Lowrance Hds

[slonezp]

Reason I'm asking. Cabelas has the HDS 7 w/GPS Reg price $999 on sale for $849 with a $200 mail in rebate, and another $20 off for orders of $150 or more. So we're looking at $629 plus tax. In the past, I've heard a bunch of stuff on poor customer service, as well as a poor product,and read the reviews on the Cabelas website which were from 2009. Should I jump on this or would I be better off looking for a deal on a Humminbird? Also, I have a MK with built in transducer. If I choose to buy 2 and mount one on the bow, will that transducer suffice(I don't even know if they make a universal adaptor)? Otherwise I'll have to order a TM transducer. I have a tin boat. For the console unit, Would I be better off with a thru hull or transom mount transducer, or does it make a difference? Currently I have a HB on the console and a Lowrance on the bow and have never had issues with either. Any other input or recomendations are appreciated.

Thanks.

[Glenn]

Awesome deal. Definitely go for it! The Lowrance HD's are incredible.

You probably can't do the thru-hull transducer, because a lot of aluminum boats have foam in their innards. Yours may be different, but a transom mount is most common for aluminum boats.

The universal transducer will work with the HD's, but for optimal performance, you'll want to get a separate transducer specific for your unit, mounted on the bottom of the TM.

[slonezp]

The more I look at the ad, the more it looks like this may not have structure scan which would be the reason I would upgrade. Hard to tell. The one I mentioned is the HDS Sonar/GPS Basemap with temperature. Am I reading this wrong? I can't get a link but it's easily found on there website. Thanks.

[Todd Driscoll]

The StructureScan is an add-on module. For example, look at the Cabelas link below for reduced prices as a bundle for the HDS 7 and StructureScan.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Lowrance174-HDS-7-Combo/735127.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch%2F%3FN%3D%26No%3D60%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dlowrance%26Ntx%3Dmode%252Bmatchallpartial%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts%26WTz_st%3D%26WTz_stype%3DSP%26form_state%3DsearchForm%26search%3Dlowrance%26searchTypeByFilter%3DAllProducts%26x%3D18%26y%3D10&Ntt=lowrance&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

[Jig Man]

If you are not in a big hurry, you should see a bunch of hds units on sale by guys upgrading to the new hds generation 2.

[Wayne P.]

If you are not in a big hurry, you should see a bunch of hds units on sale by guys upgrading to the new hds generation 2.

That is correct, the present HDS series is being discontinued, thus the sale prices going on now.

[basscatcher8]

I think cabala's also had a sale going on with the HD7 that included the structure scan for 1500

[scbassin]

I have been in 2 different BPS stores in the last 6 weeks. I am thinking of upgrading & in both stores they recommended the Hummingbird units saying that the Lowrance customer service is terrible, which I knew 1st hand already as I have tried to deal with it. The last time Lowrance upgraded there tech support stopped on the previous units. I am leaning toward a 998 SI combo for the front & a 1198 SI combo for the console.

[Wayne P.]

I have been in 2 different BPS stores in the last 6 weeks. I am thinking of upgrading & in both stores they recommended the Hummingbird units saying that the Lowrance customer service is terrible, which I knew 1st hand already as I have tried to deal with it. The last time Lowrance upgraded there tech support stopped on the previous units. I am leaning toward a 998 SI combo for the front & a 1198 SI combo for the console.

That is unusual, since most BPS employees in stores I have visited know nothing about the Humminbird products. They are usually biased towards Lowrance products.

[slonezp]

Thought it was too good to be true. If they're upgrading maybe I'll just wait I'm in no rush Water should be frozen shortly.

[scbassin]

Wayne, you know one of the guys with me at BPS last week said the same thing. If fact he joked about Hummingbird giving the sales people in electronics a better deal than Lowrance. The 4 of us got a laugh out of it. The one thing I do know for sure is that Lowrance needs to make major improvements to it's customer service dept.

[Hooligan]

It's very much a Ford V Chevy argument. I won't ever again own a Lowrance Product. I had a 10 and an 8 on my ride and within three months got so furious with software issues and ethernet incompatibilities that I ditched them and went to Humminbird and have had no issue. I had a lot of trouble with customer service, I had a tremendous amount of trouble with the units themselves and the transducers. Three brand new transducers in that short a time period had bad crystals, which was verified by Lowrance on all three occasions. Lowrance insisted that the issue, however, was in the mounting of the units and the LSS1. When a tech rep finally looked at it, the installation was exactly to their spec, yet they maintained there could be no problem with the units, it was the install. Sent both heads and both transducers back to Lowrance, and I get a call asking what 'd done to them as they were unable to update them. I asked how that was possible as I had just updated the units to their most recent release, and both were running simulation fine, as well as running without GPS. The issues started with the transducer cable connected. They said they were unable to even get the units to turn on... Terrible, terrible tech service. I told them to box the units up with the new transducers and send them back to me. I got the base maps to load individually, wiped the waypoints from the units, did a factory reset and sold them individually.

