Topic: humminbird vs Lowrance

[hgv]

I have a 798 SI HD unit that works great and was thinking about moving it to the front of the boat to the trolling motor and adding  a 998c SI to the console. I was at the local Bass Pro shop looking around and one of the sales people that I was talking to  about the 998 suggested that the Lowrance had better GPS tracking than the Humm and better imaging. He suggested that when the boat is not moving that the Humm GPS marking is not accurate but the Lowrance is. Said the Humm can be off as much as 20' when the boat is not under power but say drifting or trolling.

Looking for feed back ........................

[ITGEEK]

I'd say that salesman's boss is pushing him hard to
sell Lowrance products.

The boat being under power or not has absolutely nothing to
do with GPS accuracy.  The satellites are always looking down,
and your GPS puck is always receiving satellite information (unless
it is blocked in some way).

I've read that Humminbird has the most accurate GPS.
As far as images, I've seen spectacular images from
both brands.  It all depends on installation and fine tuning.
Some people spend countless hours on the water to
achieve their best images.  It comes from trial, error, and
experience.

I used to own a Lowrance and it was a very good product.
I have nothing bad to say about Lowrance.
I would suggest before you make your decision, to take your time,
and look around, and ask questions.  Go on forums (for both brands), and look
at some of the screen captures.

The thing is, it will be impossible to link two different brands together.
They will both have to operate as stand-alone sonars.
I think most people stick with one brand.

Keep this in mind: That salesman may not have ever even been on a boat.

[mako101]

If you use two units, they should be the same, you would find it difficult going back and forth and end up using just one, thats from someones practical experience. Having said that, a friend has a HDS7 and it is very complicated to scroll through the menus when compared to the humminbird 798, the 2D is much better on the humminbird, and humminbird has the best side imaging. Just my two cents worth.

[hgv]

Thanks for the replies. I would not mix and match the units on the boat. Just was curious to what the sales person said. Figured it was just "sales" talk

[Bob B]

Also, Humminbird now has a GPS puck with the heading sensor in it, and it GREATLY improves the slow speed direction indication on the unit. 

Lowrance has also now released a similar option, but it is currently has some serious problems.

I don't think this comes standard yet, but it would be worth seeing if Humminbird would let you "trade up."

[George]

ITGEEK is right the Sales Manager is probably pushing Lowrance. 

The GPS accuracy depend on how many satellites is being used by the GPS unit at the time. 

And I do not think that the direction of the boat makes a difference, if HB's GPS with the Heading Sensor is better it is not because of the heading but that they probably are using the AS-GR HA technology or something better. 

HB took this off the market because there was not enough sales for this unit, they probably folded it in with the Heading sensor.

Saying that I am possibly going to purchase Lowrance's 12" screen to add to my 1198 and 1197 units, not sure where I will put it IF I get one.

George

[ITGEEK]

Man George.
With three sonars, you'll be blinging.
I do like that big 12" screen.

[Bob B]

George...might be good to wait til after I-cast to see what new things are coming.

The heading sensor actually is a compass and that is used instead of GPS for heading when going slow.  People who have it say it really helps make it easier when returning to a waypoint with the trolling motor.

[George]

I really like my 1197 and 1198, I miay decide to get the new GPS with the heading sensor to try it out.  I am retired and love the new electronics they have come along ways since the 60's.  I will probably wait to see what new stuff is coming out.  I still think that with the new technologies, that one GPS is good as another, but you can go cheap or pay for the latest stuff.  HB will always be my absolute favorite and they have the best customer service.  In the end I may still get a Lowrance to compare their technology at my age I am lucky to be able to afford it.

George

[ITGEEK]

George, I remember Greg saying that
Humminbird's new model year starts October 1.
I'd wait and see if Humminbird will produce a huge
12" screen.  It's only 3 1/2 months away.
It's time for a model newer than the 1198 to
come out.

[Bob B]

George, I understand what you are saying about wanting to do your own comparisons.....If money wasn't an object I would have that itch also.

I personally wish people with the dedicated DI units....858di, 958di, and 1158di would post more images.  I'd like to see one of those on the water to compare the DI clarity.  Especially how well do they show fish in brush.

I-Cast is the week of July 8th.

[PaulB]

I've just swapped from a 798 HD SI Combo with the "big boy" (non compact) transducer to a Lowrance HDS7 Gen 2 touch.  I know this might not be a popular viewpoint but for my application the Lowrance wins by a long way for SI performance, it is night and day.  The HB provides better SI coverage in terms of distance shooting out the side but for image clarity the Lowrance is so far ahead it's not funny, I get a great image out to 120-130 each side in 50 feet of water.  To clarify the HB shows "something" at a wider angle but what the Lowrance does cover it has a much more defined image.  I can see why in shallow lakes people rave about HB but for the 50-70 feet average salt water I fish in the Lowrance paints an easy to identify picture that the HB just never did - even taking into account Humviewer, SonarTRX, DrDepth and the other programs I've bought for post processing recordings.   I had the Humminbird for over a year and did a LOT of playing with it, bought the better transducer, I got what I thought were some great images from it but in comparison to what I've seen in the last week with the Lowrance everything I did with the HB was poor.

