Originally Posted by
T_om
I'm not sure where all the info about Garmin lacking "mapping" is coming from. Certainly not Garmin owners with CURRENT models.
Not only do they have a LARGE number of North American lakes, rivers and coastal charts included in the price of the EchoMap SV93 Plus, they also allow you to create your own. You can map and save contour charts of any body of water you fish. You record the data right on the unit and can download it to computer. Make your own contour charts of any place you fish. It also allows you to update the contour maps provided with your own up to the second recordings. Any quick look at the available contour charts available on new Garmin units will demonstrate that they are well covered.
Last, although Humminbird is usually top notch, go on any Humminbird forum and search out the "shallow water" problem. They have a real mess at present because their Helix units go nuts in shallow water. They tried an update about a month ago that didn't cure the problem.
I'm lucky. My fishing partner has a full suite of Humminbird gear on his boat including the new 360. But he is having a real problem in shallow water. Which most all of Florida is by the way. His problems with the Humminbird issue is what caused me to look at Garmin in the first place and I'm glad I did. And after fishing on my boat, Don bought a Garmin AND a Liveview box. And is happy with it.
Plus, Humminbird's 360 cannot even remotely compete with Garmin's Liveview. Nothing can... yet anyway.
Tom