Oddly, I'm not the only person that I know of that has had this, or similar, issues. I know of two people that had linked HDS10 with Insight Maps (which Lowrance is losing because of Johnson's acquisition of Lakemaster. That technology alone is worth its weight in gold, and will be available in Humminbird units only...) both people lost all of their waypoints and any saved data on multiple occasions due to Lowrance software issues. They both had to run only one unit because the units were not linking properly... All kinds of issues.

I'm an anti-Lowrance and have a hundred reasons why. Not to mention the costs just don't compare.

[Wayne P.]

It's very much a Ford V Chevy argument. I won't ever again own a Lowrance Product. I had a 10 and an 8 on my ride and within three months got so furious with software issues and ethernet incompatibilities that I ditched them and went to Humminbird and have had no issue. I had a lot of trouble with customer service, I had a tremendous amount of trouble with the units themselves and the transducers. Three brand new transducers in that short a time period had bad crystals, which was verified by Lowrance on all three occasions. Lowrance insisted that the issue, however, was in the mounting of the units and the LSS1. When a tech rep finally looked at it, the installation was exactly to their spec, yet they maintained there could be no problem with the units, it was the install. Sent both heads and both transducers back to Lowrance, and I get a call asking what 'd done to them as they were unable to update them. I asked how that was possible as I had just updated the units to their most recent release, and both were running simulation fine, as well as running without GPS. The issues started with the transducer cable connected. They said they were unable to even get the units to turn on... Terrible, terrible tech service. I told them to box the units up with the new transducers and send them back to me. I got the base maps to load individually, wiped the waypoints from the units, did a factory reset and sold them individually.

Oddly, I'm not the only person that I know of that has had this, or similar, issues. I know of two people that had linked HDS10 with Insight Maps (which Lowrance is losing because of Johnson's acquisition of Lakemaster. That technology alone is worth its weight in gold, and will be available in Humminbird units only...) both people lost all of their waypoints and any saved data on multiple occasions due to Lowrance software issues. They both had to run only one unit because the units were not linking properly... All kinds of issues.

I'm an anti-Lowrance and have a hundred reasons why. Not to mention the costs just don't compare.

I try to keep up with most of the marine electronics stuff and you will see similar statements as you posted about Humminbirds. All the new stuff is way more sophisticated than the old flasher units and with all the electronic parts involved as well as the computer programming involved there will be issues with any brand. But overall the products are similar in reliability. The most important to consider is the service provided by the mfg if an issue occurs. Most of my stuff is Humminbird and my friends have equipment by Humminbird, Lowrance, and Garmin. All of their stuff works great all the time--mine too. For every complaint, there are thousands of happy owners that no one hears from.

I chose Humminbird based on ease of use and ease of installation with less pieces and parts along with more experience in the imaging technology. Humminbirds are made in the USA and serviced in the USA, but "they ain't perfect" and no company is.

Your results may vary.

[Hooligan]

I don't disagree with that at all, Wayne. That's actually one of the biggest selling points of the Bird units, they're far easier to navigate; one might even use the word intuitive. They're easier to set for specific things we do as anglers, and they're easier to deal with if they do malfunction. A reset won't wipe the unit, just the custom user settings.

[Todd Driscoll]

Hooligan, I am sorry that you had the troubles you describe with your HDS units. However, a couple of things you stated are not correct.

I know of two people that had linked HDS10 with Insight Maps (which Lowrance is losing because of Johnson's acquisition of Lakemaster. That technology alone is worth its weight in gold, and will be available in Humminbird units only...)

Lowrance is NOT losing Insight mapping.

I don't disagree with that at all, Wayne. That's actually one of the biggest selling points of the Bird units, they're far easier to navigate; one might even use the word intuitive. They're easier to set for specific things we do as anglers, and they're easier to deal with if they do malfunction. A reset won't wipe the unit, just the custom user settings.

Lowrance has two resets, soft and hard:

A Lowrance Soft Reset does just what you describe. It reverts all settings back to factory defaults and does not affect the user file (wpts, routes, and trails). However, a Hard Reset restores default settings and deletes all user information.

[BassChaser57]

hmmmm, guess I am the only one that loves my HDS units. yes, I did have a gps issue, sent it back for service AFTER the warranty had expired ---- they sent me a BRAND NEW UNIT and I did NOT even have to pay shipping. It does not get any better than that.