New Sonar Question

[fosterm22]

Looking to purchase a new sonar/GPS unit this spring. Want around a 7 or 8 inch vewable area. I have heard both positves and negatives about the Hummingbird and Lowarnce systems. Raymarine is very expensive.................... suggestions???? something in the $800-1500 price range........

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

Don't give up on Raymarine, great stuff in all price ranges. Hearing lots of good stuff about the new generation Hummingbird units but I don't have any personal experience. Sadly, the Lowrance company is no longer what it was.

[Iceman]

Vince;

What do you mean about Lowrance? They just put 65 customer service folks back on & I am gettting a four warranty on the HDS8 I am putting on next month??????????

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

The man asked for some input. If Lowrance learned from their mistakes, thats good news. The original company was innovative, very instrumental in establishing todays freshwater Salmon Tournaments, and had customer service second to none. When it was bought out, that all changed and I'm sure many on here experienced frustration. Great to hear they are back on track.

[wilsonboatyard]

Call me we can get you what your looking for. 716-863-1001

[Yankee Troller]

We bought a Humminbird 958, and an 1157 in the Spring of 2010. We never really had a high end FF. We got by with some of the lower end Ray Marine, and had a used Furuno CRT. We also went with our first ever thru-hull transducer when we bought the Humminbirds. We bought them with a recommendation through Billy V. I had also used them while on his boat the few times we have fished together. We are very happy with the performance thus far, and we are bringing them over to the new ride. Furuno and Raymarine make a GREAT product. We didn't have the money to fork over for those units, and thought the Humminbirds would perform just as good. I don't know if I will ever deal with Lowrance ever again. I had some very poor service from them. I heard the rumor about them hiring those CSR's, but for now I'm all set with them.

[Iceman]

To each, his own!

Good luck to all!