Post by: bearpaw on July 15, 2012, 10:53:00 AM
What brand/model should I be looking for and why?
Thanks for any advice.... :tup:
Post by: PolarBear on July 15, 2012, 11:03:24 AM
Post by: bearpaw on July 15, 2012, 11:27:27 AM
Post by: SkookumHntr on July 15, 2012, 11:28:23 AM
Post by: bearpaw on July 15, 2012, 11:30:07 AM
I would say Raymarine are as good as they get! :twocents:
What are the reasons?
Post by: SkookumHntr on July 15, 2012, 11:35:34 AM
Post by: CP on July 15, 2012, 12:44:41 PM
Not that you will submerge the unit but that rating will make sure that water does not get into the unit and ruin it.
Post by: bloodhound on July 15, 2012, 12:47:20 PM
Post by: FC on July 15, 2012, 07:38:42 PM
I can't remember what model Ripper has on his boat but the topographic detail of the bottom on the gps is great and the finder itself works well, I would highly recommend it.
Post by: BLUEBULLS on July 15, 2012, 10:23:20 PM
Post by: lokidog on July 15, 2012, 10:40:17 PM
humming bird is best bang for the buck. comes with more features for less then lowrance and are just as good.
I'd say better! Humminbird customer service beats lowrance as well. I used it for help and to upgrade my transponder for free. They also replaced two mounting brackets for free. Lowrance (when I had problems with it not locking on) never returned calls or email. :bash: This unit had an internal antenna which would take up to five times as long to lock on as my 15 or so year old hand held Garmin sitting on the dash behind it.
A neighbor has the Lowrance HDS 10 (costs 3X my Humminbird) and my Humminbird 788ci has it beat hands down for readability, detail and ease of use. The Lowrance gps controls work as well.
If you go with a dual purpose unit, be sure to get the largest screen you can afford. When you squish both pictures onto one screen, things can get kind of small.
Check out www.poorfish.com (http://www.poorfish.com), they often have the best prices around on their stuff.
Post by: Wacenturion on July 15, 2012, 10:40:31 PM
humming bird is best bang for the buck. comes with more features for less then lowrance and are just as good.
When they work as they should they are all probably good. It's when they don't work properly that you find out how good the service is. I have Humminbirds, which I purchased after a lot of research. They work well for me. Seemed as if features were better in some respects. One example was side imaging and down imaging, With Lowrance that was a separate black box that connected to the Lowrance fishfinder (certain models) and added approximately $600 in cost.
With Humminbird you could almost buy another separate unit for a little more with SI and DI, thereby having two units, with one being a backup if needed. Humminbird came with GPS antenna, where with several models of Lowrance did not, which added more cost. Humminbird has a transducer exchange program where you can exhange or upgrade if yours is unused. Easy downloads and account setup. Most importantly when I call, even if I have to wait ,technical and other service is first class, So until things change, I'm quite happy.
If you're curious just google Lowrance service and like wise Humminbird service. That will tell you quite a bit.
Garmin, Ray Marine, Furuno, etc all make quality units.
One thing important to me was the fact that Humminbird is made in the good ol' USA........
The Humminbird brand is manufactured by the Marine Electronics Group of Johnson Outdoors (Nasdaq: JOUT). At a state-of-the-art facility in Eufaula, Alabama, Humminbird designs, engineers and manufactures sonar and electronic products primarily for the consumer market.
Post by: Wacenturion on July 15, 2012, 10:59:59 PM
I sent in the promotion form with UPC and said up front, I realize I missed the deadline but just thought I would ask if it were possible to get one.
Guess what............Ram Mount on it's way. I wasn't expecting to get a yes, but I'll tell ya, I was impressed.
When I purchased my 798 c si 4 or 5 months later, I get an ermail to join the Humminbird Elite club (something like that), which was free of charge and added one additional year of warranty to the 798 c si. What's not to like. :chuckle:
Since then, I have continued to feel good about the service they provide when needed. In fact just called last week as I was wiring in a new VHF radio to the Humminbird GPS, to utilize the DSC/D capabilities. A woman answered and without missing a beat, explained just what I needed to do to wire the connection. Didn't have to put me on hold to ask someone else. They appear to have great staff. :tup:
Post by: bloodhound on July 15, 2012, 11:03:49 PM
Post by: cohoho on July 15, 2012, 11:23:28 PM
humming bird is best bang for the buck. comes with more features for less then lowrance and are just as good.
