i am clueless about which i should buy? a lowrance hds 5 with structure scan or a hummingbird model with side scan? any helpfull advice? i have read up on both a little and cant make up my mind which one to go with?

The best advice I can give you is try to go out on the water with people who have them. I have been in boats and have seen them both. They both do what they advertised, but I couldnt tell you one was better than the other as far as imaging. I think it will come down to what you want as far as screen size and price. The one downside with the Lowrance is you have to buy the structure scan unit seperate and you dont have to do that with the Hummingbird. I liked them both, but I got a good deal on the Lowrance and that was the only reason I got it. I dont think you will be unhappy with which ever you choose. Hope that helps......

I'm not sponsored by anyone, I have no ties to any Fishing Electronics Companies. I would use Hummingbird for the folowing reasons. Their display is brighter, I find them much easier to use, they have been doing the side scan longer, and their quality control is better. They turn around a repair consistently faster and with less problems than Lowrance. IMHO.

thanks guys, now whats the sizes that have sidescan or structure scan,in the hummingbird version?

Birds with side scan: 798, 898, 998, 1198 I may have missed a couple. I am real close to be buying a 898 myself.
Butch

One other comment to add about humming bird (I own both the Humming Bird 997 & the Lowrance HDS7) you need to have a separate transducer and be networked to use sidescan with the HDS units (unless they changed something over the winter).

As far as "SONAR" is concerned the HDS unit blows the hummingbird completely out of the water... completely, sorry to the hummingbird fans... blows it away... did I mention completely? Seriously though, they are both awesome units, but the HDS does a better job on the sonar side. TO be clear the Hummingbird sonar units are great too.

***I can feel the attacks coming already!!!*** lol

Brendan, you are correct about the Lowrance sonar blowing the bird away!!!!! Lowrance did come out with a couple of units for this year that dont have side scan but are set up for down scan right out of the box without having to buy anything else. The detail on these units are unbelievable as well.

Well then! That is when they are working correct? Several comments on pages about water intrusion into HDS cases. I also read many rants about poor customer service.

I have lowrance units on my boat that I want to upgrade, all the bad press directed me to a bird unit.

I was also told they bird offers great customer service and software upgrade(s) free of charge. Long and short of it is: I am under 30 days away from a 898 being ordered.

Got no dog in this fight but thats what I heard.
Butch

Holy Monkey!@!@! Hey Butch you are "spot on" with the water in the HDS units... I completely forgot to mention that extremely important detail... it happened to me more than once. The deal is that the problem occurs with the HDS5, You need the HDS7 or better. Lowrance hooked me up with the FREE upgrade to the HDS7 (after I gave them a really difficult time on the phone)... my HDS7 has worked great with only one glitch, my older transducer is not giving me temperature readings... they sent me a new one for free, but I haven't gotten around to installing the new transducer yet. All that aside, when the unit is working, the image and accuracy is amazing, but I want to stress that the sonar is still fantastic on the Hummingbird... You will be extremely satisfied with the Humminbird unit... I love both units... that's why I own both brands! lol

Sorry for the over-the-top Lowrance comment, I hope I didn’t cause you too much stress... you should not second guess your purchasing decision… the 898 is an awesome unit and the side & down imaging rocks!

I am about 3 weeks away from buying the 898, I am adding the extra shoot thru the hull transducer and the needed Y cable. For the benefit of all: If you wish to split screen display with 2D locator, down, and side imaging the extra transducer is needed. The SI transducer has all of these features built in but you cant multi-split screen hence the extra transducer.

H-Bird P/N should you need them are: XP 9 20 Puck and AS SI DB Y cable.

Brendan last year it was a power pole, now its a 898 bird at mid-ship, next year I will be at the bow.

A BOAT = "About another thousand" should do it.:)
Butch

lol yeah... I also like: B O A T "Break Out Another Thousand"

When I got my 997 I bought what was reffered to as the "high speed" transducer (through hull) then I have an A/B switch installed that lets me toggle between transducers... I can get all three modes going at one time, sonar, down & side... I never changed my A/B config, so I'm not sure if the second transducer really comes into play with down scanning. What did you hear?

BTW this is the scree config I usually use when searching around:

Brendan the extra trans does not come into to play with down scan, that feature is part of the side scan trans.

The new software update for 2011 adds some cool things: Measured grid lines shown on the left and right of side scan displays. This makes it very easy to determine exactly how far the viewed structure is away from you. They also added: Zoom features to down scan, and optinal merging of the left and right side scan screens as one. By that I am saying: the open gap in the center of your screen shot is removed.

PS: the a/B transducer selector switch is no longer need on 798 and higher units.

I was on the bubble: buy a bigger dog unit or 2 of the smaller DI units. Everyone told me to go with side scan as it's the shizzle.
Sure hope they are right these things are not cheap!
Butch

I think this is the comment that got me confused about the transducers... all good...

Hey don't worry, once you have it, you'll never regret it. I don't know how people are going to compete in tournaments with out one... it really gives people an advantage that sonar can't compete with...

thanks guys i just bought a hds-5-gps with structure scan

SC... that's the unit that was having issues with water getting into the screen... have they resolved that issue?