RONDAYVOO Posted February 8, 2011 Posted February 8, 2011 Im in the market for a new fish finder and was pretty sure I was going to buy a Lowrance. But after reading some of the past posts in this section Im not so sure any more. I now have a older Ray Marine 720 that I do not really care for so Im looking to upgrade. I would like to know what you think about what you have and would you buy another from that manufactuor ? also does High def make that big of a differance Im looking to spend about $500 may be $600 but want to stay closer to 500
KJ pluggin Posted February 8, 2011 Posted February 8, 2011 John, I was in the same position as you this winter. I started out looking at lowrance units but after reading a few to many negative reviews I ended up buying a Humminbird. Are you looking for a combo unit or just a fishfinder?
Paulywood Posted February 8, 2011 Posted February 8, 2011 I have a Garmin and have been very happy with it. If I was looking I would definitely check out the Humminbird. Lots of bang for the buck. Look online, you should be able to find some good deals on close out or discontinued units. Also some of the vendors might make you a good deal at one of the shows. They can be a good place to go and get a hands-on demo.
Line Dancin Posted February 8, 2011 Posted February 8, 2011 this is a post of mine from a few months ago:"The stuff you heard about lowrance has been resolved. they were bought out a couple years ago and the old "crew" didn't want change. well change happened, it happens whenever there is a corporate take over, they (the problem matic people) are no longer there and cust service has been great. I have a hds 5 i put on my boat this sping, base map. had an issue. it was past the return time for cabelas. and they were backed up, spring time go figure. the new head of cust service contacted cabelas in dundee for me and got it set up to exchange it in the store so i wasn't without a unit, without me asking for anything special. The new one is the best thing i have ever used and wouldn't recommend anything else. i also upgraded to the lake insight for the better software. I have any other questions and they are there to help in anyway they possibly can. Also there was a thing going around that there was no customer support for the mapping software that was coming form the factory. that issue also resolved. when the takeover happened they were in the middle of relicensing which happens with software. and it took a month or so. i had questioned that before buying mine and there were people that just couldn't understand the when a company is going through relicensing that they are not allowed to distribute a product with that software. anyways they were trying to explain it to customers and people just wouldn't listen and started yelling that there was no customer support for the software.I will tell you that the lowrance units can be a little more complicated to use as there are more bells and whistles, but that also allows for more customization and manula control of the unit, giving a better picture of what is going on under the boat. "I was talking with a family friend who is also a lowrance rep and has been for 20 plus years, at the novi show. Most of the old customer service people have been fired for making things difficult. One the old head of the department i cant remember the ladys name is gone. She was the biggest problem after the takeover. they gave her time to come around then cleaned house. there is one person that is stll there and is now the head of customer service. things have changed. Navico the new owners are out to change that bad rep and have gone well above and beyond to help people out. At the time of the novi show Navico hired 30 more peoplr to work in the customer service area to help get people taken care of. The stuff you were reading about is pre Navico so take that into consideration when you are looking.I have a HDS5 with sirius. It is one from a year after the take over. They have worked out the bugs that were plagueing the old hds units. After One season on my boat i wouldn't use any other unit on the market.
Priority1 Posted February 8, 2011 Posted February 8, 2011 Aaron, Thanks for the udate on Lowrance. I'm still running an old Lowrance LMS-350 combo that has been fantastic. I run a Laptop Chartplotter and a Garmin Color Sonar now along with it. When I'm in doubt about any thing on the Garmin Sonar I refer to the old Lowrance. I can pick up a small fish glued tight to the bottom better with the old Lowrance. It took a licking and is still ticking. I friend even gave me another display for it. It's good to know Lowrance got it's act back together. I never had any issues with them, But I heard a lot of horror stories the past few years.
KJ pluggin Posted February 8, 2011 Posted February 8, 2011 Aaron, I remember when you first posted this and was happy to hear they are improving things. Lowrance was one of my top choices but it is hard to pull the trigger on a unit that expensive with the issues they have had in the past. I think it is going to take some time before Lowrance builds their reputation back up again.
