Humminbird and Lowrance

[TNReb]

Same old argument... Ford vs Chevy... I know...

I'm not looking to debate which one is best. I'm just looking for opinions from anyone who owns the Lowrance HDS Carbon or the Humminbird Solix.

I like the interface of the Lowrance a lot better, but prefer the Lakemaster maps on the Humminbird. I'm really torn...

 

[X-Tennessean]

Also take into consideration what trolling motor you are going with if I-pilot link is what you want.

Birds for Minnkota
Lowrance with Motorguide

Wish I could help you more on the graph choice, both are awesome units!!

Myself I went with the Ultrex, Lakemaster maps, Helix Mega units.

 

[WTM]

i believe Trigger bought a Solix. you might pm him. check out BBC boards, they have a lot of info on all brands and dealers and factory reps usually answer questions on there. check out the sonar interpretation threads to see screenshots of the units.

 

[TNReb]

Also take into consideration what trolling motor you are going with if I-pilot link is what you want.

Birds for Minnkota
Lowrance with Motorguide

Wish I could help you more on the graph choice, both are awesome units!!

Myself I went with the Ultrex, Lakemaster maps, Helix Mega units.

Are you happy with the Lakemaster maps?

 

[cbhunter]

Your wife is gonna end up putting you on the back porch after all. She ok'ed the boat but did she realize what all goes into it afterwards?? oke:

Wish I could help you on the electronics but I'm useless. Good luck in your decision.

 

[X-Tennessean]

Also take into consideration what trolling motor you are going with if I-pilot link is what you want.

Birds for Minnkota
Lowrance with Motorguide

Wish I could help you more on the graph choice, both are awesome units!!

Myself I went with the Ultrex, Lakemaster maps, Helix Mega units.

Are you happy with the Lakemaster maps?

Yes sir
They both have benefits to each of them.
Lot of folks will run both

 

[nitro_z17]

been a lowrance user for years. no problems. the new fish reveal is a gamechanger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOYur-7 ... e=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3Ayno3ZKII

 

[TNReb]

been a lowrance user for years. no problems. the new fish reveal is a gamechanger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOYur-7 ... e=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3Ayno3ZKII

I was looking at that this weekend. Seems useful if it works.

There's just not much I like about the Humminbird except the Lakemaster maps... but I REALLY like the way you can shade the map.

Generally speaking though, I don't travel other places to fish and I know the areas of Old Hickory that I fish fairly well, in terms of depth. I probably wouldn't get as much real use out of it as I think.

I really wanted a 12 at the helm, but I can't justify the price difference in the 9 and 12 of the Lowrance.

Part of me wants Humminbird for practical reasons (price), but I know in the back of my head I'll be wondering if I would have liked the Lowrance better.

 

[SilverFox]

Dang y'all guys are some big spenders. I just can't justify it. If they were free I'd love to have a couple Helix 10 or 12 mega units.

My fishing partner runs 4 Lowrance units on his Ranger. I tick him off every time I switch the depth shading on my Birds or turn the screen so he can see the side scan. I run side scan more than anything since I fish shallow water most often. There's no comparison in shallow water side scan.

Had you been a week or so earlier, I could have got you a deal on the HDS 12 carbon. My buddy just sold a new one in the box for $2400 for everything.

 

[TRIGGER]

I have the solix 15. The thing is as slow as Christmas compared to the Raymarine axiom I had before the solix. I have not run Lowrance so I can not compare the two. The imaging of the solix is great. Being able to have the lakemaster and the navionics card both in the unit is useful. The speed of the unit is disappointing mainly with the mapping. But then again the Raymarine I was used to is the fastest on the market.

 

[WTM]

I have the solix 15. The thing is as slow as Christmas compared to the Raymarine axiom I had before the solix. I have not run Lowrance so I can not compare the two. The imaging of the solix is great. Being able to have the lakemaster and the navionics card both in the unit is useful. The speed of the unit is disappointing mainly with the mapping. But then again the Raymarine I was used to is the fastest on the market.

thats the difference in a quad core processor and the dual cores of the hummingbird and lowrance. raymarine probably has more memory too to make those draws quicker.

any particular reason for switching from raymarine?

 

[bluball]

I have the solix 15. The thing is as slow as Christmas compared to the Raymarine axiom I had before the solix. I have not run Lowrance so I can not compare the two. The imaging of the solix is great. Being able to have the lakemaster and the navionics card both in the unit is useful. The speed of the unit is disappointing mainly with the mapping. But then again the Raymarine I was used to is the fastest on the market.

thats the difference in a quad core processor and the dual cores of the hummingbird and lowrance. raymarine probably has more memory too to make those draws quicker.

any particular reason for switching from raymarine?

Don't know about solix, but helix 12 gen 1 the mapping refreshes slow compared to my lowrance.

Sent from my SM-S907VL using Tapatalk

 

[TRIGGER]

I have the solix 15. The thing is as slow as Christmas compared to the Raymarine axiom I had before the solix. I have not run Lowrance so I can not compare the two. The imaging of the solix is great. Being able to have the lakemaster and the navionics card both in the unit is useful. The speed of the unit is disappointing mainly with the mapping. But then again the Raymarine I was used to is the fastest on the market.

thats the difference in a quad core processor and the dual cores of the hummingbird and lowrance. raymarine probably has more memory too to make those draws quicker.

any particular reason for switching from raymarine?

