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Location: Green Bay, WI | I am in the process of researching a new purchase. We have bought a Lund Fisherman, and are planning to use it primarily on inland lakes of medium size. Basically, fishing northern Wisconsin in 500-2000 acre lakes. I might also use the unit on Green Bay when the weather is favorable.
In researching the Humminbird vs. Lowrance units, I'm somewhat confused. I understand that the Humminbird units are basically ready out of the box (OOB), while the Lowrance units require the add-on Structure Scan module, which adds significant cost. So I was hoping for some input from those using either one of these units.
1) I am not 100% sure I understand exactly what extra components are necessary with the Lowrance--basically you just buy the base unit (HDS-8, for instance), and then the Structure Scan module. Is this correct?
2) The Humminbird units come fully-equipped OOB, so nothing else is needed in that sense...correct?
3) Both brands will now support Sirius weather overlay, as I understand it. Is this correct?
4) How does either of these products compare, in terms of software available for the PC? I am most interested in using the unit (or a simulation) at home, to learn how to use it better...and to possibly plot courses for use on the water. I know that both give you the option of saving screen shots to SD cards, but I am talking about actual simulation (or integration) on the PC.
Although I'd certainly welcome comments to that effect, I'm not necessarily interested in which people feel is better, as I've read a TON of those threads on the Internet already. And I've had my share of woes with Lowrance customer service in the past, so I certainly realize there's a potential issue there. I've never owned a Humminbird product, but several people have told me that their customer service is outstanding. So that is a potential factor that I'll have to investigate further. But right now I am simply interested in what it takes to get such a system installed and running on a boat. We'll be picking up the new boat in 2-3 weeks, and I'll be buying electronics sometime in May...and installing them myself.
Thanks in advance for the input.
TB | |
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Location: Green Bay, WI | Not to have a conversation with myself here, but I'll post this in case someone else has the same questions as I did. In regards to the questions I posted above:
1 & 2) You can buy the Lowrance "combo" package, which includes the base unit (with standard transducer), the LSS transducer for the SI/DI feature, and then the module for the SI/DI features. Humminbird's units basically come with all that stuff, as long as you buy their combo pack as well. So the two products are not that much different in that respect.
3) Although several of Lowrance's units are capable of displaying the Sirius weather data (with a subscription), it does not appear as though the Humminbird products will. Humminbird does list a weather antenna as an accessory, but when you search for it online, the distributors seem to be out of stock on that item. Although I may be mistaken, to me it doesn't look like Humminbird is making much of a push for weather overlay data at this time.
4) Still trying to figure out the answer to this one. I know that both have software available, but you cannot download the Humminbird software until you enter a product serial number, and register your product. But if you are trying to use knowledge of that software to make a buying decision, it's unfortunate that they don't at least have a product demo in that respect. I haven't found one on their site, or on YouTube.
The last thing I will say is that the Lowrance products have Doc Samson's training videos going for them. While there is some training information available on YouTube for both brands, Doc's stuff appears to be far superior to anything I have found for the Humminbird units. I don't know if this sort of thing is important to anyone else or not, but it sure is to me.
TB | |
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| Humminbird used XM for weather, it's available as a legacy" product.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqFmNPLKQRw
http://store.humminbird.com/products/481502/AS_WX1
It seems the emphasis is switching to on-board radar rather than satellite, but it's still pretty expensive at this point.
http://store.humminbird.com/products/519444/AS_12RD2KW
There's tutorials for pretty much every feature available on HumminbirdTV, many of them done by the Lindners.
http://www.youtube.com/user/HumminbirdTV
Dr. Jason Halfen (pro walleye angler) is another great source for Humminbird tutorials.
http://www.jasonhalfenoutdoors.com/HumminbirdIndex.html
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Location: 31 | tcbetka - 4/8/2012 9:03 AM Doc's stuff appears to be far superior to anything I have found for the Humminbird units. I don't know if this sort of thing is important to anyone else or not, but it sure is to me. TB I'm just getting ready to order that myself, so yeah it's important to me to... but that's not why I went with Lowrance.
