I'm shopping for a fishfinder for a boat that I had just picked up - I'd more or less settled on the Axiom 9 with the lowrance carbon 9 as second choice...the day before lowrance put the carbons on sale.
So now I'm back on the fence. Birds are out - I feel like using them you just mash a bunch of buttons until you get the right screen up. I just do not get on with the interface.
From in store button pressing, the axiom interfac, responsiveness, feature set, and mapping are great, and the 3d usability is so much better. Also the longer warranty and expected support cycle are attractive. The higher screen resolution and clearer imaging on the lowrance are really attractive as well however, and possibly (to a lower degree by far - as I don't love being that manufacturer locked) the xi5-specific integration.
Guys coming from lowrance (or going the other way). How much has any of this mattered? What other key differences have you noticed?
Ray guys - how much and with what firmware releases has side vision improved? Some of the units I poked on had older firmware...