I am looking to update my electronics on my boat. I have a hummingbird helix 5 at the console, ut its just a base unit. I want one with DI, gps, and possibly SI. I have interest in another hummingbird,but I also have some interest in the lowrance and Garmin units. 

Raymarine has those technologies also. No bad choices.

Have the same as you at the console and I just put in a Garmin EchoMap Chirp 73SV up front and I couldn't be happier (except maybe for a 93SV!).   Included LakeVu maps is what sold me.   I couldn't see spending that kind of money and then shelling out another $150 for contour maps.   I'll probably upgrade the console to a 93SV next year.

9 hours ago, StevesBass said:

Have the same as you at the console and I just put in a Garmin EchoMap Chirp 73SV up front and I couldn't be happier (except maybe for a 93SV!).   Included LakeVu maps is what sold me.   I couldn't see spending that kind of money and then shelling out another $150 for contour maps.   I'll probably upgrade the console to a 93SV next year.

 

The negative feature with Garmin and maps is you have no other choice for mapping if Garmin does not have the coverage or detail you need without creating the maps yourself.

15 hours ago, Wayne P. said:

 

The negative feature with Garmin and maps is you have no other choice for mapping if Garmin does not have the coverage or detail you need without creating the maps yourself.

 

I agree but I spent some time looking at what lakes they do cover and they're pretty good for all of the areas I fish.  YMMV.

 

Different strokes for different folks

 

I was fishing before sonar units were available, an era when I pinpointed my fishing hotspots

using ranges, triangulation and a bearing compass. When the green box was introduced

I promptly jumped aboard and never looked back. In saltwater I used Loran C for several years,

until GPS was introduced, which was later uncompromised by the US government.

 

Over the decades, I compared Lowrance to Humminbird twice. The first time was about

35 yrs ago, and the second time was just a few years ago. In both cases Lowrance was the victor,

so quite naturally Lowrance is the only sonar unit I would recommend.

 

Roger

15 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

Different strokes for different folks

 

I was fishing before sonar units were available, an era when I pinpointed my fishing hotspots

using ranges, triangulation and a bearing compass. When the green box was introduced

I promptly jumped aboard and never looked back. In saltwater I used Loran C for several years,

until GPS was introduced, which was later uncompromised by the US government.

 

Over the decades, I compared Lowrance to Humminbird twice. The first time was about

35 yrs ago, and the second time was just a few years ago. In both cases Lowrance was the victor,

so quite naturally Lowrance is the only sonar unit I would recommend.

 

Roger

What made lowrance the victor for you?

15 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

Different strokes for different folks

 

I was fishing before sonar units were available, an era when I pinpointed my fishing hotspots

using ranges, triangulation and a bearing compass. When the green box was introduced

I promptly jumped aboard and never looked back. In saltwater I used Loran C for several years,

until GPS was introduced, which was later uncompromised by the US government.

 

Over the decades, I compared Lowrance to Humminbird twice. The first time was about

35 yrs ago, and the second time was just a few years ago. In both cases Lowrance was the victor,

so quite naturally Lowrance is the only sonar unit I would recommend.

 

Roger

 

Loran C was horrible - and Loran A was even worse !

 I think I still might even have a few of those little Interpolator cards lying around here somewhere . . . .

A-Jay

39 minutes ago, huffman1988 said:

What made lowrance the victor for you?

 

 

In the early days, I ran a 14-ft Starcraft around the ocean (Sandy Hook to Shrewsbury Rocks).

At that time I owned both Lowrance and Humminbird depth sounders.

Over time the Humminbird stopped working, and when I disassembled the unit

I found the offending rust spot (supposedly non-corrosive components).

Meanwhile, the Lowrance gave me several more years of saltwater service. 

 

That left a bad taste in my mouth, and I didn't purchase another Humminbird until many years later.

Then I sprang for a Humminbird Onix, which probably did more things wrong than it did right.

Humminbird admits that the Onix was rushed out the door, but hey, this was their 2nd strike.

I begrudingly replaced the Onix with a Lowrance Elite Ti (touchscreen) which blows the doors off the Onix,

and for much less money. I'm afraid I won't be giving Humminbird an opportunity for a 3rd strike.

 

Roger

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

 

Loran C was horrible - and Loran A was even worse !

 I think I still might even have a few of those little Interpolator cards lying around here somewhere . . . .

A-Jay

 

Andy, my first Loran-C unit was a Texas Instruments "Single Readout".

Talk about exasperation, every time I looked down to check my latitude, it was displaying my longitude,

and whenever I wanted to check my longitude, it was displaying my latitude. That unit ultimately

ended up in the repair shop for several weeks. Without any Loran, I was scheduled for a

Mako Shark Tournament out of Manasquan. Well, my wife, daughter & myself motored 42 miles offshore

with nothing but an RDF radio (Was really nice seeing the horizon again on the way in)   

 

Roger