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Posts: 315
| When you buy a h-bird say a 998 for example yes it does come with a ducer that can do everything but that ducer is mainly for down and side imaging...that said you do need to buy a separate ducer and a splitter cord so now you are running the same as a Lowrance with structure scan. Side note H-Bird does not send an in-line fuse with their units so you need to buy one of those as well.
As far as programs go there is a Navionics program you can buy for your PC and it is pretty cool. There is also the new Contour elite program from Lakemaster which I hear is very hard to get your hands on right now. However that program may be the type of program you are looking to use at home. If I am correct the H-bird might be for you.
User ability for both graphs in my opinion is very easy. I much prefer the Lowrance user interface as well as picture from the Lowrance. Both companies give you quick buttons to quickly go back to the screens you prefer to use while you are on the water with H-bird offering it on a lot more units and Lowrance giving it to you only on the 8 & 10.
I hope I have answered you questions if you have more just ask. | |
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Location: Green Bay, WI | I spent several hours this weekend, reviewing the online stuff for Lowrance. Much of it was Bruce (Doc) Samson's stuff. It is excellent, IMHO. He and I emailed a few times this weekend, and he told me that the DrDepth application seems to work a bit better with the Lowrance, in terms of the amount of detail it will import from the file logs saved by the units. Lowrance also now offers the StructureMap feature that is incredible, but apparently not offered by Humminbird.
Both brands of units allow data saved to be transferred to DrDepth, evaluated and modified if desired, and then displayed via Google Earth (which is free). However the maps you then save in DrDepth are apparently not as easily viewed on the Humminbird units.
I asked Bruce about the Lowrance customer service these days, as (quite frankly) it has been reported to be quite poor. He said that they've placed a much greater emphasis on that end of things over the past few years--and have also reportedly added staff to make things flow better for their customers. So while I certainly like the looks of Humminbird's products, I just don't think they are quite on-par with Lowrance in terms of the number of features supported at this time. The weather overlay is a big deal to me, and although you can certainly add it as a legacy product (if you can find a module to buy), it still doesn't present nearly the same data as that which Lowrance uses. And we already have an account with Sirius/XM, for our vehicle. So purely from an analytical point of view, the Lowrance products seem to be a better fit for my needs now. And as I would very much like to be involved in some research activities here in the Green Bay fishery, the technologies Lowrance offers would seem to be very helpful in that sense.
I don't know what the price difference will be for comparably-sized units, but I'll be looking into that tomorrow. I know the Lowrance units have rebates through the end of the month, so one shouldn't wait too long to make a purchase. But I am having fun doing the research, as this technology has literally grown by leaps and bounds since the last time I bought a GPS/fish finder unit. It's simply remarkable...
TB | |
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Posts: 2323
Location: Stevens Point, WI | tcbetka - 4/8/2012 9:19 PM
I spent several hours this weekend, reviewing the online stuff for Lowrance. Much of it was Bruce (Doc) Samson's stuff. It is excellent, IMHO. He and I emailed a few times this weekend, and he told me that the DrDepth application seems to work a bit better with the Lowrance, in terms of the amount of detail it will import from the file logs saved by the units. Lowrance also now offers the StructureMap feature that is incredible, but apparently not offered by Humminbird.
Both brands of units allow data saved to be transferred to DrDepth, evaluated and modified if desired, and then displayed via Google Earth (which is free). However the maps you then save in DrDepth are apparently not as easily viewed on the Humminbird units.
