Anyone used both? Any huge differences? Ford/Chevy thing where both do the job? Picking up my new to me boat today which has Lowrance already running but no FFS. I bass fish but like to take kids/families crappie fishing which is why I want the FFS at some point soon.

I have had both, have the Lowrance active target now, I like it a lot, the Garmin can be tuned a little more, the AT works good right out of the box, to put it simply, the AT is a lot better than what I am.

I have livescope and have spent a good deal of time in two different boats with active target. I would choose livescope over active target. Just seems like a crisper and more responsive image if that makes any sense. Active target seems to be grainier and more distorted.

Get the lvs34 or wait to see what Lowrance releases next month.

I haven’t seen the new Garmin transducer in action yet. I have Active Target but I think it makes a big difference which unit you are running it on. I’m running the Carbon 12 and I thought the picture is better on it compared to a basic non touch smaller model Garmin. With that said a Garmin with their new transducer and a equivalent graph may be better.

So many post on this topic you could read about it forever. Bottom line, both are great and top of the list. Depends on if you like Garmin or Lowrance units. I prefer Lowrance so that is what I have on my boat. My buddy has Garmin. I can see what I need to with both.

This stuff just evolves so fast and so often I think a person would just have to pick a brand preference and go with it, I'd take either if I can get a deal........

If you already have Lowrance go with the AT. Cheaper than buying another graph and FFS and not enough difference between the two.

Exactly.

I don’t know, I’ve had both and although I hated my lvs32 towards the end, the lvs34 images have surpassed what my AT offers. The wider beam Garmin offers makes it easier to stay on a target. But the Garmin mapping was garbage and I wasn’t a fan of their menus. There’s also some downfalls with the Lowrance. If Lowrance doesn’t release something great with their new AT2, I’ll most likely add another Garmin with the 34. Dual graphs is a pain on my boat though, sure am hoping that the AT2 is mind blowing.

The AT2 is just what it says. 2 Active Targets. So you can split screen forward and panorama. It is gonna be kinda useful, yet useless. All “AT” the same time. Probably will just be a box change and the same transducers.

[/quote]I don’t know, I’ve had both and although I hated my lvs32 towards the end, the lvs34 images have surpassed what my AT offers. The wider beam Garmin offers makes it easier to stay on a target. But the Garmin mapping was garbage and I wasn’t a fan of their menus. There’s also some downfalls with the Lowrance. If Lowrance doesn’t release something great with their new AT2, I’ll most likely add another Garmin with the 34. Dual graphs is a pain on my boat though, sure am hoping that the AT2 is mind blowing.[/quote]


I'd say that's dead on.....i researched before buying my AT over the 32.....it seems the consensus is the 34 has surpassed AT....for now.

Also as tmd stated above, I'm loaded up with Lowrance and am pretty familiar with operating them, so I was biased toward AT from the jump.....unless there was a huge difference, which there wasn't.

I'd figure out your budget, your mission, etc, find the best deal, and pull the trigger.

No matter which one you end up purchasing, plan on a LOT of h20 time to learn the ropes......

Couldn`t have said it better Chris B about the unit one uses making a difference in the Lowrance Active Target! I `m running the new HDS12 & HDS9 live units & the picture & my scans are spectacular !

Thanks for all the great input! One more question, on the trolling motor or on it's own mount so it can be easily pointed at a target?

the garmin lvs 34 has the best picture right now but we will see what the at2 looks like in a few months