New Lowrance

[EYE GUY]

Hello everyone.
I'm debating on a new electronic unit this spring, and have been looking at the new lowrance x-15. The only problem is it just got out on the market and I've never seen one in use, or have never heard anyones pros/cons about this unit. Has anyone had the chance to test this unit yet???? I also wonder how long it will take me to become 95% confident in this unit. Say if I get it in March I usually start fishing that same month, rather not want to be thumbing around trying to figure it out. Would appreciate anyones insight....

Eye Guy.

[Chad]

All I know so far is that it has about 10x the pixals as the LMS 350's. Cabelas has them in the stores. they seem pretty easy to use. Same as the LMS as far as having the pull down menu's.

[Larry Z.]

I recently bought one. I haven't had the chance to use it on the water yet, but I have been playing with one in the store where I work. It is an amazing unit. With the power and vertical pixel count I don't see why this unit won't be anything short of fantastic.

[Doc_wi]

There was an earlier post that talked about how slow the scroll rate is and they were right. The GPS worked easy enough although getting it to zoom down real close seemed to be escape us (we have a display unit that we were playing with at Riverside Marine) but put 3 pro staff memebers, no manual and a new unit in the same room and you have a comedy tape in the making. The screen is nice and the detail is also, but the scroll rate is so slow that it surprised all of us. There has to be better units out there that do what the X15 does, if not I'd get a good GPS and a good sonar in seperate units. Being that I spend 90% of my fishing time on the Wolf River, a GPS has little value to me. In turn my sonar does little but show depth when I'm trolling in 8 feeet of water on Poygan and a GPS is a great tool for those situations. Still, I personally spend my money on the best sonar that I can find because that's what I need to fit the largest portion of my fishing. Consider your priorities when making the decision.

Doc

[Jim Carroll]

DOC.....UH.. HELLO! This IS the best money you can spend on a sonar unit. Lets just compare it to your old favorite the 7520. OK Lets see...Pinpoint 7520. 240 vertical pixels 3600 watts peak to peak. Been on the market long enough to get most of the bugs out. Screen display is very good but objectively not up to Lowrance's standards. Shallow water operation is not Pinpoint's best attribute. Ever have difficulty finding the bottom at speed on a river? No? Well others have. I found the Pinpoint transducer tough to tune. Things I like about the Pinpoint (and I have used one extensively): The 7520 has an excellent ability to seperate fish from the bottom, especially soft bottoms. I also liked the Flashchart feature when running at high speed because no matter how we moved the transducer we could not get a chart at high speed. Price for a Pinpoint is still $650?

Lowrance's new X-15. GPS mapping compatible with addition of the module. This GPS with its features along with the Lowrance Global Map 3000 make it the best GPS on the market. Huge 480X350 pixel screen for outstanding resolution. This display is the latest technology and it will show far more detail than a 7520 is capable of. 3000 watts peak to peak. Options of higher watts with dual frequency transducers. Record/Playback sonar and GPS with digital multi-media cards. Easily linked to a PC. Lowrance is advertising excellent shallow water performance. Feature for feature the Lowrance graph is superior to the 7520. Price of X-15MT is $699. With GPS module $999.

Doc you are sponsored by Pinpoint. On posts about the new Lowrance products you have stated your opinions and extolled the virtues of Pinpoint. You have disparaged the screen speed in SIMULATOR mode. Someone posted here that does not reflect actual operation. 99.9% of WC's do not spend 90% of their time fishing the same river in Wisconsin. You can't buy a graph and stand alone GPS unit with features this good for anywhere near the price. Pinpoint does not make a better sonar unit when you compare the specs. Pinpoints have proven themselves in the marketplace and they are an excellent unit. But if you are looking for the best unit out there you should be looking at a Lowrance. If there is a better, more balanced sonar unit then an X-15 marketed to walleye fisherman you should tell us about it.

No I am not sponsored by Lowrance. But I have been a loyal user for many years. I love my 350A's. These new products have outstanding features. They have not been proven in the marketplace. I hope Lowrance can achieve a smooth launch. I can't think of any new graph with cutting edge technology that has come out in the past three years without problems. Perhaps Lowrance with their track record can pull it off. Just my two cents...and nothing personal intended. :-) Best fishes. JC

[doug]

Could the reason the scroll on the screen looks so slow be because the depth is about 70 ft on the simulator. therefore taking longer for the signal to get back to the unit? just a thought don't know much about how they work.

[Eric Olson]

Hey guys,
The answer to the slow scroll is that the simulator chip that is used (a lake in AR or OK) is a loop of an actual trip on the water. The stripers and baitfish are real, so what Lowrance did was slow the loop down so it wont repeat so soon. The actual update speed is 20 pixels/sec. Double that of a X-85.
Keep in mind that this screen however, is not based on pixels since the technology is very similar to that of your laptop (transflective).
Another key to that unit is the detail is similar to that of the detailed paper graphs. So... a small fish shows up as a small arc with exact detail on thickness, it is not reliant on pixel count to limit how small or big the arcs can be.

Maybe too much detail but, thought I might help out.

Tight Lines
Big Fish
EO

[jerry]

Thanks for that post Eric. I have told others the same thing based I rumor only. It's nice to see this factual information being put out.