I asked Bruce about the Lowrance customer service these days, as (quite frankly) it has been reported to be quite poor. He said that they've placed a much greater emphasis on that end of things over the past few years--and have also reportedly added staff to make things flow better for their customers. So while I certainly like the looks of Humminbird's products, I just don't think they are quite on-par with Lowrance in terms of the number of features supported at this time. The weather overlay is a big deal to me, and although you can certainly add it as a legacy product (if you can find a module to buy), it still doesn't present nearly the same data as that which Lowrance uses. And we already have an account with Sirius/XM, for our vehicle. So purely from an analytical point of view, the Lowrance products seem to be a better fit for my needs now. And as I would very much like to be involved in some research activities here in the Green Bay fishery, the technologies Lowrance offers would seem to be very helpful in that sense.
TB
You've definitely done your homework and agree with everything you've said and found. The stuff Doc does is the best out there, I own all of his DVD's and they are very informative. They aren't much for entertainment but you certainly learn a ton without a doubt, highly recommend them.
As for CS, Doc said it right. I will add, three years ago the CS was lacking big time, Humminbird certainly did a great job on capitalizing on that to their advantage. However, most people who still complain about Lowrance's CS are talking about issues they've had years ago or heard about from their buddies who had issues a couple years ago, not within the last 24 months. I don't think you've got anything to worry about IMO.
The other features are what makes Lowrance really standout IMO. Either way you go, both units will serve you well. | |
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Location: Green Bay, WI |
Great stuff here Weatherbug...thanks for posting!
I saw the weather module unit on HB's website, but couldn't find it online. Everyone was "out of stock," so I didn't know if it's been discontinued or not. But I have not made a final decision on which unit(s) to go with, and there is no huge rush to do so--so I will absolutely look at the links you've provided. I will also call HB and ask about their on-going support for XM Weather, because I really cannot find all that much about it other than bits and pieces of detail scattered around the Internet.
But I appreciate your post, and the time it took you to find all those links. Thanks again!
TB | |
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Location: Green Bay, WI | Another update...
I spent the last 2-3 hours researching this further, and will post my results below so that others may benefit from the information.
I called BOTH manufacturers today, to inquire about several things I simply could not find answers for; and also just to test the water in terms of their response times, and the overall ability of a customer to reach support. I purposefully did this on a Monday, reasoning that it would be quite busy. I found that both companies generally did a good job. The Humminbird line was busy for about 20-25 minutes before I actually got through--and then I was on hold for another 5-10 minutes. But once I was speaking to the customer/tech support fellow, he was able to answer all of my questions without hesitation or further holding. There were no disconnections, and he was very pleasant. For what it's worth, I should say that his job was easier than that of the Lowrance support fellows...simply because HB generally doesn't offer the kinds of features I was inquiring about. So it didn't take him long to answer those questions, although he did suggest possible alternative solutions for what I was looking to do.
In regards to Lowrance, I was actually quite surprised and impressed. Where I can recall being on hold for 30-40 minutes in the past, I got through in about 3 minutes today...on a Monday. The fellow I talked to was very knowledgeable and most helpful. However I forgot to ask him one or two things, so I had to call back again after I called Humminbird. On the second call, I was on-hold for less than 10 minutes before getting through to a different customer/tech support guy. He was equally as pleasant and knowledgeable. There were no disconnections or additional holds with Lowrance, on either of the two calls. So at least from today's experience, I can personally see a significant improvement in customer service from Lowrance. Whether this translates to solving a problem with a unit any faster, remains to be seen. But at least for my purposes today, Lowrance has stepped-up quite a bit.
As to my other questions for each product, I learned a bit there as well. For one, Humminbird NO LONGER makes their XM Weather module. So while you can still subscribe via XM/Sirius, you need to hunt down an AS WX1 module someplace on the Internet. But HB is no longer making these units, so when they are gone...they are gone. (In looking around for several minutes today, I couldn't find one in stock anywhere--so they might be gone already.) As for the PC software for each unit, neither manufacturer really offers anything of significance to allow you to actually connect their products to a PC, similar to what Garmin does (or did). You can use DrDepth with data from either unit as I mentioned before, but the HB fellow didn't know how well that worked with their units. The Lowrance fellow confirmed that, as far as he knew, their units were fully supported by the DrDepth application.
