lowrance HD models

[Crankbaiter]

For the same money...get the hard drive it has faster processing and more storage. You might not need it right now but when you learn more about your unit youl have it.

[kman]

I have the hard drive and believe it's worth the small cost differnce, Also I have never heard of anyone having a failure with a hard drive unit. Have you? Ken

[OOC]

I'm in the market,too.Is the GPS module an internal part of the unit in HD models? If so does it work as well or more prone to fail?

[pete619]

The hard drive units don't have any advantage over the non hard drive units except they have pre loaded maps. There is no extra storage or faster processing. You can't use the hard drive yourself, it is factory sealed with the map info. I have had both, and if you have lakemaster map chips or similar chips there is no advantage. Just my .02.

[Crankbaiter]

Pete619
The HD units certainly do have accesible storage that is what a hard drive is.
When you save a file you can choose to save the file to either the hard drive or on to a MMC chip you insert in one of the drawers.
As an example I have a seperate file for each lake I fish. It contains the waypoints,icons, trails and any contour mapping trails I have made for that particular lake.
I then name them appropriately and store them on the hard drive. When I go to a lake I only upload (from the harddrive) that particular lakes file so I am only scrolling through a small number of waypoints when navigating to a spot as opposed to scrolling through a list of every waypoint I have ever made.
This can be done using an MMC card also (but dont forget it or loose it..)
If during the course of the day you find a couple new good spots and make new waypoints these will be added to the lake file when you resave it at the end of the day.
If you go to Hightechfishingcom there are lots of tips and info on how to get the most out of your Lowrance unit from Doc Bruce Sampson. They are an amazingly under used tool that with just a little effort are easy to use.

[pete619]

The hard drive in the hd models is not useable. Call lowrance and ask them. The hd has the same amount of storage as the non hd units. The hard drive is pre-loaded from the factory with extra maps. That is all that it is.

[walleyekiller8]

Originally Posted by 1shooter

That's was I was thinking too but i ran across a deal where I could get the HD for the same price.

I work at a fishing store and the HDs only cover great lakes and coastal areas. There is no point on getting a HD when the detail is going to change soon.

[perchjerker]

Originally Posted by walleyekiller8

I work at a fishing store and the HDs only cover great lakes and coastal areas. There is no point on getting a HD when the detail is going to change soon.

My 28HD has all kinds of inland Michigan lakes on it, not just the great lakes.

Havent looked at the other maps on it since I havent been anywhere else but to Mich with it yet.

lots of conflicting information in this entire thead...

Pete, you are uninformed. Like Crankbaiter I too have separate files stored in the onboard hard drive accessible on all the HD models. My data is filed by state. Filing by lake as Crankbaiter would be the best. With the certain software updates, you have the option to save screen shots to the onboard hard drive in a jpeg format for later viewing. The onboard hard drive is a very useful tool for many.

[yarcraft91]

PJ

Yes- it is exactly this confusion that Lowrance could address by better marketing of the products. When I was planning my purchase, I called their customer support line and got the "it's only useful for maps" answer from a support person who claimed to own a 28HD, yet I believe the posters who say the HD is much more useful than that- since it ought to be.