[Doc_wi]

Thanks for clearing that up Eric because I have to answer questions about the unit for customers at Riverside. It seems to be a major issue of what people have heard about the units.
Doc

[delgue]

Eric is the scroll speed also pluse rate? Pinpoint is touting that the pluse rate on the new pinpoints is 60 per second, and the X-85 is 6 per second-therefor the X-15 at twice the rate would be 12 per second. although i dont know for sure, am under the impression that pluse rate is the primary consideration in "image time" from the transducer back up to the sonar screen-and helps in target separation. What is Your thinking on that comparison? It seems an important comparison.
thanks

[Doc_wi]

I didn't even mentioned Pinpoint in my post and don't remember ever commenting on previous Lowrance posts. I do answer Pinpoint related questions directly when I can and my only advise was to think about what you are trying to get out of a unit before buying anything. Never said that anyone else spends 90% of THEIR time anywhere, just made an analogy of how myself and others prioritize having a GPS. As for the GPS on the X-15 it works nice as I said so in my post. But I'll be patient and wait until Pinpoint come out with theirs. As far as Lowrance sonars in general? I still GIVE AWAY my Lowrance units that come with my Triton and BUY Pinpoint sonars. The discount I recieve as a guide is not the reason for extoling the virtues of the Pinpoint system, it's still the best in the land. I am not a tournament angler, I am a guide and an outdoor writer. I am not on the "Kiss-#####" trail and ONLY work with products that I believe in and use. I don't recieve ANY money from ANY company only small discounts for logo representation on my web site and in my brochure for my guide service. I BUY everything that I work with from my boat and motor to my fishing tackle.

No offense taken and none meant in return. There are a lot of people who like Lowrance units for a lot of good reasons. You have to admit though, if a person were to walk on the sales floor at Riverside and play around with the unit they could easily question the scroll rate.

Doc

[got one]

I just got my 15-MT 3 weeks and have it out on the ice just
about every day! It is fast! I have not been able to count the pixels yet, but its fast.Very clear,easy to use and you can see the fish laying in the mud. I still would like some open water,
and see what it will do at 60 mph.

[REW]

I just have to 2nd Doc's comments on scroll speed.
In owning many different depth finders over the years -- the over riding concern for me was the scroll speed.
This was in the light - that the bottom detail and other factors were in general; ok.

However, I got rid of several brand new units of different brands -- just because of the scroll speed.

I have not used the X-15 -- and therefore -- I will not comment on its current or potential scroll speed.

However, before I would go out and spend hard earned dollars on this new unit -- I would certainly like to see it in real on the water operation -- in a good fishing area.

Only - with on the water testing -- can a fisherperson -- tell if the unit is going to work ok for their particular needs.

If you check over the archives -- you will find another "new" unit that came out a couple of years ago with rave reviews.
However, after many different users using them in an on the water environment -- many of these same units went back to the vendors for one reason -- SLOW SCROLL SPEED>

My concern is the same as Docs -- if you are fishing - you need to know "right now" what is going on under the transducer. You don't want to be 1/2 mile down the lake - before the current lake bottom is displayed on your screen.

I have been there and have done that -- and I don't want to repeat it again.

Test -0- on the water and report back please.

I am interested as well.

The specs are great -- lets see if the on the water testing hold up to these claims.

Take care

REW

[Someday]

Doc, Would you please give away some of your Lowrance products to me?! Thank you, Stephen

[ranger dude]

I may be wrong and correct me if i am, but i have been told that the simulator in the unit is ajust a recording about three minutes long of a reservor down south and it has been slowed way down so that it does not repeat itself to quick. unlike the simulators in other units though it is what you are really going to see as it is not a computer generated idea of the best you could ever hope to see. i have been told the scroll speed will show faster then the simulator.

[GORD]

There are many of us sitting silently on the sidelines and absorbing every word you gentlemen are printing. Many of us are in the same boat and are about to get out our check books and buy a new sonar unit. From what i have read here, it seems like the two best units out there are the Lowrance X 15 and the Pinpoint. Not much is said about the Vexlar EDGE 2. The specs. on the EDGE 2 unit look good. There are a lot of us who want to buy the BEST unit available. Is the EDGE 2 as good as it sounds?...or... Is it just one of those "lesser units trying to run with the big dogs" kinda things?

[Jeff Green]

Earlier I posed a question about the Zercom 2000 and got some good advice and information from all of you. I too am looking to buy a new unit and would be interested in how you'd rate the Zercom in with these other two units (Lowrance and Pinpoint). Thanks!

[CJW]

There's a good reason that the pinpoint has a better scroll rate than anything out there. They own the patent rights on it. No one has been able to beat that. Just think of what you'd have with a new x-15 and the scroll rate of the pinpoint. Whoa man what I wouldn't give to see one that way.. Hopefully when pinpoint improves there's I can send mine in for an update. By the way all the guys looking into new graphs, pinpoints can be sent back whenever they improve them. Instead of having to buy a whole new model. Thus when they come out with gps, I won't have to spend so much to update it. How about all the others your talking about. If they improve their models do you send back for an update or spend a whole lot more for a totally different one? Just a thought! Yes I have a 7520 and I looked into all the others. I liked the fact I can return for updates, thats what sold me. And if you can't get yours to function at high speed, its not the graph its the operator that put the transducer on. Mine works fine at 50 mph. Craig