Humminbird ..... why would you buy one

[NAGG]

Hi All

First up - *I've been a lowrance user for the last 5 years and have neither been pleased nor displeased with either the quality or performance - I have had issues but they were replaced under warranty.
anyhoos - last year I thought about upgrading to a Side Imaging unit & decided to go with a larger Humminbird 998SI and at the same time acquiring a Lowrance HDS5X. My set up was the 998SI on the bow mount & HDS5X on the helm using my old LMS337 as a stand alone GPS/Plotter
After 8 months & feeling that I was not getting value out of the 998 I decided to reconfigure and swap the HDS5X & 998SI .... 998SI at the helm. Now over the past 3 weeks I felt happy with the result ....... fishing the salt for jewies. Then last weekend , I went to Somerset to have a bass fish & found myself relying on my sounders much more. Clearly there is a big difference in using sounders in the salt than in the fresh - but in this situation I was astounded in the results.
Drifting along or just ticking over on the minn kota I was able to run both sounders & view the readings of the same structure ....... my jaw dropped - both sounders were reading the same structure , weed , bait & fish but the interpretacion was vastly different. The little Lowrance 5X had it all over the 998SI in normal sounder mode..... so much so that I spent some good time playing with settings etc - regardless the difference was like - mindblowing ...... I much preferred sitting at the helm & watching the bow mounted sounder - to the point that I ran the 998SI in downscan ( which gave a better interpretacion & lined up better with the HDS5X.
Plain and simply the Humminbird units are still way behind Lowrance when it comes to traditional sounder performance ....... disappointingly so!

So for my money ...... The Lowrance gives a much better image than that of a Humminbird ...... The 5X is near the bottom of the lowrance range yet it out performed the 2nd best Humminbird.
OK ..... Then we have the Lowrance service & quality issues - plus their SI capability is an add on at $600ish
The Humminbird is not without issues ...... shuts down during a rough ride ( hate the rear plug set up)
If I had my time over again ....... I would be buying a Lowrance just for the Imaging alone

Chris

PS .... In a few weeks time I will be back to Somerset & I will show some comparative screen shots - Its worth showing

[Mike Delisser]

How did you find the fishing up there Chris?

[NAGG]

How did you find the fishing up there Chris?

Hi Mike .... It was tough
I cracked a couple first up on Friday evening on sunset ( thought you ripper!) ....... then never landed a fish in 2 days
I found little play groups opposite pelican Pt - but they hadn't started school yet..... nor were they interested in feeding (the most lure changes I've ever made at Somerset) No one seemed to be catching fish that I spoke to & even the tourno guys were racing up and down the dam . My guess is that its just a little bit early.
I never fished the timber or bothered about an edge bite ....... I was lazy & just glad to be out

Chris

[daki23]

Appriciate this feed back mate.... while on the topic has anyone compared Garmin Sounders to Lowrance.... I'm down beteween Garmin 550c and Lowrance Elite-5x?

[NAGG]

Appriciate this feed back mate.... while on the topic has anyone compared Garmin Sounders to Lowrance.... I'm down beteween Garmin 550c and Lowrance Elite-5x?

Save a little bit more coin and go for a 5X with downscan ....... There is no comparison in image between the Garmin units Lowrance (IMHO) The downscan feature makes it easier to separate fish from structure.

Chris

[Thunderace2]

Did you change the humminbird to freshwater setting ?????

[daki23]

Save a little bit more coin and go for a 5X with downscan ....... There is no comparison in image between the Garmin units Lowrance (IMHO) The downscan feature makes it easier to separate fish from structure.

Chris

Hi Chris, thanks for that info mate, I was looking at it too... I will just thought DSI might be overkill for bay fishing... but could work... i got no problems getting it.

I'd like some opinions on their performance if anyone has one.

cheers,
daki

[NAGG]

Did you change the humminbird to freshwater setting ?????

Yes - i actually had it on freshwater to start with - which I discovered when playing with the menu & settings

Chris

[Toddy_again]

I would be interested in seeing the pics comparison.
There are some blokes in the US that run lowrances and humminbirds side by side and the differences arent great.They are are both an excellent product.
I dont really know what you are trying to achieve by posting this but maybe you should look at your settings.

Toddy

[Mike Delisser]

If anyone ever wants to know anything about their Humminbird sounder (and not just the side imaging models) you should check out this site http://forums.sideimagingsoft.com/in...bdfjaip4s3qqd0 heaps of info on all models and settings plus trouble shooting. If you regester you can ask questions to some of the techs that design Humminbirds, there's nothing these guys don't know about these sounders and they can show you how to get the most out of your "bird". They have some mind blowing screen shots also.

[NAGG]

I would be interested in seeing the pics comparison.
There are some blokes in the US that run lowrances and humminbirds side by side and the differences arent great.They are are both an excellent product.
I dont really know what you are trying to achieve by posting this but maybe you should look at your settings.

