Lowrance or Simirad

[fishnfly]

I'm just curious why most everyone uses lowrance over simrad for striper in freshwater? I've seen videos on both units and to me simrad looks clearer on sonar and side scan. I'm getting ready to upgrade from my current hds 7 gen 3 to a 12" screen and really want to make an informed decision. I have also been looking at the garmin panoptix units, but they seem really pricey. I don't fish bait and will be using the unit to find fish to vertical jig and troll lures.
thanks,
Troy

[dorange]

I had an hds 7 unit and was very pleased with it but now that I have a simrad go9 with the total scan transducer I’m very spoiled and couldn’t go back.
Very clear images, very user friendly and easy to navigate. Check out Mike Smedley on YouTube he has some great videos on settings and explaining what the screen is showing.

[mwardncsu]

Historically Lowrance was targeted to the freshwater market and simrad to the salt. Lowrance used to be a bit lower price point / spec than the simrad. Ie simrad has larger screen options, more networking etc.

Now they share much of the same hardware platform and a lot of common software. There are still some features targeting different markets between the units however.

[Don]

As Mike stated, Simrad and Lowrance are very similar and the software these days is almost identical. Both are Navico products. I change boats like underwear (bad habit I need to change) and of 7 boats I have outfitted in the last 3 years for personal use, the first was Lowrance, the next 3 Simrad, and the most 2 Garmin. I certainly prefer Simrad over Lowrance and both are very configurable.

Many of my clients prefer Garmin as the user perception is that the interface is easier to navigate. I can certainly see where that perception came from after owning the products; however, the Navico software gets better with each release.

Garmin owns Navonics (mapping) and often bundles their proprietary versions (ie. bluecharts) with their products (almost identical to the Navonics cards you would buy for non-garmin equipment). Navonics is probably the leader in marine mapping software so if I am relying on Garmin's (Navonics) charts, It might as well be on the Garmin unit IMO. Simrad has been steering customers towards CMAP which also has excellent charting products.

This is really a Ford Chevy debate and you cannot go wrong with either. You need to look at your long range plans. If this will be a single unit and you have no plans for integration with radar, auto-pilot, trolling motor, additional displays, etc... then it just comes down to preference. If you do have plans to add other items, I would go ahead and spec out what you want from each manufacturer so you can get the big picture.

To me, it isn't so much the brand but the compatibility with the transducer options you want to take advantage of. These days, there are A LOT of options. For example, you can connect an HD Mega transducer to a higher end garmin 86xx series while other lower end units require an additional $300-$400ish black box to mediate.

Another consideration is the processor of the unit. For example, a Simrad GO product and a Simrad NSS EVO3 may look similar and you may order the same screen size; however, the NSS EVO3 has a much faster processor and will draw the details on your screen much faster as well as offer enhanced integration options with other peripheral.

I guess the point of my rambling... :-) The brand doesn't matter as much as the features you are looking for and how you plan to use the unit. Once you start with a brand, you are kinda stuck without a forklift upgrade when it comes to add-ons. Simrad/Lowrance are almost identical and many of the add-on units (transducers/radars/etc.) can be used with either unit. There are other brands worth considering such as Garmin and Hummingbird.

Like cell carriers, there are thousands of brands for marine electronics but only 3 or 4 that I would endorse and they have been named.

[fishnfly]

thanks for all of the replies. So would the hds 12 live be comparable to the simrad nss 12 evo3 as far as processor goes? I guess what I'm asking, is will you see basically the same images for side scan, downscan and sonar between the 2?
thanks,
Troy

[Don]

The image for downscan and sidescan will be based on the transducer you select. Many of the Lawrence and simrad products are currently shipping with the active image 3 in 1 transducer.

The NSS evo3 that you referenced will be the best unit but is also one of the most pricey units. An inexpensive simrad GO series will work just fine as well if you're not networking other equipment.

[jmr04]

Don’t mean to hijack this thread but see that Trollingsml has a lot of experience with these products. I have a simrad nss evo 3 unit. Side scan is ok. Was out with Capt. Todd a few months ago and looking at his side scan it was like someone turned a light on. Couldn’t believe the difference in clarity and detail given the fact we have the same unit. Took note of his settings and compared to mine. Sure enough he was set at 800 khz and I was 455. So I changed mine to 800 and the screen just goes blank. Does this have to do with the transducer or do I have a problem with my unit? I have know idea what kind of transducer I have because it was factory installed with the boat.

[coheasion]

Hey Jason - did you ask Captain Todd what transducer he was running? On my Simrad Go9 I've been very pleased with my down-scan and normal echo sonar but have always felt the side-scan was lacking something.

I'm going to try the 800khz setting next time I'm out and see if that makes any difference - but I cant help but wonder if the difference is in the transducer - is he using the "stock" Simrad transducer or get something upgraded from Airmar etc.

[Don]

Mar 8, 2020 16:23:11 GMT -5 jmr04 said:

Don’t mean to hijack this thread but see that Trollingsml has a lot of experience with these products. I have a simrad nss evo 3 unit. Side scan is ok. Was out with Capt. Todd a few months ago and looking at his side scan it was like someone turned a light on. Couldn’t believe the difference in clarity and detail given the fact we have the same unit. Took note of his settings and compared to mine. Sure enough he was set at 800 khz and I was 455. So I changed mine to 800 and the screen just goes blank. Does this have to do with the transducer or do I have a problem with my unit? I have know idea what kind of transducer I have because it was factory installed with the boat.

In general, 455 will give you more range while 800 will be a higher resolution.  The range and resolution is relative to the model transducer and your output power.  ie, a high output transducer at 800 kHz could have more range that an week output at 455 kHz but in general, the lower the frequency, the more range.  There are quite a few additional settings within your unit beyond the frequency that may affect your display.  A few things to do... verify the model transducer, confirm that the transducer is connected to the correct port on your unit (many units require the sidescan ducer be connected to a particular port), make sure your unit is updated to the latest firmware (very important), and keep in mind that you can reset just the sonar settings portion of your unit if you need to and start from the default auto settings.

[fishnfly]

I ended up going with a garmin echomap 10 and livescope up front and am still running 2 hds 7s. Couldnt be happier with the garmin, but now I am in need of updating the hds units. Should I go with another garmin unit or get 2 hummingbird helix. if I go hummingbird I would get a helix 12 for the helm and a helix 7 for the front, so I would be running 3 units. If I go garmin I would just have 2 units a 12 echomap at the helm and a 10 at the front. From everything I've seen the helix units mega si is head and shoulders better than garmin, but will I even be using mega much scanning for striper in 20 to 50 foot of water? Does anyone use the helix for striper and what is your opinion of it? Can you mark striper off to the side and not just in the water column? How about garmin, can you mark fish to the side with their side scan?

[Don]

I recommend you go with Garmin.  Keeping them all updated w/ Active Captain is a breeze and there are networking options depending on the model you chose.  If your current unit was a Hummingbird, I would tell you to go that route as it is advantageous to pick a brand and maintain uniformity for updating/etc.  As long as you are using a leader such as Garmin, Navico, Humminbird, etc... you can't go wrong.  The Garmin sidescan is awesome and they have HD transducers as well.  Note that if you plan to use the HD transducer (and I would), make sure you get a head unit that does not require an external black box or at least know that you will need a black box with certain model chartplotters.  You also want to make sure it is networkable so both units can share the transducer info.  I ordered all of mine from www.BlessMyBoat.com but I'm biased that way :-)