Line Dancin Posted February 8, 2011 Posted February 8, 2011 Again that is the past and no members of the old company are in charge of the new company, naivco is in charge. They did keep the engineering dept. there is a new board in charge of lowrance.I know it will take time for them to turn it around. But posting stuff pre Navico just isn't helping. If people havn't had experience with dealing with navico then they have no idea what they are talking about any more. If you have experience with navico than it has a bearing on a decision. if you look on lake ontario united and on glangler you are starting to see the positive posts with dealing with Navico since they took the reins and fired twenty people in their customer service department. I know when i was setting up a couple new things that i hadn't messed with on my unit the person on the phone showed me different ways and took the time to make sure i understood what i wanted to do. They would not get off the phone with me till the issues were resloved.I am very impressed with the high def in the hds. I can pick up small schools of bait and be able to distinguish it. I can find lakers buried in the bottom. I am happy with this unit. I can pick up stuff that i would have never seen before. When looking for a wreck for diving, it is amazing the detail. Only thing i want now for it and my wife had a stroke is the down imaging to see the wrecks easier. She claims we dont need it as after we see it on the unit we are diving along its hull in a few minutes anyways.I am going to say when lowrance was having the problems with service and the units i was looking at humminbird. I was told to hold off and wait till navico got a good firm hold of the company. I am gald i listened this unit is amazing.
ALLEYES Posted February 8, 2011 Posted February 8, 2011 I really like my Ray Marine. 35 to 40 mph and can still read fish.
killerbe20 Posted February 8, 2011 Posted February 8, 2011 i love my raymarine a65, discontinued a while back though . i actually use that 95% of the time over my 10in Furuno navnet. the only down side is interference under power with the transom mount transducer. did not have that issue with the thru hull on my old boat.
Nailer Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 What is it about the Ray Marine 720 that you don't like?Hummingbird has really stepped up there game also.
JWheeler Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 I really like my Ray Marine. 35 to 40 mph and can still read fish. I like mine too Steve. It is nice to step into the 21st century with up to date equipment. I am now able to see things with the ray marine that I wasn't seeing with the "old uniden".
Indybleck Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 I was on the fence a couple of years ago, I bought a boat and had to put a finder on it. Looked at a lot of different units, I wanted a combo finally pulled the trigger on a Humminbird 917c. I've never looked back, that thing locks on satelites before I leave the dock. There are more features in that unit than I need and someday I'll figure it all out.Tom
RONDAYVOO Posted February 9, 2011 Author Posted February 9, 2011 What is it about the Ray Marine 720 that you don't like?Hummingbird has really stepped up there game also.I just dont see the fish and when i do mark fish they are hard to see and figure what is fish and other noise. I have turned off the auto and ran manual turned the sensitivty up and down still no help. I have a thru hull transducer. I called Ray Marine and they told me to send it them and they would look at it for 200 dollars minnum and no promise that its going to fix or solve anything, they have a 200 dollar min for anything they do now. So I figured that I would look for something new and hopefuly better.
Paulywood Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 If you have a thru hull ducer you might want to see if you can get a unit that is compatible with it. That way you don't have to replace the ducer. Just a thought.
fishsniffer Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 I like my raymarine fishfinder so much I bought it a raymarine chartplotter to have as a friend. Can't wait till I can run it
RONDAYVOO Posted February 10, 2011 Author Posted February 10, 2011 If you have a thru hull ducer you might want to see if you can get a unit that is compatible with it. That way you don't have to replace the ducer. Just a thought.thats a great idea thanks I never thought about that.
mriversinco Posted February 10, 2011 Posted February 10, 2011 Not to high jack the thread but will the new hummingbird finders, say the 586c, or the 596c with a transom mount be able to mark fish at 25mph or so?
cary mac Posted February 23, 2011 Posted February 23, 2011 I'm not so sure about the customer service for Lowrance. I have a unit that will power up sometimes but most of the time it will not. I ended up replacing the unit and went to the online service to see about repair. They do not repair the unit you send in but for a really high fee (almost the cost of the unit) they will replace you unit. Does anyone know of a repai shop for fishfinders? I can't believe that there is not something simple that i'm not finding.