So in conclusion, I am still convinced that the Lowrance product line offers more "bells and whistles" for the techno-junkie like myself. If that sort of thing matters to you, then go Lowrance. After watching literally hours of training tutorial videos, and reading pages and pages of training literature, I honestly believe that BOTH manufacturers make excellent units, as TJ stated above. I don't think you could go wrong with either unit, if all you wanted to do was use it for side imaging, regular sonar and GPS. But it's at that point that the Lowrance products seem to out-distance their HB counterparts, as far as I can tell. Anyway, I know which way I am going at this point--I just need to decide on the units.
Thanks to all who've posted in this thread!
TB | |
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Posts: 2323
Location: Stevens Point, WI | Glad to hear, Tom! As I stated above, either way you go both are great. I obviously feel the same about Lowrance and glad to hear you called them, I've told people to do the same and see for themselves, very few have done so.
It's hard to beat the HDS-8's with StructureScan, LGC-4000, Sonic Hub and Sirius Weather! | |
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Location: Green Bay, WI | Well, except with the HDS10 with StructureScan, LGC-4000, sonic hub and Sirius weather... 
I haven't yet decided which unit I'm going to buy just yet. I need to actually be in the boat for a bit to get some measurements first. That will happen next week--but the rebates are good through the end of the month. But I went to Gander Mountain here in Green Bay today and, quite frankly, that HDS10 unit is VERY nice! But it just about shoots my whole budget, when you add the other stuff. The other alternative would be (and this is what I was budgeting for) to get an HDS8 as the main unit, and an HDS7 to go right next to it. Then I could always move the HDS7 up to the bow as well, if I spent much time casting up there.
By the way--Lowrance told me that they've lowered the price on the XM weather module now. So basically with the rebate they are offering on the thing, it's FREE. Well, you don't have to hit me over the head with a 2x6...the 2x4 is plenty.
TB | |
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Posts: 676
Location: Wisconsin | I have a HDS setup on my new boat. HDS7 on back, HDS5 base models. Sirius/XM modual, Sonichub and all networked ethernet and NMEA. I have been really happy with the setup. Have some pointers.
The Sirius module is great, and the weather is nice, however I wasn't too impressed with it as an overlay. It was a bit slow at refresh rate of the radar, and I have better weather options on my iphone. Now, if I was fishing the great lakes all the time I could see this being a bigger factor like having the winds and such. It is nice that it is installed and ready to make a call if I want to get it back. I do like the XM radio on it which is nice with the sonic hub everything is controlled from the locator. Since I have the sonichub, it can charge and use the music from my iphone and ipod which I really like.
For the locators, I was debating as well between HB and Lowrance. Lowrance just has a better way to set up the locators to display what you want and where. I also like the screen layouts and splits which can all be customized. Granted it takes some time to set up, but once you do, all the information I need is right where I want everytime. I can also add Structurescan at anytime, I didn't get it at first because I don't really see a need for it right now and used that money into other options at the time. But the nice thing is, that I can add it to my system very easy. The expansion module that I had installed has three open ports for future expansion.
On tip, if you decide to network them together, make sure you go into the advance setups and change the settings for the transducers. I mean, the front locator will try to use global settings for the depth and temp, etc. I changed it to Local so it will use the transducer on the trolling motor for depth and temp. Some settings you want to be global (like speed) but the depth and temp should be local at least for me it works better. Another item is to make sure to put in the type of transducer into the setups (the type), and use the advanced sonar setup and change to either freshwater or shallowwater. These will help tune the transducer readouts..... | |
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Location: Green Bay, WI | Great tips there Muskiemetal...thanks.
You might want to look at buying the LSS-1 unit now though. This will give you Structure Scan, for $300. It's a $600 package, but there's a $300 rebate if you buy it before 5/1. Just a thought for you.
Anyway, I appreciate your tips and will definitely read them again when it comes time to network the things together.
TB | |
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New side-imaging sonar purchase