The most popular brands used on Lake Erie are Lowrance, Garmin, and Hummingbird. I am a Lowrance man and have been very well pleased with Lowrance since the late 70's. I have friends that are quite happy with the other two brands. IMHO Hummingbird has been a technology lagger for the past several years but I believe that is changing now. I was very impressed by a Hummingbird presentation at a local sporting goods store recently.

One thing that has to be sorted out before you purchase anything and that is whether or not you want a combo unit with sonar and a chartplotter or separate units. If you have the dash space I would get separate units.

You will find now if you don't already know.......that the manufactures only support their products now for a year or two. So buy a recent model and get the maximum support time.

I can't speak of recent models because they do not get on my radar until I need a replacement. Get a unit that has an external gps antenna, no built-in antenna's.

Shop price, comparing features that you "want".

Good luck!

Terry

 

On my previous boat I ran a Garmin chartplotter and a Lowrance sonar. Worked great. On my new boat I have the same Garmin chartplotter and Humminbird sonar. I too have been looking at the new stuff and really have the wants for the Lowrance HDS-8 combo unit but it's a bunch of $$$. Allot is gonna depend on your budget.

Lowrance has some new models in the Elite-5 series that are more affordable. My suggestion is to go somewhere where you can play with the display models. Lowrance also has some product emulators that you can download to give you an idea of how the models work. Unfortunately they don't have an emulator for the HDS models.

Humminbird makes several good units as well. Take a look at their web sites and view the different models.

I love the Garmin chartplotters but I think they are behind a bit on their sonar units. Just my $.02.

 

i just bought a hummingbird 597 hd di. combo. Found it for less than 600 shipped online. took the boat out a few times this month trolling for steelies and the thing is great so far. Garmin chartplotters are the nicest by far but i wanted a combo for my lil boat. I would shy away from Lowrance. Awful awful customer service. Just do a search and you will find out fast Lowrance isnt what it used to be

 

I bought a bird. Really happy with it. When I bought my boat it had a lowrance in it and the screen was messed up. Called to send it in to get repaired. it was over 6 years old and they don't carry parts for older units. Did research and picked the bird.

As for internal or external anntena that also depends on your boat. external for hard tops or you can go internal for open cockpits. This question is always touchy because everyone likes the one they use. Go to west marine, basspro and check them all out from someone that isn't biased one way or another.

Good luck

 

I think Lowrance has the best sonar's they have better target separation than most units that I have seen or used. They are pricey but they all are it is a chevy foes thing. I have never had any trouble with the older lcx or the new hds units there was a issue with the hds units when they came out with water but, problem was solved I have not heard of any trouble since. Go some where and look at them and see what you like. These are only my options. Good luck in what ever you choose I feel electronics has a big part of putting fish in the boat!

 

FYI I just bought a Lowrance Elite gold with a Nav card for $650 from BBG Electronics. Best deal I could find. Only $589 with no card. Can't wait to install it and try it out after the reviews I read.

 

I don't know what your budget is. With that being said I purchased a Lowrance HDS-5 with the Navionics Hot Maps premier chip and I absolutely love it. The GPS is fantastic and the Sonar picture is unbelievable. If you do end up buying a Lowrance I would suggest also purchasing the Doc Samson instructional DVD's. They aren't cheap but they really help to shorten the learning curve.

 

I have always used Lowrance products from day one. Back in the day they were the gold standard in sonar technology. They lack in the customer service and tech assistance department over the last couple of years however. I know this from my own experience as well as others. I did get the issues resolved with the help of "friends". Currently I am using the HDS unit and am pleased. If you want to get the most from the unit opt for the bronze thru hull transducer. I mark fish on plane and have shut down well before my spots because of a good picture and have reaped in success. It's a pricey option but worth it over the long haul. Also know guys who are happy with Raymarine and swear by them as well.

Good Fishing,

Capt. Tony Sambunjak
www.reelthrillcharters.net Fish the "Ironman Challenge"

 

I had the same problem...I was running an old loran but the signal to it was cancelled...lost 20 years worth of wpts. Tragic. But since bought an eagle cuda 350 gps/sonar combo. Not the best but it is only 200.00 and its perfect for my purposes.

 

Just buy the best that you can afford. Me that was not much, I, like mvedic picked up a eagle cuda combo. I got it for $150 and its not the best but it does have everything I need except contour lines in the gps. But I have a few old maps I can use.

 

I just purchased the Humminbird 597ci HD DI. The maps on it are not that great had to purchase a Hot Maps Premium to go with it. Also had to call to get a "paper manual" as it only comes with a disc. Iv'e always owned Lowrance, this was my first Humminbird. I went with the Humm because it had the split screen for down imaging/sonar. Also for the gps it has 50 channels compared to 12 on my Lowrance, (lost signal alot) internal antenna. Only been on the water once but it's pretty impressive. For the same features Lowrance was double the $$$.

 

I run a Lowrance lcx-27c combo unit along side a Furuno 585 depth finder. I have always run Lowrances on my boats. I have too have the wants for an hds-8 with structure scan. I have some friends telling me that the new Hummingbirds are pretty good as well. One suggestion is to get as big a screen as you can, you will thank yourself later for that, trust me.