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Posts: 16
| Looking at getting a new depth finder, I am questioning who has a better mapping program. I know humminbird uses lake master chips and lowrance uses navionics. Does anyone have a preference and why? |
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Posts: 1638
Location: Minnesota | You can use both chips in the birds. Only the lake maps work with trolling motor. Go to the store and play with them. See what you like .I like birds |
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Posts: 1710
Location: Mt. Zion, IL | I am a Lowrance guy that would never consider a HB, but if the ipilot link is a preference, the HB would be the way to go. Both are great units but there are some things I like better about the LEI units. |
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Posts: 750
Location: Minneapolis, MN | At the end of the day it's personal preference. As mentioned, try to go to a store and look at them side by side to see which you prefer. Also check the map software to make sure they have the lakes you fish. I've only ever used HB units with lake master chips and I've been happy with their performance so far, haven't seen a reason to look at lowrance. |
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Posts: 633
Location: Madison, WI | I run a Bird at my bow, and a Lowrance at the console. My vote would be this:
Mapping - Humminbird
Sonar definition - Lowrance
I like the mapping so much more, I will probably be replacing the Lowrance with another bird this off season |
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| Lowrance and Motorguide now have their own version of Ipilot/Ilink if that matters.. They are both good, but I do like some of the stuff the lakemasters chip offers (only works in HB units). For instance, you can highlight dangerously shallow water (say under 4 feet) in red on the map, then if you are told fish are being caught in 8-12 feet of water, you can mark that in say green.. You can set the depths, etc and it really makes reading a map easier imo. At the end of the day though, they each have some lakes that are better mapped and some that are poorly mapped if at all... I would first pull up the lakes you plan to fish with each card in the store and see which has your lakes mapped best. From there, I think the bird units are nicer for units under 1000 bucks.. but Lowrance offers a pretty good bang for the buck if you don't plan to use a lot of the features. Depending on how 'tech savvy' you are, I think the Lowrance is a bit simpler to use if someone will be using it that doesn't have a smartphone and doesn't use a computer.. But determine what all you are looking for in a unit, look online for what units fit those needs, then go in the store and compare them side by side.. I doubt you'd be disappointed with either.. |
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Posts: 163
Location: NoDak | i bought a boat with an HDS unit on it, and it seemed better than the HDI elite7's that i had been using but it is not working as a sonar anymore, but a elite 7 non dsi set up works just fine with the same power and sonar cords so W/E but i bought a 959 to link to my minnkota and i have seen soo much more detail right out of the box seeing true arches of fish and better images of bottom hardness and weeds, also like how my humminbird paired with lake master can use the highlight features and i can just glance at it and know exactly where i am at on the offshore break lines, i spend way less time driving the boat this year with link and Bird, my old set up was lowrance hdi elite 7 and ipilot, so out of a 15 hour day on the watter i look at my graph for 2 hours instead of 5, meaning i dont have that follow i didnt see cause i was stearing, or navigating
motorguides cant drive themselves along a conture yet, so keep it in cheack and do play with graphs at a store, also birds come in as less expensive
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Posts: 139
| I like Hbird better. My hbirds have always worked better at higher speeds and were so much easier to use. |
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Location: Waukesha, WI, USA | Converted over from Lowrance to birds and I'm extremely happy and would never switch back. Much more user friendly. Side imagining is unbelievable. Have it hooked up to ipilot and lakemaster. Pick a depth lock it in and trolling motor does all the work. 100% hands free. |
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Posts: 921
| Looks like I'm the black sheep here. I went from Lowrance to Bird 2 years ago and really disliked the Birds.
The zoom feature was horrible. With Lowrance I can can zoom in and out in tiny increments. With the Bird it was in too much or out too far. It was preset and not incremental.
Also I couldn't change the size of the font and overlays. I had a 898 I think and the depth, speed, water temp, etc too up like 20% of the screen. I couldn't change the size or move them to a different part of the screen.
Now this was 3 seasons ago but based on what I found Lowarnce was far superior.
