Thread: Lowrance vs. Humminbird

Originally Posted by maachuu

you know the sad thing is this, the original poster that was a new guy to the boards, just gave up and threw his hands up and said he would post any more in this thread . I dont think he got his answer, just those giving preferences but mostly as reaper said tossing snide remarks back and forth about the brands. I just hate that his first taste of the board has already left a bad taste in his mouth

If my posts came off as snide remarks, I apologize. The internet is a place where people seem to think they can post anything and it's OK. I am simply defending customer service for Lowrance, because they are doing a good job. When you have a $2000 unit that's 6 years old and 5 years out of Warranty and a company gives you $1800 credit towards a new unit, I'd say that's a pretty fair deal.

I don't believe I took shots at HB, I tried to support the question asked in the initial post. I have called Lowrance Customer service 3 times in the last 24hrs, and my wait time was 0 seconds. They were friendly, helpful, and willing to discuss any question or problem I had.

Here is the result of those calls, also from post 58.

1. The HDS units were a complete shift for Lowrance and replaced the LCX and LMX product lines. They serviced these units for years prior to the HDS change.
2. Lowrance will still fix your unit if they can, but if the unit won't power on, and depending on age, they may ship you a replacement HDS unit at no additional charge, or give you a discount towards a new HDS unit.
3. Since HDS is only a hair over 2yrs old, they fully expect to be servicing these units for several years.
4. These units have a 2 Year warranty. Does any other fish finder carry a 2 year warranty?

These Future repairs problems would only occur if the HDS unit was replaced and discontinued. How long did they service LCX-LMX units? From day 1 of the units, until today if they have parts. If not, they'll still take care of you. Does another brand give you a replacement or a huge discount if your unit is dead, out of warranty, and discontinued?

Expectations for this one area of technology seems to be really high, that you are going to be able to buy something, and a company will fix it for the next 20 years. Is that a realistic expectation? Also this equipment is subject to different conditions with different owners. One guy might not trailer with his electronics on the boat. Another will leave the 5K in equipment on, under the boat cover, and leave the boat outside in summer. How you take care of your stuff after the sale, is also important.

Originally Posted by Shellback

Good Morning All. Just a quick note to those interested in Lowrance units. Cabelas has a sale now on "refurbished?" Lowrance HD-7 thru HD-10"s. Might be a good buy for those interested.

Yep. I picked up a HDS7. $100 dollar rebate, $50 Cabela member rebate, Cabelas perk bucks. Cost $590, including shipping. Not bad. I've lost more than that at a craps table. ha

I haven't seen either one work, after reading all of this I'm going to take up golf Rofl

Originally Posted by crappiemax

I haven't seen either one work, after reading all of this I'm going to take up golf Rofl

Don't do it Crappiemax. You'll just get into debates over range finders and GPS equipment all over again. There is a lot of electrics for golf also. Thumbs Up Doh

I'm an HB owner.

Last Febuary I was like a lot of folks this year, looking to buy a side imaging unit. I read everything that I could between the two brands, went to seminars, called customer support. I even found a couple of local guys to take me out on their boats to show me the units in action.

I came up with a list of what was important for me. One was price.

Another was a concern about mounting two transducers on my transom. The transom on my boat is flat, I don't have a jackplate and I wanted to take advantage of the overlay feature on the Lowrance. However, I was concerned about the transducers causing obstruction of the other unit's signals. I called Lowrance Customer Support on this. While they were helpful, they wouldn't tell me that obstruction would not be an issue. I went to a seminar. Talked with the Lowrance expert. Even took him to a similar boat as mine and asked where I needed to mount the transducers. Again, he couldn't guarantee that there wouldn't be obstruction. The best answer that I got was to mount on opposite sides of the boat. But this would take away an advantage of the Lowrance, the overlay feature.

Another want on my list was SI at both the transom and the bow. I could get this with purchase of two SI units from HB, but I would have to buy two LSS-1 units to have that with Lowrance or buy one LSS-1 transducer and only be able to view the SI from wherever I mounted that transducer.

So, with a heck of a price on HB units, no guarantee that the SS from Lowrance would work on my situation, lack of SI at both locations. I went with HB.

I'm also a happy HB owner.

Great information Stymie. For reference, can you tell us what kind of boat you have, or post a pic of your transom. This is the first time I've heard this as a concern, so I'm wondering are you meaning to say interference with the 2 beams?

Originally Posted by Brian@BBGmarine

I sell both brands along with many others and sales are a pretty even split between Lowrance and Humminbird. As for the pros/cons of each, give me a call and we can discuss.

Brian

Has this been the trend for the past 6 months? Or even the last year? I am speaking in terms of evenly split in sales?

Originally Posted by mduncan62

Great information Stymie. For reference, can you tell us what kind of boat you have, or post a pic of your transom. This is the first time I've heard this as a concern, so I'm wondering are you meaning to say interference with the 2 beams?

can i still send pictures without offending you????????????/