When they work as they should they are all probably good. It's when they don't work properly that you find out how good the service is. I have Humminbirds, which I purchased after a lot of research. They work well for me. Seemed as if features were better in some respects. One example was side imaging and down imaging, With Lowrance that was a separate black box that connected to the Lowrance fishfinder (certain models) and added approximately $600 in cost.
With Humminbird you could almost buy another separate unit for a little more with SI and DI, thereby having two units, with one being a backup if needed. Humminbird came with GPS antenna, where with several models of Lowrance did not, which added more cost. Humminbird has a transducer exchange program where you can exhange or upgrade if yours is unused. Easy downloads and account setup. Most importantly when I call, even if I have to wait ,technical and other service is first class, So until things change, I'm quite happy.
If you're curious just google Lowrance service and like wise Humminbird service. That will tell you quite a bit.
Garmin, Ray Marine, Furuno, etc all make quality units.
One thing important to me was the fact that Humminbird is made in the good ol' USA........
The Humminbird brand is manufactured by the Marine Electronics Group of Johnson Outdoors (Nasdaq: JOUT). At a state-of-the-art facility in Eufaula, Alabama, Humminbird designs, engineers and manufactures sonar and electronic products primarily for the consumer market.
Made in USA is great feature for me. Will switch soon to Humminbird also... Heard alot of other reports from friends that have them and absolutely love them...
Post by: bassquatch on July 15, 2012, 11:54:34 PM
Good luck with whatever you choose :tup:
Post by: Sneaky on July 16, 2012, 09:09:37 AM
Post by: NRA4LIFE on July 16, 2012, 09:48:10 AM
Post by: TheHunt on July 16, 2012, 09:53:14 AM
Post by: lokidog on July 16, 2012, 09:56:52 AM
I know of a few guides who fish the Columbia. They use a GPS which you can buy chips for rivers. I am not sure how it works but those chips show the channels of the river. Both of them kill the fish hands down. So you might want to consider the additional functions of a chipped GPS.
You can get detail chips for a lot of areas. They will work in any newer gps that has an SD slot.
Post by: bearpaw on July 17, 2012, 04:46:51 PM
Most of my fishing will be inland streams and lakes, I know where to find the walleye, but a little help never hurts. I mostly want to find lake trout and large rainbow in some waters I'm not very familiar with. I also want GPS ability to go out from Neah Bay for halibut and out from westport for salmon and rockfish.
I tend to like large screens and good detail but also like easy to read. The SD chip sounds perfect for loading lake and river maps in areas I may go that I don't already know. I also want to be able to read my boat speed as I plan on some very speed specific trolling. I might be fishing from very shallow to as much as a few hundred feet.
There are numerous terms some of you used that I do not know the meaning, with all this in mind, which hummingbird models would be the best for me to check out?
Thanks again for the help... :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on July 17, 2012, 04:49:11 PM
Post by: oldcamper on July 17, 2012, 05:26:53 PM
Post by: bearpaw on July 17, 2012, 05:29:00 PM
I say to think about wether you plan to add aditional features in the future (radar, etc.) You don't want to have to purchase a new model/brand everytime you step up to a new feature for the boat. :twocents:
Are you saying that's why two units work best together? That I can add options to units?
Post by: Wacenturion on July 17, 2012, 07:50:57 PM
May have changed somewhat now, but a year ago when I bought mine I thought why would I want to spend x amount on a big screen Lowrance and then add a black box for SI for another $600? Instead bought a 10.4 Humminbird and for not much more than the cost of that Lowrance box I picked up a si and di Humminbird 798 c si.
The advantage to me is I have the larger unit at the helm while I'm running but when I go back to the kicker and troll I use the smaller unit which is mounted on the side near the transom. I only use one at a time, even though they have separate transducer and share a GPS antenna.
The newer units now have Ethernet ports. They make it easy to connect your system to other components. Unfortunately my 1157c which is not a si and di unit has an Ethernet port, but will not except the new Humminbird radar. That's technology for you. Oldcamper's recommendation is right on.
Give Humminbird a call and describe what your needs are and see what they recommend. Give you an opportunity to check out their service and answer questions better than most here. :tup:
Post by: Ripper on July 17, 2012, 08:10:17 PM
Post by: lokidog on July 17, 2012, 09:12:39 PM
I have been on two boats that have the Lowrance HDS 10's and find the depthfinder lacking in detail and intuitive use. The same with the gps on these units, it is a lot more complicated than on my smaller Lowrance or the Humminbird (I have not spent a lot of time goofing around with them though).
For a single unit, dual purpose, the Humminbird 858c looks great for 999.99, then you could step up to the 858DI for 1199 or 998c SI for 1999.