Perhaps things have changed with Bird in the last few years? If not ... Get Lowrance.
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Location: MN | I'm not sure about other states but in mn and wi lakemaster has waayyy more detail than navionics. I was a bit bummed when hbird bought the rights to lakemaster. I like lowrance products but your graph is only as good as the lake chip in it so I would go hbird. |
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Posts: 676
Location: Wisconsin | Debated both types of units and went with Lowrance because:
1. Easy to customize the screens to show what I want and how. Change font size, type of information, source, etc. But also I can change the size of the panels and change just about anything on display.
2. Network (I know that HB has a network now kinda)
3. Didn't have to buy a SI unit right off the bat and I didn't need to buy two SI units. Lowrance network allows me to add the SI transducer later and both of my HDS units can have SI then. That's a savings.
4. Network features like Sirius, and I love my SonicHub which charges my iPhone and puts my music across. Sirius weather was nice but I have more on my phone. Sirius radio is nice too.
5. Sonar seemed more detailed (non-DI or SI.) Lowrance DI and SI seem just as advanced. Looking to add those to my boat this fall.
6. Mapping. Lakemaster chips do not have the same amount of lakes as the Navionics. Vilas county is a perfect example, Lakemaster doesn't have nearly the lakes that Navionics has. Plus, one Navionics chip covered MN and WI. Didn't have to buy two chips. Navionics free updates was a nice bonus for a year and I can buy just the update and update my chip at anytime. Navionics also has more HD lakes and I get Navionics on my phone and computer and I can update waypoints across all three if I want.
7. Add engine data, I can get an Etec sending unit and have that data on my locator. Nice bonus.
It really is the Ford / Chevy debate and I was able to be around both units for years and work with both. Just at the time one had more of what I want and still does. I don't need SI and really haven't had a need for it until next year. I also don't have any need for the iPilot link. |
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Posts: 130
Location: Duluth, MN | I just switched to Lowrance with a new boat after using Birds for years. I thought there was no way I'd ever switch, but I'm extremely glad I did. Now I don't know if I could ever switch back. One of the reasons I didn't want to switch was because of the Lakemaster chips, but I actually prefer the Lowrance Insight HD chip. It gives you more of a 3D view of the bottom that is really easy to read at a quick glance. From what I've been told, they actually got their mapping data from Lakemaster so there doesn't seem to be much of a difference. Plus you get the whole US for about $150 and I can share maps between the HDS 8 on the console and the HDS 7 on the bow. The only features I miss are the shallow water highlight and the depth highlight. Otherwise I feel the Lowrance is better in every possible way. |
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Posts: 177
Location: ON | HDS Touch is very nice, and pretty easy to use. They made is simple, easy overlay access, panel selection. I'm happy with mine.
Bird 858 seems a bit tougher to navigate, personal preference.
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Posts: 333
Location: menasha wi 54952 | As of May 2013 a person can contour shade with the HDS Touch series. These two companies keep leapfrogging each other with technology. Where will it end? I dont see how you can go wrong with either. I would play with them in the store and see which model you like best. Personally, I did not like the oblong screen of the HBird.
MR |
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Posts: 349
| mreiter - 7/9/2014 12:24 PM As of May 2013 a person can contour shade with the HDS Touch series. These two companies keep leapfrogging each other with technology. Where will it end? I dont see how you can go wrong with either. I would play with them in the store and see which model you like best. Personally, I did not like the oblong screen of the HBird. MR Is this with the Lowrance Lake Insight Pro or HD?
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Posts: 349
| tswoboda - 7/9/2014 1:05 PM mreiter - 7/9/2014 12:24 PM As of May 2013 a person can contour shade with the HDS Touch series. These two companies keep leapfrogging each other with technology. Where will it end? I dont see how you can go wrong with either. I would play with them in the store and see which model you like best. Personally, I did not like the oblong screen of the HBird. MR Is this with the Lowrance Lake Insight Pro or HD?
Nevermind, just found on the Lowrance website that it works with Navionics.
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