Thread: Help with Garmin vs. Lowrance

My post is late to the party but here is my 2cents worth. I have had Lowrance, no problems. I still have a hummingbird, no problems. I put the Garmin 73dv up front last year and of all of them, the ease of use, clarity and detail, the Garmin is by FAR my favorite. My take is it's like the Ford/ Chevy debate. They ALL make a great product and I'm sure whichever you choose will be what is right for you. Good luck!

what no dodge in debate

Thank you all for the info. I noticed the Garmin 73sv and dv I'm looking at is last years model. NO chirp. Is that a big deal? I've never had chirp and some of the things I read says chirp won't paint a clear bottom picture.

I've had a Garmin 93SV on the console and a 73DV up front since they first came out. I went from a Lowrance touch 9 to the 93SV. Mine, of course. are not the chirp models. I took some screenshots the very first day I had it out and was really impressed with it over the Lowrance, Below are a couple of the ones I took. Mind you, this was before I adjusted anything - just installed straight out of the box. I have adjusted it since and it is much better now. Note on the sidevu how the center is skewed more to the left. Just needed to straighten the transducer some. Now that I have played with adjustments in range, contrast, etc. it is a much better picture (but I haven't bothered to take more screenshots.) I really prefer the Garmins. When I replace my 73DV up front it will be with a 93SV Chirp.

Those are good pictures. I was told you couldn't put a SV on the trolling motor you had to use a DV. Are you going to mount the 93SV on the trolling motor? Is the chirp that much better. I may not buy sale units and move up to the chirp.

That information went around early on about si/sv/etc on the TM. Incorrect in my mind. I only have one unit and it is on my TM. I'm TM only jon boat. The only issue one will have with this is when you turn the TM it will blur the pic momentarily. Unless you turn slowly, then it is not so much. Even if it does blur it's only a band about 1/4 - 3/8" then back to normal. I like the idea of sitting right on top of my data, when I see it on the screen I know it is very recent, not 14 feet away. Don't back off because of that info. They also said sv was no good in shallow water. That's another myth. btw I'm running Garmin, but you can see some great Doug V. youtube vids showing sv/si on TM working quite well. He's Mr HB

Originally Posted by Called In Sick

Those are good pictures. I was told you couldn't put a SV on the trolling motor you had to use a DV. Are you going to mount the 93SV on the trolling motor? Is the chirp that much better. I may not buy sale units and move up to the chirp.

I have a separate transducer mount up front so my TM is clean. From what I've seen the chirp is better but, more importantly, I would prefer the larger screen up front.

Floyd

Went to Cabela's today and looked at the Elite 9, I really liked the touch screen. Now I'm more confused than ever. I like the picture on the Garmin but the touch screen was nice and easy to navigate.