Lowrance vs Hummingbird

[larht]

Ok Guys,I need your help again.

A few months ago I  asked your advice when I was looking for a bass boat and you said that late fall would be the best time to get a "good deal". Well, you were right ! I waited and I found the boat I wanted at a good price. I now own a 2004 Bass Tracker 185 with a 90hp merc. I can hardly stand the wait until spring when I can get on the lakes.

I will mostly be  fishing small lakes that will probably be no deeper than 100ft until I feel comfortable in the handling of the boat.

I want to upgrade the electronics and I'm looking at the Lowrance lcx units and the Hummingbird 700 series units, any advice?

I've searched the internet trying to find a site that gives a comparison between the two but have not been sucessful.

I guess I should also  say that this will be my first high tech unit so user friendly will be a plus.

Any advice will be greatlt appreciated.

[jdw174]

I've not had any experience with Humminbird.  I've always been an Eagle/Lowrance guy.  However, it's my contention that the more pixels on your screen the more details you'll see in the water.  After you pick your brand, I'd shoot for the one that gave me that detail.

[cart7t]

Lowrance vs. Humminbird

MinnKota vs. Motorguide

Mercury vs. Yamaha

Bassboat A vs. Bassboat B.

You're talking about the two biggest brands in the industry.  So many people own so many of each that you'll get dozens of different opinions, each touting what they bought and why it's better.  Both make quality LCD graphs. I'd suggest waiting till your local boat show and looking at them in person there.  They usually have working displays and reps you can talk to.  Most of these graphs anymore are pretty user friendly and are competitive with one another in each price range.  This isn't that hard of a decision.

[RatONaStick]

Earlier this year I bought the Humminbird 737 and have been extremely happy with it. My favorite feature is the Quadrabeam sonar that produces an extremely wide coverage area, which is very useful in shallow water.

A standard 20 degree beam only sees 1/3 of the depth, so if you are in 5ft of water it only sees a little over 1.5ft of bottom.

The DualBeam unit sees the bottom equal to the depth, so in 5ft of water it sees a 5ft area of the bottom.

With the QuadraBeam it sees twice the depth, in 5ft of water you see a 10ft area of the bottom. This makes searching for structure much less time consuming.

I also have the optional WideSide transducer which allows you to actually look directly to the sides to scan the water for schooling fish, look under potential cover like docks etc and scan the banks.

The screen is 640x480 and very crisp and clear. It will take screen snapshots with the addition of a memory card, which I have. I also have the optional GPS receiver and it works great. The backlight is sort of like an Indiglo type light and is really nice at night, it's plenty bright but not so much it blinds you.

The 737 is the only 700 series unit that comes standard with the QuadraBeam transducer. All of the 700 series are compatible with the QuadraBeam as well as the WideSide, Humminbird will exchange the DualBeam  transducer for the QuadraBeam unit.

I would have liked to step up to one of the color units, or even the new 797 or 987. Unfortunately those units are out of my price range.

I have no experience with Lowrance units but I'm sure they make a fine product. From what I've seen no one but Humminbird makes a unit with as wide a coverage area, I could be wrong however.

Hope this helps.

[larht]

Thanks for the replies,

I think going to the boat shows is a good idea,there's a big one in Baltimore in the spring. I'll be there.

Glad to hear from someone that uses a Hummingbird unit. I think that you are right about Hummingbird being the only one with the "wide coverage area". I will have to do more research before I make my decision but  I'm leaning towards Hummingbird right now. Thanks again.

[HPBB]

If your by Balt. go to BPS and check them all out. That is what I did and I liked to humminird better. I have the Matrix 87c (which they don't make anymore) and the 787c (which is almost exactly the same as the matrix 87c.) Both are good units.

But check them out, take a few hours and play with all of them, and see what one you like better.

[Way2slow]

Both units are good units quality wise.  Both units have always basically gone after two different makets.  In the past Hummingbird as always gone after the enty level market with the lower and mid level units and on their upper end models give up screen resolution for more sophisticated electronics like 3-D and wider view angles.   Lowrance doesn't go for the entry level units as much and only with their Eagle line.  It has only been in the past few years Hummingbird has started putting LCD's in their units that have very good resolutions.  

Look at the features they both offer and see which features you feel most suits your needs.  I've always prefered the high resolutions Lowrance offers over the super wide angle and 3-D graphics Humminbird offered.  I have to admit though, that new unit HB has is mighty impressive and would luv for one of my friends to buy one so I can see it in action, so I could decide if I wanted to buy one.

[larht]

I live in Pennsylvania so the Baltimore BPS and The Harrisburg BPS for are both within a hour and  a half drive for meafter reading your post I thought why not give them a call!! I talked to the salesman for electronics at both stores and they both said that the Hummingbird units are less complicated to use than the Lowrance units and the felt that the "wide angle tranducers" would be a plus for the type of fishing I plan to do. The more info I collect the better the Hummingbird sounds for me.

Like I said before,I'm not at all mr.pro fisherman, I'm just a guy that loves to fish and I'm

trying to get my first real bass boat set up with the equipment that will help me become a better fisherman.

I thank you all for your help.

[magic]

Unless you fish deep water a lot the wide angle won't be of much benefit.  In relatively shallow water it doesn't make much difference in the width of the area your looking at.

[striperone]

Humming bird VS Lowrance...

I am an avid believer in Lowrance.

BUT

Don't let name brands confuse you.