As for the rest of the features I can't really split the standard 2D sonars, both worked 100% in the modest 250-300 feet maximum depth I fish in, both show fish without a problem.  If I had to choose one I would choose the Lowrance purely on the fact it seems to separate targets ever so slightly better.  Down imaging or down scan the Lowrance is again way ahead, not a big surprise seeing as how the HB uses a composite from the less defined SI.  I resigned down scan on the HB as useless and stopped using it after a couple of weeks.  The GPS was a big winner for HB, I prefer the more regular updates and the Lowrance at 1 ping a second isn't great, think there's an update available for that though.  Ease of use (ignoring the touch screen)is again a winner for HB, the advanced features just seem to be more at hand than with the Lowrance.

But for what I use my fish finder for, finding fish and structure in the sea the Lowrance just performs better overall IMHO.  I don't even think this would come as a great surprise to HB because I honestly don't think they are that fussed by the marine market (about 99% of the UK).  I know people may mention price points, screen sizes, resolution and comparing like for like but in the UK my Humminbird 798 cost £1350, plus the price of the new transducer which I can't remember (£200?)  The Gen2 touch+2 transducers cost me £1300 in total.

The end result is I'm going to try and get a reasonable amount back selling the 798 locally but people aren't exactly rushing to take it off my hands, if not it will go on my dads boat, as I've said it's a great 2D sonar.     

[ITGEEK]

I hope those touch screens work better than touch cameras.
I made the mistake of buying a touch camera.
Half the time, I was touching something that was trying to change
some parameter.
I hated it.
I just wanted to take a quick picture.

I gave it away and got a manual.

[PaulB]

Gave it the old "hands covered in fish guts" test and it's fine, nothing like trying to use my phone which  is useless.  At 20 knots in a 5 foot swell it can be a bit challenging but not a lot more than standard buttons.  Put it this way the pro's far outweigh the con's. 

[Rickard]

Paul,
 
I have run the Lowrance LSS-2 transducer with a HB 981 and got results which are much better than the best I could get from HBs standard transducers. The most striking difference is the capability to show detail in deep water. If HB could come up with transducers with the same quality and capacity I think the differences between the brands will be negligible.
 
Rickard

[PaulB]

Rickard, the results I saw from your experiments with the LSS-2 were what gave me the final push to try Lowrance and not being inclined to mess with wires it was easier just to go for a whole unit swap.  You know far more about these things than me but to a straight out angler who is just looking for the best picture of what's under the boat in average sea fishing conditions I think Humminbird will have to do a lot more with their transducers to compete, is there the inclination when it's clear who their target audience is?  I don't think so.

I'm not trying to bash HB, the 798 is still a great 2D sonar, I'm just not so sure about down and side scan in the sea, especially not when you see what you can get for less money from Lowrance. 

Paul

[ITGEEK]

I think that Humminbird's target audience are
mainly Bass fisherman, fishing inland lakes and
rivers, mostly shallow freshwater.

Well Paul,
I hope if something happens to your 798,
that Lowrance's customer service is up to
the task.

We all know that Humminbird's customer
service is second to none.  I say that from
real experience, not here say.

Maybe if you were using a top of the line unit
like the 1198, you may get better images.
Not sure.

[PaulB]

Agree completely about the target audience and I'm fine with that, perhaps being more up front about it may help when trying to sell outside of the US but I'm happy to take the blame for the research done before buying.  As for the 1198, I'm not keen to spend approx 3x as much in the hope of getting a picture as good as the Lowrance, especially not when I think it will be coming with the same transducer I'm using with the 798?    There are people far cleverer than me on these forums and I'm more than happy to base decisions on their results which is why I wanted the LSS-2 in the first place.  It seems to be the transducer that makes all the difference?

I've had to use both Humminbird's (VHF interference and missing transducer mount plug for the 798) and Lowrance's customer service (also have an old GlobalMap 5150c which needed a new GPS module), from the UK there's not a lot to choose between them.  Both are adequate, neither are fantastic.

This isn't supposed to be a my toy is better than your toy argument, all I'm giving is an honest comparison from my own point of view of having spent the money on both units at about the same price point.  I'd like it (so would the wife) if they were both equally good in different ways, for my application they aren't.  Seeing as how I'm struggling to get even a 30% resale value on the 798 and there's no way I'm giving it away it looks like I'm going to be using both on different boats over the same ground for a while to come anyway, who knows, 12 months down the line I may have totally changed my opinion!