Lowrance - digital & Humminbird - analog

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Some guy at the Sportshow was saying Lorance was all digital & Humminbird was not. He said the settings are all automatic on the Lowrance units, that you don't waste time fiddling around with the settings. Is this true?

[PerchJerker]

You can run either brand with automatic settings right out of the box, and they'll work really well.

You will improve the performance of either brand if you tweak the settings on the water.

[harvey lee]

Seems I always tweak a few things here and there.

I have not used the Lowrance model but I am sure either one will preform well.

These SI units are sweet.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

BYW, the guy had a vested interest in Lowrance.

[harvey lee]

The salesman might get a kickback also so he opinion is swayed in his interest.

[JohnMickish]

You mean there are kickbacks in the sales industry? Say it aint so Harv, say it aint so.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Yeah, I never trust a "pro" either because a lot of these guys are just selling product.

[harvey lee]

Its so John. Sorry.

[JohnMickish]

Its so John. Sorry.

LOL. Yes Tom, I think everyone knows that. Now when laying down serious cash for something knowing that makes it hard on who to believe. Word of mouth is still the way to go, good products will rise to the top even without the paid personal hype.

[Rippin_eyes]

Lowrance is all digital! Yes everyone from guys who work the shows, retail associates, to HSOforum moderators get bennies for their efforts! Its what makes the world go round!

[fishwater]

Lowrance is all digital!

This is extremely untrue. Both Lowrance and Humminbird are very similar in how they work, both are based on processing analog signals with digital technology. Also, Lowrance isn't more HD (high definition) and their 'broadband' technology really isn't broadband... They do work extremely well though.

[Nick Kuhn]

Digital is a very misleading word to the not technically inclined. It's nice in the signaling world as there isn't any information lost. However all information in the world exists in an analog state, and humans are only capable of interpreting analog signals themselves. In the case of detecting different strengths of return (ie bottom hardness, weeds vs fish, etc...) an analog signaling system is the better choice. As stated above Lowrance is probably using an analog signal, then converting it to digital for signal processing. The same would be true for Humminbird. Perhaps Lowrance does the ATD conversion sooner (perhaps in the transducer), but the losses would be negligible.

[kg2]

Both "broadband" and "digital" are current buzzwords that Lowrance's marketing department is trying to capitalize on. And who can blame them? Whether misleading or not that is what advertising is all about.

[eyebjim]

Hmm... A good idea to cover up horrible customer service and poor quality with misleading advertising?

[JohnMickish]

Hmm... A good idea to cover up horrible customer service and poor quality with misleading advertising?

And lets not forget the lawsuit brought by Johnson Outdoors (Humminbird) for the side imaging patent infringement.

[PerchJerker]

Hmm... A good idea to cover up horrible customer service and poor quality with misleading advertising?

Ever used an HDS unit? I'd be curious to know what you think of them if you've spent some time using them.

[eyebjim]

No I've not used the HDS but many other high end Lowrance units. That was not the point. The point was they are claiming all digital etc and other gimmicks to try and save Lowrance from Lowrance.

The HDS looks good in the demo mode at the store.

I would never even think of paying another cent for one though.

My experience with Lowrance units and customer service is all I need to know. What good is a "looks good" unit if it only works in shallow water some of the time, you can't get any reasonable support and in 2 years they wont even fix it let alone let it be able to connect to what ever new items they have since come up with.

For all these reasons I swallowed hard and took the plunge into the birds a few years ago (which at the time I was very hesitant to do). Best move I've made IMO.

[harvey lee]

Ditto.