ADDING NEW DEPTH FINDER AND I NEED YOUR HELP CHOOSING

[BURNIN DAYLIGHT]

WELL I AM NEARLY READY TO PURCHASE A NEW DEPTH FINDER I WAS LOOKING AT GOING WITH THE LORANCE HDS 8 OR HDS 10 WITH STRUCTURE SCAN BUT I WOULD LIKE THE OPINIONS FROM THOSE OF YOU THAT OWN ONE OR IS THERE ANOTHER DEPTH FINDER THAT YOU CAN RECOMEND I WILL LOOK FOWARD TO ALL OPPINIONS LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE

HOW ARE THEY AT READING DEPTHS WHEN RUNNING THE LAKE OR DO THEY STOP READING AT SAY 20MPH AND HOW WELL DO THEY MARK FISH WHILE CRUSING . HOW EASY IS IT TO USE .

BUT OPEN TO OPPINIONS SAY HUMMING BIRD998 ,OR GARMIN,FURNO, OR OTHERS.

[RYE]

Ease of operation and detail, to include at speeds with a thru hull ducer don't believe you can go wrong with a Furuno 585..I've run one for several years, very clear screen res, and you really don't spend anytime time at all in re-adjustments. Good hook echo returns! I'm sure there is several good ones out there, though, from several manufacturers...good luck,

[BURNIN DAYLIGHT]

RYE HEY THANKS THATS WHY I POSTED TO FIND OUT WHAT YOU GUYS ARE USEING AND CAN TESTIFY TOO

THANKS AGAIN I WILL LOOK INTO IT.

STILL OPEN TO SUGESTIONS I AM SAY DOING SOME HOME WORK BEFORE I JUMP ON ONE OR THE OTHER SO KEEPEM COMMING.

[voorhees]

Another vote for the furuno 585.

[Broadhorizons]

Last year I upgraded my electronics. I shopped, compared and read the reviews on pretty much all of the major brands. I wanted a combo unit so that ruled out the Furuno (which had great reviews). Raymarine was too expensive for the units I looked at. Lowrance was getting crucified on every review I read all winter long so I didn't even look at their offerings. Hopefully their customer service has changed now. I didn't really look at Garmin. I ended up with the Humminbird 958c (no side imaging) which I like a lot. I had a 50/200khz Airmar thruhull installed. I had some issues that I thought was electrical interference but at the end of the season figured out it was related to my settings I had the unit running. I think I had the 50khz sensitivity too high while trolling. With the proper settings (200khz), we can see bait and fish cruising at around 23-24 mph. So far, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Humminbird in the 900 or 1100 series (higher power units than the lower models).

Good luck,

[Knotlost]

I can say that I bought a hummingbird 788 and its OK, not great, but OK. I had to get rid of the transducer and upgrade to the quad and I expected allot but it not really all that. Its not bad but not as good as the hype they give it on there we. I have a Paraná and its a 99$ finder and out side of the color its almost as good. the gps works real good and is nice but I think I'm going to spend the $ on the raymarine this year for a radar and they are coming out with some kind of wiz bang fish finder in the next year or two and I will look into that one when it comes along.

[Chris Gatley]

If Raymarine is out of your range, look at the 900 or 1100 series Humminbird. Screen is great and they have an exaggeration level built into the unit. exaggeration alters structure and contours so that you can get a better feel of the piece. basically find the spot on the spot easier. And, you can add side scan etc....

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[rshubuck]

I have the HDS 7 and I absolutely love it. I have run mine at 36mph and it still reads the depths fine. It does take a little bit to catch up when the depth suddenly drops a few hundred ft at the higher speeds. I also have the Navionics platnium chip which I run on split screen. Its accurate to the foot. I highly recommend the HDS units. They just do it all. Lowrance sticks behind their units also.

[Gill-T]

Don't buy a Lowrance. I own one, and it works, but when I had an issue.....customer service was a nightmare. The company was sold to Simrad.

[stevo]

Yeah exactliy,its the whole Simrad thing going on,and also,if they discontinue the model they will no longer fix it,not good!! Its all about good customer service!

[Wendysm]

Humminbird 937c has been absolutley amazing for us, great resolution, clear, tracks depths at higher speeds than our Lowrance did. Easy to operate and set up was no problem. Has GPS as well which works great. No problem getting updated charts/maps for it.

[Tim Bromund]

Actually, it was Navico that acquired both Simrad and Lowrance. Lowrance's "not servicing "discontinued" models" crap predates that acquisition by at least a decade.

[muskymaniac]

I just bought a Furuno 585 and after a month with it am delighted. Had a Lowrance lcx25color unit before which was fine, but the Furuno is in a different league. Better tranducer.... Airmar p66 is much bigger and better than Lowrance tranducer that I had. Your picture is only as good as your tranducer. Most manufacturers use lousy tranducers which in turn limit the unit you are using. More powerful tranducer equals better signal and being able to hold bottom at high speeds and search for fish faster. If you do choose a Lowrance try and get an Airmar tranducer for it and you'll be glad you did. The Furuno 585 and the smaller 620 are stand alone fishfinders....not combo gps. I went with a Lowrance hds 5 GPS and the Furuno 585 fishfinder and like the 2 units much better. I use split screen with 45degree and 11 degree cone angles and am impressed with how the target seperation and clarity both shallow and deep. There is a reason that Furuno dominates the field in Ocean fishing....they just don't advertise like Hummingbird or Lowrance who dominate the freshwater market. But if you can find someone who has a Furuno on their boat...chances are they will say similar things. Also have had a very good reliability and customer service record. Good luck with whatever you choose...but I would definitely upgrade tranducer if you can.