BigBendFishing.Net

My experience with Lowrance is that they have some of the best customer service you could ask for, but I would prefer that I didnt need to speak with them every six months.

Garmin 492c

Dubble Trubble wrote:Sorry Mook, but I will have to disagree with you there. I have had Garmin and Lowrance, and the Lowrance is by far a better depth finder. The GPS functions are fine with both, but I like the Lowrance if you are going with a dual unit.

The issues with Lowrance was their 50khz sounder and the lack of depth penetration. I never use 50, just 200 because I am never in 500 ft of water.....

I have a 7" color screen LX18C (same as Eagle Seachamp 1000C)and Nauticpath chip that gives me the ENTIRE US marine charts for 99 bucks.

My vote is also for Lowrance.

One other thing I love about the Lowrance is the chart record feature. You can turn it on while trolling, and then at home run the bottom playback on your PC. I have found several good ledges that way....

Here is an actual screen shot of it on the PC. See anything interesting? That was recorded while traveling at about 15 knots. Of course, I removed the cordinates that were there.



Dubble

That's pretty cool - never seen anything like that but then again I usually look at the bottom to check depth. You're not disagreeing with me though - I've never had a Lowrance sonar and that wasn't my personal opinion - just saying I think the general negative vibe they get as a brand from a lot of folks has to do with their sonars and not their GPS. That's all. I've been horribly unimpressed with Garmin sonars in personal experience. No experience with Lowrance personally. 2 different Raymarine sonars I've used are both best I've ever seen hands down in my opinion. I just came across a whole bunch of bad press, both from professional media and consumer ratings, regarding Lowrance sonars (and thus dual-purpose units) when I was shopping about a year ago for my boat. Might have a lot to do with the 50KHz issue, which I do recall coming across many times. Other big complaints I remember seeing a lot were something about output continuity (voltage spiking and troughing when supplied with stable power source) and multiple services / replacements required in the first year of ownership.