]

I did that with a printer. I called Cannon customer service and got through fairly quickly. I called Brothers and never got through. I bought a Cannon. A friend of mine had a brothers and it was terrible when he had a problem. They told him he had to stay home from work all day and wait for a phone call to fix his printer/ scanner.How is that for customer service.

[low boy]

Get a hds awesome machine

[reddog]

Here are a few things I like on my Birds.

Very simple menu options.

One button, on push waypoint saving.

Easy to see screen, even with polarized sunglasses on.

The directional arrow on my Birds GPS screen rocks!!!

There are many other reasons, but those jump to mind first.

Dont forget about shaded depths in one foot increments. Worth its weight in gold in my book.

[1shooter]

Why dont you read through the last 5 pages of the electronic forum and make your decision from there.

[wildnorthern]

That is an easy choice.

Check the last 3 pages for people complaining about either lowrance or humminbird. Hands down lowrance has a lot more complaints/problems.

[K Gonefishin]

Well gee that's pretty obvious, Lowrance has been the leading brand for how many years now? and how many boats are running Lowrance vs Birds. I know ALOT of walleye fisherman on Erie and all over Ohio and I know maybe 5 out of 100 that are running Birds. It's makes perfect sense why you see more complaints and problems with Lowrance there are many many more in use, at least around here. I'm not bashing Birds there new stuff is real good from what I hear and see but come on as far as I'm concerned they are just starting to play the competitive game against Lowrance and don't have nearly the market share, it's a numbers game plain and simple, I think it’s great that Lowrance has someone to keep them on there toes though and now both companies can keep getting better…us fisherman benefit big time.

Don't let anyone kid you, Lowrance makes awesome stuff that performs great for any fisherman in fresh water, and if you go about getting service through the proper channels (and people) service is pretty darn good as well.

[perchjerker]

I had a 997c si and now I have a 28c hd.

I liked the way the Hum operated a lot better, the Low is fine but if I had a choice i would get another Hum in a minute

[Skunkedagain]

Seems tome that there was a poll on here not too long ago to try to determine how many people with Lowrance units had issues with them. I want to say that around 75 out of 100 responders had issues with their units. This tells me that Lowrance has some quality control issues.

[1shooter]

It was actually about 73% of the people who had polled had problems. I'm still waiting for a call from Kerry who is apparently in charge to talk to about my problems.

[wildnorthern]

and if you go about getting service through the proper channels (and people) service is pretty darn good as well.


How the heck do you go about getting service through an improper channel????????????????????? Thanks for the chuckle.


Your analogy of there being more out there is true. It also seems to be true that the percentage of people not happy with their units is high. It seems people aren't leaving humminbird to go to lowrance but the opposite can't be said.

Kind of reminds me of remington shotguns. Lots of them out there too.

[K Gonefishin]

How the heck do you go about getting service through an improper channel????????????????????? Thanks for the chuckle.

Your analogy of there being more out there is true. It also seems to be true that the percentage of people not happy with their units is high. It seems people aren't leaving humminbird to go to lowrance but the opposite can't be said.

Kind of reminds me of remington shotguns. Lots of them out there too.

How the heck do you go about getting service through an improper channel????????????????????? Thanks for the chuckle.

Be a smuck and call the 1800 number like every other Tom, Dick and Harry does....yeah that will get you somewhere, an hour on hold, I can't get service on my web or Dish Network without that happening, for stuff like that I use sites like this. http://gethuman.com/us/ I use it anytime I have an issue with anything and I need to speak to a human to actually get somewhere to get my problem fixed.

Some people are just more creative than others that's all, I'm one of them.

You can also use the internet and find people like Linda Colt (even on WC) at Lowrance/navico and service is Stellar!, almost immediate, she will sent out free updates, free pucks to try, get you a unit out if under warranty immediately etc I know many that have been helped by her. Don't get me wrong Lowrance isn't perfect but what is nodays, almost nothing and you can't deny that regardless what it is. My high def TV has broke twice in the past 2 years and it's a good name brand, my dad has had the same brand for 15 years with no problems. I'm one of those people who doesn't expect perfection out of anything, rather expect a problem and not act surprised when it does happen. Every been been through a drive through? People in general are idiots and if given the opportunity they will screw up a hamburger, I know it's not an apples to apples comparison but you know what I mean.

I'm one of the guys who have had fantastic experiences running lowrance and that is ALL I've had on the last 4 boats I've had, I have 3 on my current boat, one of the units is from my 03 ranger it was a pro boat so I can assume he got it in 02 and it's still running strong and all my newer, and new stuff, no hiccups yet and love running them.

[karpbuster]

I have a very non-technical method to buying stuff for my boat. I call Mexico who tries everything out, ask him what he thinks and do some looking on the internet.

I have had nothing but Lowrance until now, one problem and Lowrance fixed it. I just bought a 788ci Bird and like it thus far, one trip. So I can't really say yet ... So from personal experience they are both good companies with good products. Mexico has not steered me in the wrong direction.

karpbuster

[lundeepv]

Had this decision to make myself recently..........went with 2 'Birds!! A 'Bird in Hand is worth 2 Lowrance....anyhow I really liked the 'Birds layout and screens and thier customer service is not to bad either.

[CoolfinIE]

I always laugh when I see these threads.
If so many anglers find both types of sonar good enough, the both are good enough.
Either make will do.
Both are credible solutions.

To say one is better than the other is like saying one make of boat is the best. They are not the same, and their difference make them suitable for different needs!
So it just depends on whether you know exactly what you want from your sonar, or know vaguely what you want, and which fits your personal needs closest.

What's funny is the repetitive statements to the effect that "my gear that I spent my money on is the best and therefore all other makes are crud", that type of missionary zeal for a person's fishing gear just is not rational.

My advice:
Forget the advice from people who push one or the other like it's the only way. Listen really carefully to the ones who say this unit is good for this, that unit is better for that, the weak points are the other, and the strong points are those. NO BRAND IS BEST! Everyone can cherrypick from every manufacturer to get the features they want.

If you want to tell the difference between fish from weeds, stay away from the cheap ones in every makers range.

Norm
(who has used Lowrance, Eagle, Interphase, Humminbird, and found they all worked within their design limits).

[maidsrone]

i noticed garmin is not in the mix?

[CoolfinIE]

Could be ... as I said, any product used by thousands must work ok. So you could have mentioned Raymarine, Furuno, etc too.

It's the little differences that make one more suitable than another, though the makers catalogues would have us believe these are enormous and therefore impossible to compare.

I suggest that realistically speaking, a 5" screen is more different from a 4" screen of the same brand, than a 5" screen is different from another brand 5" screen.

If all you need is to see the bottom ,the 3 - 4 inch units are very very similar to each other. The colours vary, but so does everybody eyesight, and personal taste is everything.

Norm