The only reason I got away from the axiom is for the hummingbird mapping. Last year I was using Raymarine for down/side and hummingbird helix for mapping so by the time enough information came up on the screen to know I wanted to mark it I was already past it by the time I marked a point on my helix so it was always a guessing game some what. I decided it would be easier to get used to reading a different down/side imagining and more beneficial to keep the lakemaster mapping.

 

[bluball]

I have the solix 15. The thing is as slow as Christmas compared to the Raymarine axiom I had before the solix. I have not run Lowrance so I can not compare the two. The imaging of the solix is great. Being able to have the lakemaster and the navionics card both in the unit is useful. The speed of the unit is disappointing mainly with the mapping. But then again the Raymarine I was used to is the fastest on the market.

thats the difference in a quad core processor and the dual cores of the hummingbird and lowrance. raymarine probably has more memory too to make those draws quicker.

any particular reason for switching from raymarine?

The only reason I got away from the axiom is for the hummingbird mapping. Last year I was using Raymarine for down/side and hummingbird helix for mapping so by the time enough information came up on the screen to know I wanted to mark it I was already past it by the time I marked a point on my helix so it was always a guessing game some what. I decided it would be easier to get used to reading a different down/side imagining and more beneficial to keep the lakemaster mapping.

With lowrance you can backtrack and mark,scroll back to info thats already left the scren.

Sent from my SM-S907VL using Tapatalk

 

[WTM]

garmin has that feature as well. i think humminbird may have added to the helix series, at least the 7" had it on demo. i was looking at the 7" axiom as a navigation unit for the dash but just may keep the elite until i decide what im gonna add or upgrade to in a year or 2. kind of confusing to go through all the included features of the 3 brands, at least for the mid range units. for example the helix 7"s are standalone units?(non networkable) so i have to buy a 9" unit to network with another 9" unit on the bow? i can network to another elite ti but only while both units are powered on and one doesnt transfer waypoints to the other? garmin's new echomap plus series has all of the bells and whistles, BUT i wont be able to use the one i bought last year to network to it, even to share waypoints?

stuff like this just gives me a headache, lol.

 

[bluball]

garmin has that feature as well. i think humminbird may have added to the helix series, at least the 7" had it on demo. i was looking at the 7" axiom as a navigation unit for the dash but just may keep the elite until i decide what im gonna add or upgrade to in a year or 2. kind of confusing to go through all the included features of the 3 brands, at least for the mid range units. for example the helix 7"s are standalone units?(non networkable) so i have to buy a 9" unit to network with another 9" unit on the bow? i can network to another elite ti but only while both units are powered on and one doesnt transfer waypoints to the other? garmin's new echomap plus series has all of the bells and whistles, BUT i wont be able to use the one i bought last year to network to it, even to share waypoints?

stuff like this just gives me a headache, lol.

Helix gen 1 wont do backtrack,never tried it on a gen2.Ive been around gen2 helixes but never tried it.I believe the helix 7 gen2 are ethernat compatible,helix 7 gen 1 are not.

Sent from my SM-S907VL using Tapatalk

 

[jard]

I'll throw in my $.02.

I used Humminbird for years. Had 859, 899, 999 etc. My last boat had 2 Helix 10's all linked together. Very easy to use and a lot less wires and easy to install. Gave me excellent shots of the bottom structure. However, I could never see fish, especially on the ledges and the internal GPS sucked at anything under .4 mph which screwed my crappie fishing over brush. Must buy the external puck if u want to use birds.

I switched to Lowrance last year and now have 2 HDS 9 Gen 3 touches. My neighbor has them and after several trips with him, he convinced me to switch. I bought the boat in a box kit. I'm extremely pleased and will not be going back anytime soon. However learning curve was steep and I had to put in a lot of youtube and water time to dial in the settings. However, once done, I can see structure and fish on everything. I love the touch screen and the point 1 gps is incredibly accurate. I like the track back and you can scroll backwards and mark stuff well after you have gone over it and you can create custom screens that show you everything u want. Way more customizable than birds. The cons are that its labor intensive to install the NEMA background and run new wires as everything needs its own power supply and the learning curve is steep.

This one comes with a total scan transducer which is nice, mine came with separate 2d skimmer and LSS-2.
https://www.cabelas.com/product/Lowranc ... 716975.uts

 

[TRIGGER]

I have a 9" axiom I will get rid of if interested.

 

[TNReb]

for example the helix 7"s are standalone units?(non networkable) so i have to buy a 9" unit to network with another 9" unit on the bow?

There's different model Helix 7's. The Helix 7 G2N is networkable, from what I've read. The "N" in the model name denotes "neworking".

This page should show you all of the Helix 7 models:

https://www.humminbird.com/Freshwater/P ... cets=,,,,,,


If you Filter by Features at the top, and choose Networking, it wills how you 3 Helix 7 models that support it. Weather they can share all data, or just limited data, is beyond my knowledge.

 

[WTM]

yeah i found this last night, it is a chart that shows which will network to what and what they share. i was looking at the first gen helix 7 i guess:

https://www.humminbird.com/WorkArea/Dow ... px?id=8912