Humminbird or Lowarance Fishfinder

[cougarcreek]

I am looking to buy a new fish finder but cannot decide which way to go. A Lowrance HDS -8m Gen 2 or Humminbird 898c SI combo.

[Jamie Black R/T]

go play with both of them and see which one you like.

i ended up going with the Humminbird recently just because of their reputation for customer service and I liked the menu navigation better on their plotters.

[cube]

Originally Posted by cougarcreek

I am looking to buy a new fish finder but cannot decide which way to go. A Lowrance HDS -8m Gen 2 or Humminbird 898c SI combo.

If you were going the HDS route I think you would want the HDS-8 and not the HDS-8m. The 8m is mapping only and does not doe sonar while the 8 does both.

Either the bird or HDS will work very well. If you were thinking of useing the Humminbird 360 then get the Bird.

I personally have the HDS and love it but had a Humminbird before that and thought it did the job.

[Remi3006]

You should send Thorne a PM on this... He seems to be very knowledgeable on the HDS units.

[huntsfurfish]

As stated the Lowrance HDS 8M is not a fishfinder. I do believe it can network and show the fishfinding feature only when networked with an HDS fishfinder 5,7,8 or 10.

I have HDS 10,8, and 5 with side imaging(LSS-1) and they are awesome, will get another HDS 10g2 with LSS-2 this year.

That said dont think you can go wrong with Humminbird either.

The 898 is probably more comparable to HDS 7 size wise. But if you want side imaging that is another 6-700 dollars with lowrance.

[Bigdad013]

If you have canon electric downriggers, you can interconnect them with the hummingbird, so you can lower or raise them from your finder. Not sure what model hummingbird it is, but pretty cool. I am a Lowrance guy and always have been, never a problem in 30 years of use.

[bobalong]

Originally Posted by Jamie Black R/T

go play with both of them and see which one you like.

i ended up going with the Humminbird recently just because of their reputation for customer service and I liked the menu navigation better on their plotters.

x2

[bardfromedson]

i have mostly owned lowrance. like them but when they don't work the customer service sucks. humminbird backs there equipment a lot better. my next big boat unit will be a bird.