Raymarine vs Lowrance Sounder

[cohochinook]

So my Lowrance HDS 5 Gen 1 just packed it in. Need to get a new sounder. Always had Lowrance, but considering going with a Raymarine. Anyone have any experience with Raymarine Sounders and how they compare.

I am looking at $1700 for Lowrance HDS Gen 3 or $1900 for a HDS Gen 2. Any suggestions for options?

 

[RageWelding]

Don't get the gen 2. They freeze. Mines pooches after a year. Still haven't had time to deal with warranty

 

[wildthing]

sounder go simrad 2009 and use an hook or ti Gold for chart mapping
and pr up with a p66 transducer if chirpping then tm 185hw unless your happy to go thru hull b-178 -hw

 

[cohochinook]

Thanks guys

 

[GDW]

Love my Lawrence (gen 1hds) but hate the menus.

I'd look at touch screen or another more user friendly brand if buying again. I haven't played with touch to see how easy it is to navigate.

To me 20+ button pushes to erase and start a new trail is ridiculous.

A buddy got a ray marine dragonfly only fished with him once since he got it but it looked nice and only has a few buttons.

Whatever you choose take your time it's your most used and most important piece of equipment in my opinion.

 

[ericl]

Gil Travis (semperfifishing) sells this stuff over the internet. I'd get in touch with him (use google).

Two years ago he recommended Garmin CHIRP which I bought. It seems to show Salmon much better than anything I have had or seen on other boats.
The Garmin "fishing map" charts (optional, not built-in) have 1 foot contours.
Transducer is probably the most important item. Most are made by Airmar; and Airmar has some great technology info on their web pages.

 

[FishBear]

Had the Lowrance HDS 10 gen 1 for years... loved the data and images, hated the menus. Its like you have to re-memorize the pathways each season.

Just upgraded to the HDS 12 gen 2 touch this spring... awesome advances, waaaaay less menu hunting and same great data/images

 

[Sculpin]

They are all pretty good now and they all offer similar features. Like GDW said, take your time, try them out, and find the one that suits your needs best. I wasn't a Garmin fan at all until I played around with one up at Winter Harbor on a 34' Hydro Sport center console with triple 3oo etecs on it. The guy was our second neighbour for the weekend and we were talking about contours etc. The fishing charts he had on there had 3 to 4 times the contours of either of my chips (it could have just been his chip). The touch screen worked great and the menu seemed easy to navigate. I don't know how their hardware stands up as I haven't really researched Garmin all that much. My Lowrance units have been bomb proof.

Good luck with what ever you end up with and let us know what you went with.

 

[cohochinook]

I ended up going with the Lowrance Elite 7Ti. It allowed me to keep my 50/200 transducer that I already had on my boat, came at decent price and from speaking with the tech guys at Lowrance, its basically the same HDS7 Gen 2 without the radar capabilities, which I am not running on my boat anyway. Looking forward to the touch screen. It shipped out yesterday from Harbour Chandler, so should have it by Monday or Tuesday. Will write a report, once I have had it on the water for a bit.