in the market to buy a new graph for my boat but i am not sure what to get. looking at a hds 10 or 1198c. anybody have any reviews on these? thanks

I have owned a humminbird 1197 and now a hds 10 gen 2

My personal preference in the hds unit. The images are much more crisp and clean. Not as much to adjust. With the bird you have to adjust contast and sensitivity. Takes much more time to get it dialed in and if you fish different bodies of water with different depths and clarity, that makes it even more difficult. With the 8 and 10 lowrance you have 5 preset screen options vs 3 with the bird.

Check out the Coverage areas of SI. Humminbird has a full 180� coverage with 455kHz Sonar. You get equal performance and more coverage in 3' of water as you do in 30' as you do in 150'. Humminbird does allow the user more control of SI but normally once you get it dialed in you can just go. Like Chart Speed Control which allows you to match the unit for Console/Idling Use or Trolling Motor Application. I have numerous videos that show the features of Humminbird on YouTube and how to get the most out of all the features built into the units: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFBA73CD339FC6B95

They are also Assembled in America and service & supported right on the banks of Lake Eufuala in Alabama. Owned by an Ameircan Company - Johnson Outdoors.

Speaking of that Humminbird, MinnKota & LakeMaster engineers are working together for some awesome features like iPilot Link and LakeMaster Mapping Exclusive Features take GPS Mapping to a whole new level.

It's a Ford/Chevy debate.

I have a HB 597 up front and a Lowrance HDS-5 at the console. I've been in guide boats with both Lowrance and HB SI units. Here's my $.02:

Lowrance has better quality down imaging

HB has more coverage on the SI, but Lowrance has marginally better image quality

HB is easier to use but Lowrance gives you more options for customization

Both have good customer service, but it does seem like HB has fewer quality issues, though I have no quantitative data to back this opinion up.

HB can run the LakeMaster chips, which are giving Navionics a run for their money as the best mapping chip out there. I believe either unit can run Navionics.

Lowrance's has their Structure Scan set up as a separate unit, but you can run up to 3 head units off one SS unit. So it's usually a little more expensive to go Lowrance if you're buying one unit, but a little more expensive to go HB if you're buying two or three units.

Most of these differences are really minor from one to the other. Just because I say Lowrance is better at something doesn�t mean HB is bad at it.

Both make great units and either will serve you fine. If I was a weekend fun-fisherman, I'd go HB for sure. If I was a serious hard-core fisherman, I'd probably go Lowrance. JMHO. KVD fishes with HB, so it's not like either unit is going to hold you back. This is just my preference.

3 things that I don't like abt lowrance, they are made overseas and don't like to repair the units that get a few years on them, they basically try to "upgrade"... {force}.. you to buy a new model at higher price, .2, Lowrance units cant take getting too wet, lots of problems with water getting into the units, 3. lots of complaints of long waits on repair times, 4. they tend to make everything look fishy, to rope the customer into thinking they are missing a lot with hummingbird units. Time and time again, hummingbird units prove to me that if its showing fish, they are usually there. lowrance looks like everything is fishy, when its not. just my opinion and not a lowrance hater, just calling it as I see it. I operate 2 hummingbird 898si units.

Oh wow, Lowrance makes things look "fishy"? Please do explain this concept to us. Are you saying their sonar is fake, they have little gremlins in the graph that insert little fish blobs. Man, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

Didn't you know it's the aliens in the sky playing with us lowrance owners.

Look closely at the strucuture, it never looks crisp and straight, it always has a roundness to it, with white highlights to look like fish, also I can prove it is fake, go look at the crappie section on a post by Jacob. he had just dropped a crappie condo made of pvc. He drove over it right after dropping it, and it showed about 5 fish right at the tip of the pvc pipes. the sonar picked up the hard edge if the sleeve, or trapped air bubbles in the pvc poles. so yes, it does id things that are not fish. don't be upset because im telling the truth. also lowrance puts clear and defined fish arches on its sonar screen, when your boat is siting still, if you know anything abt sonar, you know this is not right, the boat must be moving to get a full fish arch.

don't take my word for it, just keep using the unit, and fishing structure that looks like it has fish on it, you will eventually come to a realization. open water shots, the units tend to do great, but when its pings structure, it is too (optimistic) in its program.

I understand what you're explaining, leanin post.

HB for me and some of the reasons are: LakeMaster chips and 360 imageing. I don't have it yet but I can upgrade easily when the money becomes available.

It is really a personal decision. I really like my HB's and can't see myself ever going back to Lowrance.

So are these all trees or fish? Ahh we'd know if it was a Humminbird!


And a structure scan pic or two just for the heck of it.




Can you post shortcut to the link that you're referring to? I went back 10 pages and if its there I missed it. I'd like to see what you are talking about, that way I can spank my little graph gremlins for being mischievous.

If you're not in a huge hurry to get new graphs... See if you can get someone you know to take you out and show you why they like their Humminbird or Lowrance unit. There are guides on the Lowrance and Humminbird Pro Staff that I'm sure you could arrange some lake time with as well.

Heck, Maybe some of the guys that already posted in this forum will be glad to take you out and show you why they like theirs.

I personally enjoy my Lowrance HDS 5,7 units, but have never operated a Humminbird unit. I get a crisp picture with the DI and SI. I have learned and have become proficient with adjusting and operating my HDS units by working with them and spending time on the water with them.

grout-scout,

You can not argue with this guy. It doesn't even haft to resemble the true for him to make it up.

What I would suggest is for this guy to go look at these units on actual boat, and see for himself. I did the same thing he is doing when I bought my 1198. come here and think I was actually getting truthful information. Invested my $2500 and the biggest disappointment in my fishing life. I mean these things don't even make since. Can't stand to get wet, looks TO fishy, etc, etc.

snieto08 don't take ANYONES word on a investment of this size. The Houston area is big enough that if you ask around, there are guys that have both unit. Ask to meet them at their next trip to the lake. Go see units for yourself. Ask to see a 1198, and a HDS-10. Don't go to the store and see the programs running on the units. This is what both units want you to see. See both live, in use, and on the water. There is a difference, but you need to see, what exactly you are getting for your money, not a computer generated clip of what both units want you to see.

With a investment of this size, it is important to get it right. I thought, like you that you could get good info in these units by asking. There is good and bad about BOTH units, but you don't ever see these guys say anything bad with HB. I took these gays at face value, and didn't really get the low down. Don't rush into a purchase, take a little more time, and research both products personally. Once you invest $2500, get smoke blown up your ***, I mean skirt, before it is to late.

just my



keith

lp, I have personally never seen the phenomenon you're talking about. I've seen thousands of trees on my HDS, and rarely do they ever show fish on them, and certainly not all the time.

If that was the case with Jacob, I'd assume that you're right that he had some air pockets in the PVC. If he'd come back in a few days, it probably would have looked like a normal fish habitat.

You really think Lowrance would put out a unit where it showed that every tree had fish on it? Have you ever actually used an HDS unit?