2010 Lakemaster or Navionics?

[bsherck]

Okay, I've been a Navionics guy for several years and I need a couple of new chips for new 2010 Humminbird units. Navionics or Lakemaster and why?

[stifler51]

lakemaster just came out with a humminbird specific chip.

[fishwater]

I'd get the chip that has more lakes on it you might fish.

One cool feature of the Navionics map is that you can set the background black with white contour lines, it's pretty sweet and gives good view-ability in bright daylight and also doesn't blind you at night. The Nav map also allows you to set a trolling safety depth at any value, not quite as cool as the Lakemaster features, but better than the Lowrance options. You probably can run one of your older Navionics chips to try it out.

The Lakemaster map is great, has very nice colors and is very easy on the eyes.

[Wally fisher]

I would go with the navionics chip. It has 99% of the lakes of the lakemaster but it also has alot of the smaller lakes that arent on there. But depending on what navionics chip you go with there can be up to 100 dollar difference in price. either way you look at it they are super nice getting you on the structure your looking for.

[Fish Head]

I've always preferred the Lakemaster chip because you can zoom in more with the Lakemaster than the Navionics. I've also felt that the Lakemaster chip loads faster, but maybe that had more to do with the particular chip I was using.

[bsherck]

I had heard that Lakemaster maps have a bit more detail, but I like having the five state region on one chip, versus so many separate. I wonder if the new processor in the Humminbirds help with faster refresh rates. Hmmmmmm. This shouldn't be such a tough decision!

[stifler51]

im gonna pick up the lakemaster chip here sometime before opener... i hope thats if i have a 100$ to spare

[PerchJerker]

because you can zoom in more with the Lakemaster than the Navionics.

That's not exactly true. You can zoom in farther with LM than Nav on the H2O units ---- but on 5" and larger units you can zoom in just as far with Nav as you can with LM.

[guts]

I would go hands down with Lakemaster for my neck of the woods. The NE area, Rainy Lake, the river, Kabetogama,and now the 2010 chip has Namakan, Sandpoint and Crane lake all HD. Lakemaster has also got a fair amount of the Canadian side of Rainy on their chip.. Color definition, island names, and useability seem better to me than Navionics, and I have both.

guts

[backlash 1]

Originally Posted By: Fish Head

because you can zoom in more with the Lakemaster than the Navionics.

That's not exactly true. You can zoom in farther with LM than Nav on the H2O units ---- but on 5" and larger units you can zoom in just as far with Nav as you can with LM.

Interesting, my 2006 nav chip only goes in to 1/16th of a mile. When did Navionics increse their zoom capability?

[muskielaw]

I'd get the chip that has more lakes on it you might fish.

One cool feature of the Navionics map is that you can set the background black with white contour lines, it's pretty sweet and gives good view-ability in bright daylight and also doesn't blind you at night.

The Lakemaster map is great, has very nice colors and is very easy on the eyes.

Fishwater, how do you change the background color on the Navionics map? What GPS are you running? I have a humminbird 997 and could not find how to change the color of the map.

[fishwater]

Of the top of my head you simply need to hit the power button and change the background color of the unit. Adjusting this setting changes the background color for both the maps and sonar to either black, blue or white. The new Lakemaster maps are not affected by changing this setting and the background remains white.

[Fish Head]

Originally Posted By: Fish Head

because you can zoom in more with the Lakemaster than the Navionics.

That's not exactly true. You can zoom in farther with LM than Nav on the H2O units ---- but on 5" and larger units you can zoom in just as far with Nav as you can with LM.

I don't own an H2O. Lakemaster zooms in farther on my 7" Lowrance unit. My Navionics chip is a few years old, so possibly Navionics has changed the zooming capability?

[muskielaw]

Of the top of my head you simply need to hit the power button and change the background color of the unit. Adjusting this setting changes the background color for both the maps and sonar to either black, blue or white. The new Lakemaster maps are not affected by changing this setting and the background remains white.

Fishwater, thanks I will give it a try.

[Chode2235]

Was out on LOW this winter, I had my Navionics iPhone app and my buddy had his lakemaster in his H20. The Lakemaster had more non-reef depth changes with all sorts of little troughs and bumps that werent on the Navionics app. We caught most of our fish in one of these little depressions that didnt even show up on my Navionics.

Lakemasters contours are better IMO.

[Sutty]

I agree with go whichever has more lakes for you. I have both a MN chip (2008 I think) and a 2010 Nav chip. The Nav chip will save me from buying a bunch of other chips. I believe with a lake the size of LOTW that they will both have areas they have covered better. I borrowed a LOTW chip (lakemaster) two summers ago when we were downrigging in the fall. I hung up and broke a rigger on a rock pile that wasn't marked. I contacted them to give them the coordinates but they didn't seem too concerned....