anyone using either of these? I was looking at humninbird and lowrance. would love to hear if they work.
Bird HD DI…love it!
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I have DI, my friend has SI.
I’m thinking now that I may upgrade to SI.
I installed a Humminbird SI of a friends boat last fall and have fished with it a few times. It is awesome! I have a Humminbird DI on my boat and it is great also.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Small craft surveying and repair
The beauty of SI is being able to “see stuff” that is not under the boat. You can cover more area with a single pass.
If I had it to do over again, I would buy the 598 hummingbird instead of the 597.
I guess though your original question was “would they work”
Yes they do. The detail of the side image or down image is incredibly percise. We have dove on offshore structure that we passed over with the DI turned on and it is incredible how accurate the image is.
Hope this helps.
After talking with a few reps from bass pro, i found one that had been offshore with both brands. He sold me on the Lowrance hds10 gen 2. More powerfull sonar which he says is needed in saltwater plus a few features. The huminbird seems more suited for fresh water when you compare the maps included, power…
Can’t wait to try…
Who you gonna believe, a Bass Pro sales rep or 4 of us who have used them?
quote:
More powerfull sonar which he says is needed in saltwater plus a few features. The huminbird seems more suited for fresh water when you compare the maps included, power...
My BS detector is going off 
I’ve used my Humminbird in 3000’. How deep do you plan to fish?
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Small craft surveying and repair
quote:
Originally posted by RDWIf I had it to do over again, I would buy the 598 hummingbird instead of the 597.
Agree…I just couldn’t pass up the “deal” I got on my 597.
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The used boat that I just bought came with a 998c SI. It’s the first Humminbird unit that I have ever owned and I have a lot to learn about it. Been doing some reading on THT about different units and those folks over there don’t mention Humminbird much at all. But I’ve got it, so I’m gonna learn to use it. But, if I did not have it and if I had $2000+ to spend on a new unit, I would probably be looking at a Lowrance just because I’ve owned their basic units before. I’m sure, though, that I will be really satisfied with my Humminbird once I learn to use it.
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Cracker, they will all go in deep water but the HD down imaging is very power dependant. They are saying the images you typically see in demos are all in fresh water. The Lowrance is 20k w verses 8k on the Hum. and provides decent images of DI to 150’ saltwater.
Just what I heard. I understand the factory reps for both companys have given demos to them. Sure wish I knew everything without any doubts !
both are very good units
I have used both
if i was buying one, it would be a tough decision, but i would probably go with lowrance
seems the offshore and nearshore charts are better, and the transducer on lowrance are a little better in my opinion.
for frshwater, humminbird has the best charts around now, plus they can link to the ipilot trollingmotors.
either way, you wont go wrong, but definately get teh side imaging AND the down image transducers
quote:
if I was buying one, it would be a tough decision, but i would probably go with lowrance seems the offshore and nearshore charts are better,
They both use the same chart software. Navionics platinum. What’s the difference?
I’ve used both, and a lot of others too.
quote:
They are saying the images you typically see in demos are all in fresh water.
Well, I’ve never seen the demo, just used them for a few thousand hours, all in salt water 
Been real happy with it. That was the question, right?
Lowrance isn’t noted for reliability or customer service, but good luck with your decision 
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Small craft surveying and repair
Just installed a HDS-12 GEN2 Touch about 3 weeks ago…it is an awesome unit. I can view broad band sonar, downscan and sidescan at the same time. Being a striper fisherman mainly in Lake Murray it allows me to look at water 100-150 feet on each side of the boat looking for fish. It really cuts down search time. I haven’t used it in the salt yet but I intend to check it out in a couple of weeks. Hopefully it will allow me to check out under docks for feeding Redfish. The “touch” user interface is so easy to use I was up and running in a matter of minutes. The down and sidescan have two frequencies to chose from…455k for deep water over 100 feet and 800k for shallower water than 100 feet. The higher frequency really brings out incredible detail. I can pick out crappie in a brush pile as an example…as you can probably tell I am really high on the Lowrance unit. Hope this helps but either way it’s going to hurt your pocket!
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It is amazing what the side imaging will do around docks and bridge pilings. You can just cruise down the docks looking for the ones holding fish. The image is almost as good as a photograph.
I didn’t mean to come across as putting the Lowrance down, it is a fine unit and has a real pretty picture too
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Small craft surveying and repair
Do you have to buy the transduecer separate on the humminbird si units or do they come with it in the box?
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tiger , watch buying from some sites that exclude the transducers. Most Huminbirds include them but I saw some that tried to take them out and charge separate. I went with Lowrance that had it included in package
They were included in the ones I have installed. Transom mount.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Small craft surveying and repair
quote:
Lowrance isn't noted for reliability or customer service, but good luck with your decision :sunglasses:Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Small craft surveying and repair
That was the main reason I went Humminbird(as well as a lot of other folks who got tired of the service).
…not to mention the “optional” transducers
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