marine electronics switch-over

[hawgchaser]

My son and I were talking fishing over the holidays. He mentioned he needed a new sonar/gps combo for his Ranger 620. He currently has three Lowrance units and is frustrated by the fact that Lowrance will only support a unit for five years. He's thinking of selling off his other units and going with either Humminbird or Ray Marine. We'd like opinions from people who use these two brands relative to their reliability and the ongoing support of their respective products after the 5-year window. Any input is appreciated.

[delcecchi]

So, does H'bird support their units for more than 5 years?

[Brad B]

hawgchaser,

one thing if he does switch to Humminbird I would be careful of buying a 500 or 700 series unit now. they are good units and they work but these two series are being discontinued and are being replaced by the new 600 Series. the one good thing thou is that the prices of all the units are going down. a example would be I was going to put a 798 (5" screen) on my console this year but now am going to go with the 899 (7" screen). the 798 would of been $1050 and the new 899 is only $1000 so for $50 less I get a 2" bigger screen. to me that's a no brainer. the 500 and 700 series units have dropped in price because of the new 600 series being introduced so if a person doesn't mind the fact that they are buying a discontinued model they can get a good deal on one of the 500 or 700 units right now. I think Cabela's has the 798 marked down to $800 or $850 now.

[hawgchaser]

Thanks for the good info, Brad. Do you know if Humminbird has a longer support life on their discontinued models than Lowrance. We think it's quite a racket to only support a unit for 5 years...especially when he has $3 to 5 K invested in electronics. That can be a steep maintenance cost over time. If they only support their units for 5 years, he may as well stick with Lowrance.

Have you had many issues with the H-birds?

Thanks again for the insight.

[harvey lee]

Don't believe it would matter what product you were to change to, once one changes features, then the competition will also as they feel they will get left behind.

I switched to all Bird's and have been very happy with the change from Lowrance.

Then, Lowrance comes out with newer items and the circle goes round and round.

[hawgchaser]

I have no quarrel with model changes and upgrades. I just can't think of many $1500 pieces of equipment I could (or would) buy that would not be serviced by the manufacturer 5 years after I bought it. I'm wondering if that's peculiar to Lowrance or if H-bird and Raymarine have the same policy/procedures.

[Capt. H (Ret.)]

I think that anytime you decide to upgrade it's going to cost you some bucks. I also don't think they design this equipment to last or be compatible with new upgrades forever. Oh!! I almost forgot I like Lowrance but only because the early Hummingbirds spent a lot of time being repaired.

[Brad B]

Thanks for the good info, Brad. Do you know if Humminbird has a longer support life on their discontinued models than Lowrance. We think it's quite a racket to only support a unit for 5 years...especially when he has $3 to 5 K invested in electronics. That can be a steep maintenance cost over time. If they only support their units for 5 years, he may as well stick with Lowrance.

Have you had many issues with the H-birds?

Thanks again for the insight.

I got my Humminbird 597 DI back when I bought my boat in February of 2011. I ran the 597 DI until August of 2013 when I took it off the boat and sold it. during the time I had it I didn't have any issues. the one thing I liked about it was that I was able to get a extra mount and put it in my Blazer and Tahoe during the winter and use it for the GPS and lake maps(just had to go into the menu and turn off the sonar part of the unit).

[BoxMN]

Hawgchaser, we have been exclusive andloyal Lowrance and Eagle owners for going back about 25 years. But for the same reason you mention, we are not sure if that will continue. I don't even want them to keep upgrading the software for more than 5 years, but just want the units to at least be serviced and work as they should when new, and that has not been the case for us. And we have 4 boats between me and brother, and want them all to be swappable, so it is big expense. We would like to buy the older (new) units to save cash, as they still (should) work just fine, but if a company won't even service (i.e. repair) them it just doesn't make sense to stick with such a company.

With that said, the new touchscreen Lowrance models are pretty darn nice...

Good luck in your decision.

[h8go4s]

Here's Humminbird's repair page from their HSOforum. There's nothing on how long they will support old units, but a pretty long list of ones they list a repair fee for. As with everything electronic, components become obsolete fairly quickly and when the stock runs out, they are not available anywhere else.

http://www.humminbird.com/FAQ.aspx?ContentId=1764

[hawgchaser]

Now we're getting to what I was hoping to get to. He has three units linked together so they show the mapping from a single chip and all record the same mapping data. It's not the latest and greatest, but the system still serves him well. The "racket" (to me) is that, with one unit down, he can only maintain this same capability by replacing all three units (two of which are working well) as well as the transducers, SD charts, and bridging even though only one unit is acting up.

I'll pass on the link and he can research how far back the support goes for the "birds". I accept the fact that, at some point the supply of replacement parts will run dry. What I don't accept is the arbitrary 5 yr. window that Lowrance imposes. I would think most people would want to decide for themselves (rather than have Lowrance decide for them) when they will put out the substantial cash outlay to upgrade their electronics system. In a capitalist system, I would think the company that services it's products longest & best has a good chance of grabbing a greater market share of future buyers.

