Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Looking for a high quality fish finder/chartplotter. Narrowed it down between the Hummingbird and Lowrance in the 8-10" models.

The Lowrance appears to have the better unit based on reviews, fish finder capabilities, and overall customer satisfaction.

So, the model I am considering is the HDS-10 Gen 2. This is not the touch screen model (that's another $1000 cost. The price is about $2300 with transducer and does not include structure scan, which I am not convinced I need.

Any of you have this unit and can provide a review or comments?

BTW.....still have to sell myself on the $2300 price tag (ouch!)!!

Thanks

I run the HDS5 and love it! Very user friendly. Display is nice and bright, even in direct sunlight

I have the Gen 1 HDS 8 with down/side scan and chart plotting/navigation so I can speak to that, not sure if will help but hey, its free to type and read it.

I love my unit! ( That could be taken wrong!)

I would have never spent that much for a new unit before but it was 1 1/2 years old and on my boat when I bought the boat.
And now I don't think I will ever use a lesser unit as long as I am fishing.
The 8 inch screen is wonderful, having a 10 inch would be even better because I use a lot of split screen. If you don't or wont use split screen buying the 10 inch only up's the "cool" factor.

On mine I have to use two transducers, one for structure scan and one for sonar, which is really not a big deal to me, you just make sure both are down and in position before launching. I'm not sure about the gen 2 and I think Gen 3 has a unit that has one transducer but that would require that structure scan be in the unit, and you said you don't have it so if you do get structure scan the separate transducer would just go on the other log.

If all you need is to know the depth, bottom contour, and water temp, a less expensive unit is all that is needed. I have a friend that bass fishes ALL the time and he just wasted his money on similar unit because he just doesn't use its possibilities, he just pretty much beats the bank and fishes really shallow water most all the time.

The sonar is great and I use it mostly for finding large single fish and schools of various fish or bait (shad).
I use the structure to see in more detail if what I'm looking at on sonar is a brush-pile or similar mass structure. I also can usually tell if a school of fish is shad or sandies, and that helps me know where to throw my cast net for bait or where to fish in other situations. You can actually sometimes see a bait-ball of shad with large fish under/around it and if the bait-ball seems disturbed you can bet that the bigger fish are feeding on them, a good place to fish, and sometimes you will see a bait-ball of shad UNdisturbed with big fish around them, the fish are not likely to bite if they are not already feeding.
I also use it to drive by bridge columns and boat docks to see which hold more fish around them to increase your chances of hooking one.

I will go into the map/chart-plotter more if you want me too, my fingers are tired at this point and if you've gotten this far i bet you are tired of reading me this long.
But I love that feature also, let me know if you want to know more there.

And I also hear good things about the Hummingbird's unit's and especially customer service compared to Lowrance, but I haven't had to use the customer service my self.
But I will let a Hummingbird guy tell you about theirs.

I switched to Humminbird a few years ago. Used Lowrance product for years, but that was before Humminbird made the high end units, and before Navico bought Lowrance and moved their production (or some of it) to Mexico. Lowrance still has a loyal following, but is definitely not the same company any more, especially in the customer service department, but they still make a nice unit.

Since Johnson Controls purchased Humminbird, among other companies they have become the "leading edge" company when it comes to Sonar/Imaging technology and have been for a few years, IMO.

I have a HDS-7 Gen1 don't leave home without it. BTW I too have down/side scan and chart plotting/navigation, Truman has 8500 acres of trees still standing under water so I do use all of the bells on it. Would buy it again and I payed 1700 for it.

Thanks for in-depth description Steve.

I don't think I will go structure scan, but really need sonar/FF and screen, software, and transducer that will display CRISP/SHARP images of shad, fish, bait balls, etc. This will be my primary use. Chartplotter will be used to mark fish spots, not so much for navigation, as the lakes I'm in are not large enough to get lost in!!

The 10" screen is nice and I can see things very clear in this size range. The 8" is noice too, but one I saw the 10" it was difficult to look away!

Are there other FF that meet my specs or am I close in my narrowed-down choices?

Thanks

SoCalAngler wrote:Thanks for in-depth description Steve.

I don't think I will go structure scan, but really need sonar/FF and screen, software, and transducer that will display CRISP/SHARP images of shad, fish, bait balls, etc. This will be my primary use. Chartplotter will be used to mark fish spots, not so much for navigation, as the lakes I'm in are not large enough to get lost in!!

The 10" screen is nice and I can see things very clear in this size range. The 8" is noice too, but one I saw the 10" it was difficult to look away!

Are there other FF that meet my specs or am I close in my narrowed-down choices?

Thanks

Your very welcome--
i will say that I would get the biggest screen you can afford-you won't be sorry.

Ok.....not so sure I want to spend the $2200 for one of the Lowrance units.

So, If I were to keep my budget at, say, $700, what would be the BEST FF for the money?

I want a crisp, sharp display, readable in sunlight, largest screen possible, and GPS/Chartplotter.

What are the proven units in the price range that fit my specs?

Thanks!

Here are some very good choices in that price range, the pictures show all split screens but that is only one of the options, You can choose to have only one screen or split them up. I would suggest staying at one screen until you better understand the different functions and then start splitting the screens.

Hope this helps--

http://www.basspro.com/Humminbird-597ci ... LL_PRODUCT

http://www.basspro.com/Humminbird-598ci ... 090542214/

http://www.basspro.com/Lowrance-Elite-7 ... LL_PRODUCT

Garmin 531s is another good one. I have the Garmin 431s because it would fit where the old fishfinder was. If I had more room I would have gotten a larger screen. If you're mounting on top of the dash then the sky and pocketbook is the limit.

I have mine mounted on the side, works good for me and is not in the way.

The Garmin's are nice units. The 431 and 531 are smaller screens. I'd like between a 7"-10" as soon as I can decide what price to pay.

I am going to mount mine on the side like yours Steve.

The Lowrance (in the link provided) Elite looks like a nice unit for $700.

Steve...how do you like your HDS 8? Is the screen large enough if fishing at bow and you swivel to face bow area? I'm assuming it is much nicer than the Elite models?

Thanks!

We have the 8" screen. Plenty big. We moved the lowrance that came with the boat to the bow. The big lowrance can swivel to bow view too.

sailor....nice looking unit!

My current small FF is on the right side of console mounted on the side with a RAM mount. I think I'll keep it here. Do you bump into your unit when getting up and down from seat as you move forward or through the pass from bow to stern?

I'm thinking of the Lowrance Elite 7 HDI with Broadband sounder and Downscan imaging. Price sis at $699 with 10% off at West Marine. I really like the HDS units, but they are twice the price for an HDS 8...ouch!!!

you guys think the 7" screen on the Lowrance Elite 7 HDI is too small for a pontoon boat? Seeing as I fish all over the boat, I'd lime to swivel it around and see the screen.

However, most of the time you're moving to find spots and I would be in the drivers seat close to the screen.

I really like the HDS 8 but at $1700 .......I may be liking the Elite 7 at $699 more

Thoughts?

I want to make the best decision, as this is rather large investment and FF can be so important for finding the fish.

Thanks