Whats a better fish finder? Huminbird or Lowrance?

[Bakay]

I am debating whether to get the Lowrance HDS 5X Sonar <or> the Humminbird 596C HD DI Sonar. The lowrance has high definition sonar only and the Humminbird has regular 2D sonar plus the new down imaging feature. Both are priced around 500. Does anyone own any of these units or have an opinion. Any help or feedback is appreciated!

[JerseyHooker.Com]

Lowrance

[team heat]

Ive had alot of Hummingbirds and the fishfinder works pretty good.Never had one break and always showed the bottom and fish if you install it properly.Dont get a gps built into a hummingbird fishfinder the detail and processer just are not up to par with the Lowrance.The Lowrance is a very good unit that should serve you well.If im not mistaken the furuno fishfinders are always rated the best.I have a furuno fcv 600l that works great.if you have room and can afford it try to get two separate units instead of a combo unit this way you wont have to play with buttons to switch between screens and if something happens to either of them you wont lose both.

[Bass_Appeal]

i have the lowrance hds unit , just got it last fathers day , and still figuring out all the features , but i really like it so far , i bought the navionics chip , and i would like to buy some extras to go with , the only thing i am pissed about , is the fact that the model i bought dropped in price by 200.00 on the shelves and they now come out ith the gen2 ....gen 2 seems to be an all black unit , and i have the silver unit , i like the silver better, i am now a lowrance purchaser , !!!

[Capt. Debbie]

Foruno is my first and second choice for fishfinders.

On the tow boats the Hummingbirds failed regularly. They standardized on Garmins.

I have a Lowrance and my father in law has decades of Lowrance love.

Hummingbirds reminded me of the Snoopy of fishing rods/reels little kids first buy. Except it's for a boat.

[MrAC1980]

My boat doesn't have a lot of dash space so I had to go with a combo unit. I've been using the Hummingbird 787c combo color depth/fish finder and built in gps chart plotter with the pre-installed navionics chip for years without any problems. I do the split screen and I'm able to find the wrecks I'm looking for every time. You guys with big 10" screens are spoiled, lol. Yes if you have the dash space, get two separate units, but if space is an issue you can get away with just one. For the money, I choose Hummingbird and it's served me well.

[Maritime Matt]

Originally Posted by Bass_Appeal

i have the lowrance hds unit , just got it last fathers day , and still figuring out all the features , but i really like it so far , i bought the navionics chip , and i would like to buy some extras to go with , the only thing i am pissed about , is the fact that the model i bought dropped in price by 200.00 on the shelves and they now come out ith the gen2 ....gen 2 seems to be an all black unit , and i have the silver unit , i like the silver better, i am now a lowrance purchaser , !!!

I hope they improved there customer service 1000%, because it was horrible a couple years back.

[hammer4reel]

Originally Posted by Maritime Matt

I hope they improved there customer service 1000%, because it was horrible a couple years back.

they actually have improved customer service ALOT , you can usually get a teh on the new phone number quickly as well as through emails. but I have found that each tech has a different spin on all their equipment as far as what will work with each unit.

poor thing in aspect to lowrance is everytime they change something about a unit , the items you used before wont network together with the newer equipment

[Matt L]

My FF was dead on my first trip this year. It was a hummingbird 565. I have a 14' aluminum so it made sense. I was looking online and found the Hummingbird 581i DI for $75 brand new.

Too good to be true? Yep, the guy called me a few hours later explaining an employee put the wrong price. After a nice chat he agreed to honor the price. It is brand new and drop shipped from the factory. Should have it Monday.