adrenalin Posted February 24, 2011 Posted February 24, 2011 I just dont see the fish and when i do mark fish they are hard to see and figure what is fish and other noise. I have turned off the auto and ran manual turned the sensitivty up and down still no help. I have a thru hull transducer. I called Ray Marine and they told me to send it them and they would look at it for 200 dollars minnum and no promise that its going to fix or solve anything, they have a 200 dollar min for anything they do now. So I figured that I would look for something new and hopefuly better.You won't see as many fish as any other unit with the Raymarine. That's because a Raymarine will only mark fish that are actually their. They don't mark a huge bait ball from top to bottom as a black blob, cause that isn't how it actually is below your boat. Most other units will mark interference as fish along with weeds and other debri in the water. The unit you got is going to be hard to beat for 500 bucks. Alot of guys freak out and think their is something wrong with their locator if they aren't marking tons of fish. Some days their just isn't much to mark. A good example of this is come the third week in August you mark tons of big hooks suspended throughout the water column that you haven't marked all season. Those fish are zoned out 4 year olds ready to enter the harbor. All season long those same fish were either bottom related or moving in looser schools.
sslopok Posted February 24, 2011 Posted February 24, 2011 I have the humminbird 757 gps/sonar combo and love it. Love the color screen. I did have a problem with the transducer and sent it in. They had it back to me in less than a week. Great customer service. It was in the middle of the season when I sent it in too. Like others have said. It locks on really quick with the external gpd receiver.I have marked fish on the run but don't know about 25mph. Not sure I would trust the marks even if.
RONDAYVOO Posted February 24, 2011 Author Posted February 24, 2011 You won't see as many fish as any other unit with the Raymarine. That's because a Raymarine will only mark fish that are actually their. They don't mark a huge bait ball from top to bottom as a black blob, cause that isn't how it actually is below your boat. Most other units will mark interference as fish along with weeds and other debri in the water. The unit you got is going to be hard to beat for 500 bucks. Alot of guys freak out and think their is something wrong with their locator if they aren't marking tons of fish. Some days their just isn't much to mark. A good example of this is come the third week in August you mark tons of big hooks suspended throughout the water column that you haven't marked all season. Those fish are zoned out 4 year olds ready to enter the harbor. All season long those same fish were either bottom related or moving in looser schools.I understand what you are saying, but the problem I have is I also have a furno on the boat, I have a flybridge with furno up top and the raymarine on the deck. I can mark fish on the furno and sometimes catch some of those fish while the raymarine shows nothing.
Line Dancin Posted February 24, 2011 Posted February 24, 2011 I'm not so sure about the customer service for Lowrance. I have a unit that will power up sometimes but most of the time it will not. I ended up replacing the unit and went to the online service to see about repair. They do not repair the unit you send in but for a really high fee (almost the cost of the unit) they will replace you unit. Does anyone know of a repai shop for fishfinders? I can't believe that there is not something simple that i'm not finding.Is it a digital unit? If so have you ever opened one up? If not i can understand why they are so expensive to fix. I opened up an old unit that died on my dads boat just to see what was in it. It was a ray marine. 1 main board some wiring a small board and the lcd. The most expensive part of any compter item is the main board and that is typically what goes. I would be willing to bet that all the companies not just lowrance charge a ton to fix a problem like that when out of warranty. I know in the computer world when i have a computer with a bad main board you are better off just getting a new computer most of the time. People sometimes get mad when we tell them that they are better off to get a new complete system but when we show them the price of the identical main board they usually get an understanding pretty quick.
RONDAYVOO Posted February 25, 2011 Author Posted February 25, 2011 Yes it is digital and yes I have looked inside of some eletronics and had a class in it once many years ago, not that I would or could fix one. So yes I understand the repair cost that is why I asked the opion of people on here what should I buy far as new one. just like you said sometimes its just better to get a new one.
Line Dancin Posted February 25, 2011 Posted February 25, 2011 John i understand what you are saying. my last post was toward cary mac.
RONDAYVOO Posted February 25, 2011 Author Posted February 25, 2011 John i understand what you are saying. my last post was toward cary mac. No problem
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