Both my son and I are impressed with the strides Raymarine has made in the fishing electronics game. We're seriously looking into them and their service capabilities.

Thanks for your help, guys!

[ib_jigged]

I am seriously contemplating making the switch this spring to Garmin over my Lowrance HDS units.

I have had a few Garmin products and they have been flawless!

Garmin has a few new models coming that look very impressive.

[hawgchaser]

We didn't talk much about Garmin, but I went through their product line and was impressed with their new units. It seems to me that all brands will soon offer similar features. I expect an ad campaign in the near future similar to what happens in truck advertising; 73% of all units sold in the past 10 years are still in operation and can still be serviced. That would certainly make this consumer take notice. But then, I'm old enough to remember when a depth finder was a large nut tied on a piece of string and an aqua view was accomplished by covering your head and the ice hole with a jacket as you looked down into the water.

[delcecchi]

Many consumer electronics devices have short support times. I wonder if a 5 year old TV is still supported with service and parts? A 5 year old tablet or phone?

[MN Mike]

I am seriously contemplating making the switch this spring to Garmin over my Lowrance HDS units.

I have had a few Garmin products and they have been flawless!

Garmin has a few new models coming that look very impressive.

I'm right there with you on this, Garmin's never been too cutting edge for what I needed but now that they have brought some new products to the lineup for 2014 ( SideVu / DownVu and CHIRP ), I'm all over it. My Humminbird 798c SI has been just fine, rock solid and has no doubt changed the way I fish but I'm ready for an upgrade on screen size ( mostly ) and features, Garmin's got my attention. Not that I'm going to be looking for a touchscreen but Garmin has had touchscreen locators for years and I haven't seen / heard one issue with them.

Another item that brings me to Garmin is screen brightness, I haven't had a chance to compare lately with all of the new units but whenever you went to a display, if there was a Garmin on, it blew everyone elses' away, I hope they bring that to these new units.

With the price cuts on some of the discontinued Humminbirds, that's tough to pass up too, awesome units going out at GREAT pricing.

Right now is a good time to be a buyer!

Mike

[hawgchaser]

Many consumer electronics devices have short support times. I wonder if a 5 year old TV is still supported with service and parts? A 5 year old tablet or phone?

I understand that, Del, but that's a consumer driven policy. I, for one, find that unacceptable and will give another company a chance to satisfy or disappoint me before I'll patronize a business that gives me the impression I should be grateful they allow me to spend money on their products. Sounds like I'm not alone in holding that perspective.

I'm sending inquiries to several of the companies mentioned as well as sending the link to this discussion to them and Lowrance. If they lose my (or my son's) business, I feel a sense of responsibility to let them know the reason(s).

[CaptainMusky]

Hawg what models do you have? You shouldn't need to replace all units to do what you want because one went down. The hds models along with the older lcx etc can be networked together with proper adapters. Ethernet is all you need for hds units to share many functions but if you want other features you need to do NMEA 2000.

[maxpower17]

The main reason no one has Garmon products is because they never chose to be competitive in this market. The shallow, fresh water lake market.

Now that they are looking to enter thus market, you can expect far superior GPS capabilities and many more mapping options coupled with the same sonar you are used to. It comes at a price though. Garmin is typically more than other brands for comparable items.

[hawgchaser]

I was afraid someone would ask me about the models, and I haven't a clue. It's my son's boat and they were the latest and greatest 7 or 8 year's ago with like 10" screens. I have an HDS 5 (gen 2) and I told him I thought (from reading the manual) that he might be able to do what you say. I'm bringing it to MI (where he lives) next Spring to see. The real rub for both of us is the built in guarantee of obsolescence after 5 years. That's what got us thinking about changing over rather than patching in and supporting the replace rather than repair requirement. If he stays with Lowrance, he'll probably go with the Elite-7HDI as it's for his bow mount Minnkota and he likes the wide screen.

[hawgchaser]

Maxpower,

Your interest in Garmin is similar to mine in Raymarine which has been a deep-water mainstay for years. I've only known 3 people who used them on lakes, but the three I'm familiar with were indestructible. The resolution on them was way better than anything I've seen on the other brands. They're more expensive than the "locals", but, if they support their products and their products are as durable as I'm familiar with, they could be cheaper over the long haul. Any way you slice it, Lowrance has some real competition, and consumers have a number of quality alternatives besides Lowrance. I love free enterprise!

[CaptainMusky]

Hawg I understand the frustration with that "policy" but I can pretty much guarantee the older models will work together with the new ones.

The thing is to fix some of these older ones it would honestly cost nearly as much as a new model.

I have heard that lowrance will give vouchers as a trade in toward a new unit if its an older model they no longer service. I didn't do this myself but knew some guys who did a couple years ago.

The new units are so much more advanced that it really doesn't pay for these companies to "support" the old ones.

[Genofish]

Totally agree with CM here, Lowrance gave me credit for a unrepairable uint for new one, but each year all manufactures come out with good units that are comparable, like Ford & Chevy. Its tough to have a high end unit

break down after a few years