Thinking about purchasing a Humminbird Wide 3D Paramount

[GLG]

My Lowrance X-55a with broadview loses contact with reality after about 10 minutes of operation, so I am looking for a replacement...and Lowrance does not offer repairs of this unit. I like a wideview for use on my bow mount electric and general cruising for locating fish in shallow (7-20 feet) water. I am thinking of replacing the Lowrance X-55a with the Humminbird 3D Paramount...is that a good choice for use on my bow mount electric as well as a stern mount? (I already have a Lowrance 350a with GPS for my main console unit...good unit, but no side scanning) I considered the Bottomline sidefinder...but the cone angles are pretty narrow and display is limited for side viewing. Anyone have experience using the Humminbird??? What are its limitations? Appreciate any input.

[Fuzzy]

Cobra Electronics is buying Lowrance this week or so - who knows what will happen next with Lowarnce's product line and service policies. Anyway, have you considered a flasher on the bow. A good FL-8 or any other good unit really spell out what is going on right now down where your jigs are. Just a suggestion.
I have generally stayed away from Hummingbird electronics.

[ezmarc]

I have 2 LMS 350A's on my boat, before this boat, I used Humminbird products for several years & I never had a problem with the them and am putting my Wide Vision in my new boat as a backup and as a comparison test, the high speed performance of the Humminbird seemed to work better for me than the Lowrance does and I seem to get a lot more surface clutter with the Lowrance. Maybe it is just the way the Lowrance thru hull transducer was installed (I didn't install it and don't have a transom transducer). I figured the LMS350A performance would blow away the Wide Vision(the graphics are much better on the Lowrance) but it didn't seem to work out that way for me.

Have boat will travel

[GLG]

I originally had a flasher unit on my electric...but went to the X-55A unit for the broadview capability...which I really liked when it was working. Guess I am hung up on some sort of broadview or sideview capability. I find it easy to see straight down under the boat...just want more of a picture of things not directly under the boat. I use side planers at times...and convinced myself that the boat can spook fish within about 20 feet.

[Crankin]

I am not sure about the model you are talking about, but the 2 hummingbirds I had on my boat when i purchesed it were garbage. It read out in feet only and it made it quite hard to follow any kind of a gradual break. This unit might be better, but I would go back to lorance, zercom, pinpoint. If you are looking for a flasher the lorance unit X65 has a flasher and it works quite well. I use mine for ice fishing.

Good luck,

[Dutchman]

I also used a LMS350A on the console and a Wide vision on my bow mount for years. It worked well and there was never any cross talk between the two. 2 years ago I put a 50hz/200hz transucer on the transom and another LMS350A on the bow so I would have GPS on console and bow. After learning how to us this powerful combo it's pretty impressive. I can find schools of baitfish with the 200hz (20 degree transducer) on the bow, and set the 50hz (36 degree transducer?) to filter out the baitfish and mark only the larger arches. I could never do that before with the wide Vision, heck I could never even get an arch with the Vision. So the moral of the story is get the best toys you can before your wife finds out how much it costs. :)

[Starfish]

The most annoying trait I've experienced with Hummingbirds is that most of the current models don't allow you to turn off the fish ID feature... so like it or not, you'll be looking at little fish pictures for the rest of your life. However, as long as you also have another finder on the boat that you can run in a more realistic mode to screen out bubbles, weeds, etc., the H-bird is pretty reliable. Easy on/off and pretty foolproof. I actually run a really old 3-d unit at the back of my boat for trolling underwater ledges and current breaks, while mostly relying on my Bottomline Tournament Champion for detail and to tell if there are really any fish around.

[Mac]

I've owned a Humminbird 400TX widebeam portable for 5+ years and have never had trouble with it. It beams out 45 degrees from center and so in 10 feet of water you get a 20 ft wide swath. It picks up brush, trees breaks etc. There are a lot of options and you CAN turn the fish ID off. I can get about 80 hours out a pair of batteries. I use it in Canada as well on my 13 footer at home and although it has had some pretty rough treatment is still working well.

[locator man]

Save your money, they suck!

locator Man.

[greg]

i don't care for humminbird's. 2 came on my boat, they were both gone in two weeks. they read fish that my camera and later my eagle said wasn't there. good luck.