Lowrance Refurbished units ?

[teamfyss]

Just curious if anyone has had luck with the Lowrance refurbished fish finders, I'm looking at getting a HOOK2 7x GPS and its hard to pass up! Is there anything I should know before buying? Whether it's about the refurbished program or the hook2 unit all together. I appreciate all info, thanks!

[Daniel Abram]

I have this same unit. But got mine new. I love it. Works really well. Got it last year 

[teamfyss]

1 minute ago, Daniel Abram said:

I have this same unit. But got mine new. I love it. Works really well. Got it last year 

maybe you can answer this question then, I see that different HOOK2 units have GPS mapping and others have GPS plotter... whats the difference?

[Daniel Abram]

That is one thing I am not sure about. Maybe the plotter tells where you have been. But my fishing partner is really up to speed on all this I will as him and get back to you. 

[teamfyss]

1 minute ago, Daniel Abram said:

That is one thing I am not sure about. Maybe the plotter tells where you have been. But my fishing partner is really up to speed on all this I will as him and get back to you. 

That's about all I can come up with as well, looking forward to some clarification. thanks

[Daniel Abram]

[teamfyss]

1 minute ago, Daniel Abram said:

1 minute ago, Daniel Abram said:

I think I just read that same thing, so its the opposite of what we thought? Chartplotter can't pin point my location on a map but I'm able to study that map on the unit ? If I want to track my lines and all that I'll want mapping.

 

Or do I have it all backwards LOL

[jaimeastin]

X Models have slower processors, less ram and the larger screens are still lower resolution, the image is just scalled up.

 

I tested a lot of the lowrance units last year.  Of the hook series, my conclusion was stay away from "x" models.  I would get the higher end non x model as they performed beautifully.  

 

Go to a store and do a side by side.  Ultimately I purchased a TI unit, then I decided to go with livescope so I returned the TI and got an echomap.  I have used Garmin for years, I have about 6 of their units now, from.b/w to echomap plus.  All have been fantastic.  In fact, I like my old black and white Garmin more than one of my cheap lowrance units that came with my boat.  

 

In my opinion, non of the Garmin units sacrifice performance for price.  I was disappointed in the performance for lowrances budget units.

[teamfyss]

18 minutes ago, jaimeastin said:

X Models have slower processors, less ram and the larger screens are still lower resolution, the image is just scalled up.

 

I tested a lot of the lowrance units last year.  Of the hook series, my conclusion was stay away from "x" models.  I would get the higher end non x model as they performed beautifully.  

 

Go to a store and do a side by side.  Ultimately I purchased a TI unit, then I decided to go with livescope so I returned the TI and got an echomap.  I have used Garmin for years, I have about 6 of their units now, from.b/w to echomap plus.  All have been fantastic.  In fact, I like my old black and white Garmin more than one of my cheap lowrance units that came with my boat.  

 

In my opinion, non of the Garmin units sacrifice performance for price.  I was disappointed in the performance for lowrances budget units.

I was just told the same thing on another post! Stay away from the ‘X’ models.. but man do they fit my price point. I’m trying to buy a budget fish finder for my 16’ tiller, I’m trying to keep my cost of electronics less than the cost of the boat itself ?? and I’m d**n close to that.

 

Garmin seem great but I’ve only had experience with a little 4” kayak unit..

[jaimeastin]

2 hours ago, teamfyss said:

I was just told the same thing on another post! Stay away from the ‘X’ models.. but man do they fit my price point. I’m trying to buy a budget fish finder for my 16’ tiller, I’m trying to keep my cost of electronics less than the cost of the boat itself ?? and I’m d**n close to that.

 

Garmin seem great but I’ve only had experience with a little 4” kayak unit..

 

I understand that.  Do you have a store you can go to research?  I recorded a lot of video of my testing... But I decided not to put it on YouTube... I am trying to to find it so I can go ahead and put the video up.  Maybe it will help.  

 

Bottom line, will they work?  Do they work, yes.  I was just a little distracted and disappointed.  I really like the price point and electronics do not catch fish.  You just need a little information and then you catch fish. 

 

Bottom line, a purchase, test, and return wouldn't hurt.

[jaimeastin]

I found some of my testing video.  I will edit tonight and put it on YouTube... Will let you know when I'm done.

[Jleebesaw]

I had a hook2 5x tripleshot. It was basically junk. I had to do hard reset every time I used it. Most of the time I would do the reset several times during a day of fishing. It constantly lost bottom. The 2d sonar would get really "noisy". It looked like the sensitivity was way too high, but the hook series is all auto adjust and has no way to manually adjust settings. The reset would temporarily fix these issues.

   When it was working right, it was pretty good. The thing just didn't work right all the time. When it was working, it did what it should. The structure scan gave a decent picture. I got an elite ti unit to replace it and it is way, way better. Way better. Better pictures, manual adjustments, and works every time. 

 

As for chart plotters vs. Mapping, I can clear it up for you.  Gps mapping will have topographical maps of lakes. It will show your location on the map. My only experiance is with lowrance using navionics. It shows much more than just a map and your location. It shows navigational guides that are on the lake, danger areas like rocks or shoals, boat ramps, known wrecks, and marinas(tells if they have gas, food, bait). There is a ton of other info on there as well. Also, you can download updates and upload waypoints and see other peoples shared waypoints. There is a lot there. 

   Gps plotters are basically just a white screen that shows your boat based on the gps location. No map. You can make waypoints and save them, but because they aren't on a map, it just turns into a bunch of dots. You can also make a trail. It will make a line behind your boat as you travel. That way you can follow it back to your starting point. I guess so you dont get lost? It's just a very basic gps.

       The mapping is well worth the money if you fish a lot of different lakes or unfamiliar areas. If you just fish a few places and you are familiar with them, the plotter will at least allow you to make waypoints. To me, mapping is worth the money just for the topo maps no less all the other information they provide.