Toddy

Hi Toddy

Good question!!!
I'll tell you - for once this is not a holden Vs ford , libs vs labour , Etec Vs Yamaha type opinion / debate. I went in with both eyes open when I bought the bird - I spoke to friends with birds & was impressed with the generally good reliability - this is in contrast to my own experiences with Lowrance and that of other friends ....... The notion of potential quality issues was a deterent when looking at spending thousands of dollars on a new unit
Moving on .... as I mentioned - I've used the bird more for SI when running the leccy chasing barra in the fresh or when fishing the estuaries & not as a traditional sounder. This changed when the boat was reconfigured ..... but up till last weekend I never found myself in a position where I could compare both sounders at the same time looking at known structure & targets ( I know what etches of bass look like at rest & when active ..... plus bait at Somerset) So it would be less a case of guesswork or interpretation .

I had ideal conditions to sit at the helm and run the 998SI while ticking along on the minn kota ..... I found bait and fish and then turned on Lowrance unit - It was chalk and cheese ........ so much so that I spent a lot of time playing with the 998SI tuning it to see if it could be improved - it was but not to the extent that it was really close. (note : downscan confirmed what I was seeing)

The trouble with a lot of opinions on sounders - is that they are usually biased ...... I know a few mates that sing the praises of humminbird big time - they continue to buy them & they find fish , bait etc (As I have been for the past 9 months) - In this case I have no axe to grind or barrel to push ....... just an opinion on what I could see as a direct comparison (fairly unique)
SO ... WE ARE TALKING TRADITIONAL SOUNDER IMAGE ONLY ....... & KEEP IN MIND THAT THE 5X IS A HIGH DEFINITION SOUNDER ....... but this difference is worth noting if someone wants a sounder with the best image - That is the point of this thread.


Chris

[Toddy_again]

How do you define HD?
Most of the Humminbirds are HD also.It says so in the product name.
Have you tried turning the switchfire off?

Toddy

[NAGG]

How do you define HD?
Most of the Humminbirds are HD also.It says so in the product name.
Have you tried turning the switchfire off?

Toddy

I think its only the Side imaging that is classed as HD
tried the switchfire on and off

chris

[aussiebasser]

I've been using Humminbird for about 6 years, since my last Lowrance gave up after 12 months. I have 5 Humminbirds, and none has ever given problems. I run a 981, and can understand why you weren't happy with the side imagingin mounted on your sounder. Every time you move your motor you disrupt the echo. As for the definition of the 'bird against the Lowrance, I can't agree and I have also used both, side by side. If your plug is coming out, you have a problem. Either with doing the screw up or you boat must be the roughest riding hull invented. Mine gets bounced around, a lot, and it's never come loose, whether it's in the Stratos, the tinnie or the kayak, and the tinnie and the yak don't have the screw in block. I had a lot more problems with Lowrance plugs having the pins break off for no reason. I'll stick with the Humminbirds because I know that even though they rarely have problems, the Aussie distributor is right here in Brissy and there back up service is as good as it can get.

[NAGG]

I've been using Humminbird for about 6 years, since my last Lowrance gave up after 12 months. I have 5 Humminbirds, and none has ever given problems. I run a 981, and can understand why you weren't happy with the side imagingin mounted on your sounder. Every time you move your motor you disrupt the echo. As for the definition of the 'bird against the Lowrance, I can't agree and I have also used both, side by side. If your plug is coming out, you have a problem. Either with doing the screw up or you boat must be the roughest riding hull invented. Mine gets bounced around, a lot, and it's never come loose, whether it's in the Stratos, the tinnie or the kayak, and the tinnie and the yak don't have the screw in block. I had a lot more problems with Lowrance plugs having the pins break off for no reason. I'll stick with the Humminbirds because I know that even though they rarely have problems, the Aussie distributor is right here in Brissy and there back up service is as good as it can get.

I appreciate your comments Dale ........ and like I mentioned before - I know quite a few bird advocates that share your sentiments - but I really feel that its the holden vs ford thing .
I'm sure the service that you get out of BLA could be best described as preferential
hey ?
As for Lowrance and their quality .... it seems that you either get a good one or a dud - but they seem to die pretty well out of the box ..... they just get replaced ( that's the experience I and other boaties I know have found).
This thread though is not about that (quality) or other features , after sales service , price etc - I bought my 998SI in preference to the Lowrance as an overall package.
It's just now that I have seen both units interpreting the same structure , fish & bait - at the same time and am commenting on that aspect alone (standard sounder mode)!

I'd love nothing more than to be on here saying that my considerable investment in the Humminbird 998SI is the best thing I have ever bought ........ but I cant when a little Lowrance 5X sits on the bow & I can compare the two images.

Cheers

Chris