Are Hummingbird units hard to operate? I have always ran Lowrance and love some features and feel they are easy to operate. Was at bps comparing them the other day and it seemed Hummingbird was light years behind Lowrance in ease of operation. I honestly couldn't tell a difference between the carbon and mega either, well except the price!
HB units are expensive enough, no way would I pay what lowrance wants for their hds units. I really wish eagle was still around but lowrance had other ideas.
Bill
Birds aren't hard to operate but your right, they are way behind on the operating system.
Still have an Eagle on the front of my boat. I miss them too. Same as the Lowrance but easier to operate and a few, less used, features left out.Originally Posted by Aries 181
most new customers agree that every other manufacturer is easier to operate than lowrance. garmin and raymarine being the easiest for new users. Lowrance seems easy because youre used to it. kinda like android users who think android is easier than ios
I have messed with lowrance units but have always had birds. For me the birds seem easier to use, but that is what I am used to using so that makes a difference.
The mega images i have seen on here blow me away with the clarity they have. I will be picking up solix units next year or possibly wait until the year after and get humminbirds next unit release. For me and the lakes I mainly fish, both units have way more features than I need or use.
I think birds are easier to use and get the result you want, one complaint by lowrance guys are the birds are not as adujustable, but by being less adjustable they are easier to use. I had he's gen 2touches and bird 999's all at once, birds just worked lowrance I had a hell of a time getting them how I wanted them. Now, I have a grasp on both and give the ease of use to bird
Mercury 250 proxs 2B115089
I think its all in the operator. I have always used HB but the boat I purchased had a Lowrance unit on it, I have found it to be way easier to use than my 998 on my old Ranger. I seem to be able to get better images out of this unit as well.
I have heard many time before and it's even stated above how much easier Garmin or HB is to use compared to Lowrance. People do tend to speak through their own experiences which is what I will do as well. I'm not old but not young either(I say this because I'm not of the new age "technological" era), however having used all 3 of these manufacturers products over the past 3 years I would take Lowrance without second thought. Garmins are great for their menu setup however leave some advanced features being desired pending on model of course although to get those advanced features you're paying A LOT. HB does great with the basics---easy to use out of the box mentality generally speaking however, lack features that I prefer greatly beneficial in the advanced setup category. Lowrance takes much longer to setup---personalizing each individual screen, setting up fishing modes, establishing the correct 2D sonar settings in order to get the best contrast, among a few other odds and ends. However, there is a multitude of YouTube vids to assist in the process and make it very simple to do although you will spend some time doing this. Once a Lowrance is setup though it hands down beats the competition IMO. For example, with HB you have 3 quick access presets, Lowrance has an infinite amount of custom screens and no other software is built to access them as quickly as Lowrance (in my experience since the only model I haven't tested is the Solix.) The custom data overlay has been a huge benefit for me to clear up screen usage yet maintain only the info I need on that given screen. Like I said, I'm not old or young but after using a touch screen I will never go back to a button model, the cross hair scrolling on a push button model is painfully time consuming enough to take me out of the market for push button models.
Go play with them at the store is the only thing I can say. Imagine yourself either scouting at the console or fishing at the bow and ask yourself what are the most important features that will allow me to not only catch fish but maximize my time putting my line in the water.
I had issues getting sonar, gps and tempature source issues, takes some serious effort to get that all straightened out until you have done it once. Ps my images have always been better with bird, side by side at the same time
Mercury 250 proxs 2B115089
The Onix and Solix both have touch screens and all the advanced menu features - the Helix series is a great unit but more designed to be KISS.
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2024 Phoenix 21 XE - Mercury 250 PRO XS Serial #3B429919
2017 Phoenix PHX 21 - Yamaha 250 SHO
2010 Skeeter 20i - Yamaha 250 SHO
1988 Procraft 1780 Competitor - Mercury 100
solix has everything he listed. custom views can be access by simply swiping from view to view
I consider myself to be above average technically, and I have fun figuring out every little function of electronics. I've played around with all the major ones at Bass Pro, and ultimately the Lowrance seemed simpler to me. Now that I have 2 HDS Gen2 touch models, it's intuitive to me. But to get it set up and just working for someone who just wants to plug and play, I can see how the Lowrance would be more difficult.
2001 Champion 187 Yamaha 175
12' Talons, Lithiums and Garmins
All pulled by a Hemi
I always thought they were all in the same "ballpark" price wise. I was shocked to see how much more Lowrance was than Humminbird. I currently have a HDS 12 and (2) HDS 9 Lowrance Gen3 units. I like them but they are many more $$$$ than comparable Humminbird Units. I'll do a little bit more shopping for the next boat.
I have lowrance on boat I purchased few months back --do not like them a all ! I cant figure any thing out on them !
1988 Ranger 364V
150HP Merc Black Max
Between a hummingbird helix mega g2n and lowrance hds g3 which one has the better gps? Do both need an external antenna?
Once you figure them out it is easy. I went back and forth between brands and each time it was a learning curve.
As far as price, I don't Lowrance is more $$$. 12" Lowrance Elite TI w/totalscan $2,030, 12" HDS Gen 3 w/ totalscan $2,300, and a Helix 12G2 Mega $2,500 12" Solix $2,900, 9" Lowrance Elite TI w/totalscan $1,000, 9" HDS Gen 3 w/ totalscan $1,500, and a Helix 9G2 Mega $1,300. Those are all BPS prices. Solix to Carbon price, I will give it to Humminbird, but Carbon vs. Gen 3 are a close match so its a fair comparison for Solix and Gen 3.
They both have 10Hz internal gps and will both accept external gps pucks if desired
You can’t compair a carbon or HD’s gen 3 to the helix. The solix is a direct compairison. Same for the garmin 7600 series or the raymarine axiom pro
The gen 3 hds and helix g2n are not in the same class? I figured the solid would be good in the carbon class.
No. Solix is a better apples to apples with the gen 3 or carbon
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