In looking for good sonar unit your first concern for a moderate depth lake or reservoir would be pixel count or resolution. Spend as much money as you can afford on this. You have no concern for bells and whistles. Forget the fish ID or fish symbols, you will want to turn this feature OFF if you do have it anyway. A color unit does have better definition than a gray scale unit, but gray scale units can be extremly affordable now with pixel counts that would cost hundreds more in a color unit.

The choice if of course up to you. If you buy a unit with a high pixel count (at least 480x480) it will be a long time till you will replace it.

[RatONaStick]

Unless you fish deep water a lot the wide angle won't be of much benefit. In relatively shallow water it doesn't make much difference in the width of the area your looking at.

In my experience it does make a difference, the wider the coverage the less water I have to cover looking for structure, etc. It's also helpful when following old creekbeds, It helps me stay on top of it by allowing me to see a wider area. With a narrower cone angle you have to do much more zig zagging to stay on top of it.

Let's say you are on a 500ft wide lake that's a constant 5ft deep. With a 20 degree cone angle you would have to make 301 passes to scan the entire lake bottom. With a 90 degree beam you can scan the lake in 50 passes!  

According to Humminbord the wider cone angles excell in shallow water.

[striperone]

301 passes to scan the entire lake bottom

Is there a mathematical equation for this? ;D Just kiddin' of course. You are absolutely correct though!

Narrow cone angle transducers are made for deep water. Generally offshore deep sea fishing.

Not changing the subject, but love the 66 Chevelle.

[RatONaStick]

Nothing but simple math. Good thing too, If it weren't I'd still be trying to figure it out.  ;D

Thanks for the compliment.

[larht]

Thanks again RatONaStick,Any one else out there that actually uses a Hummingbird?

You just gotta love this forum!!

[sodaksker]

I have the h'bird 737 on my bow and the 767 on my console.  I am pleased with both units thus far.  The 737 is the same as the 767 just without the Gps, but the 737 can be equipped with gps.  When I was comparing the units prior to my purchase, the thing that made the difference was the power rating.  I can't recall exactly but, I think the H'bird units had more watts in power, which equates to better separation.  The other item was the dualbeam and quadrabeam transducers.  It took a little while for me to understand them correctly but, I believe they give you better coverage.  

My two regrets:

First off if I had to do it all over I would get the 947si.  It is costly but, I think it is the cats bottom.

Second.  I wish my units had color.  Originally I thought color was not worth the cost and that I would rather spend that money towards more power and gps.  Now I think the color would help me distinguish between structure and fish or thermocline etc..

When I was looking at fishfinders, I went to http://www.fishfinder-store.com/fifira.html

This helped me to compare different units, cost and capabilities.

good luck.

[striperone]

I think there maybe a little confusion as to the "power" a sonar unit possesses vs it's use or worth? Yes the more the power the more the money, but it is totally unnecessary to spend your cash in this area for general lakes and reservoirs! You are wasting your money and won't utilize near the power that your unit has in depths up to say 100 feet and less.

I said it before and I'll say it again, Spend your money on pixel count! Nothing else is near as important. Pixel count is what gives you target separation. Color units are even better at it. Big power only helps in very deep water. If you were to view both a high power unit against one with moderate power in about 40 feet of water you would NOT see a difference! On the other hand put two units together with different pixel count (resolution) and it's night and day. Target separation and definition is drastic. Buy a minimum of 480x480 if you can afford 640 Buy it!

Don't get hung up in all this depth finder (sonar) bells and whistles stuff. Stick to the basics of a good unit and you'll be very happy!

[Rattlinrogue]

Both brands are fine products,I'm sure.I've always used Hummingbird products and am more than satisfied.I do have an Eagle Flasher unit and am pleased with it's performance.

[larht]

I just received  a Hummingbird 2007 catalog. I see some of the units have "side imaging sonar" Has anyone used this ? It appears to almost look like a picture of the underwater structure.

[RatONaStick]

Those side imaging units are amazing, it's almost like being in the water looking at the structure. But you pay for it too, the 797 which just came out is around $1000, the 987 is something like $1800. Way out of my price range right now. Maybe one day I'll be able to afford one and move my 737 up to the bow.

[NJfishinGuy]

what comes to mind and i wonder about the wide angle humm. is if it scans this greatly wide angle how do u know if your actually on top of the structure and casting to it. could you be completely off because it might be 30 feet off to the side and u think its right under you. ive never used these finders im just goin on what im hearing from u guys here on how it works

in this pic i made im guessing this is close to what it does. now u have this wide scanned area and u pic up say a rock pile. but its way off to the sie of the boat. how do u know where it is because most of us are used to it being directly under us or very close to the suroounding area.

[RatONaStick]

what comes to mind and i wonder about the wide angle humm. is if it scan this greatly wide angle how do u know if your actually on top of the structure and casting to it. could you be completely off because it might be 30 feet off to the side and u think its right under you.

The QuadraBeam has 4 sonar beams. A narrow 20 degree center beam, a wide 60 degree center beam and 2 45 degree side beams(the beams overlap slightly). The 20 degree, 60 degree and the two 45 degree beams are all on seperate frequencies and have there own screens.

Using the various screens to single out each beam I can determine where the structure is. I can also zoom in and freeze the screen, then I'll move the cursor right over the structure and mark it using the GPS so I know exactly where it is at all times.

If you are interested in how these work go to www.humminbird.com and look at the manuals for the various units.

[NJfishinGuy]

cool im gona take a look