# Marine Electronics Suggestions



## Getsome (Sep 28, 2007)

Thinking of upgrading my E120 because of problem after problem. I've been looking hard a Lowrance HD-12 2nd gen touch screen. Can anyone verify that my Raymaine 72 mile open array will work with it? My transducer will according to Lowrance's website. 

Not sure about Lowrance yet, I've never owned anything other than Raymarine and Hummingbird. The last Hummingbird I purchased was under $1,000 and I had know idea how good it was until I upgraded to the C120. I thought I was going to see a spectacular difference between the two, only to find out that the Hummingbird was just as good. I know Garmin and Simrad make a good unit. I have my E120 at George's to have that soft button strip replaced for the 3rd time. 

There is no better experience than first hand experience so I thought I might be able to get some feedback from people who have different units. I would like to spend under $4K continuing to use my radar if possible. Thanks for any input.

I have been looking hard at this unit as well 
*Humminbird ONIX 10ci HD SI*


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## X-Shark (Oct 3, 2007)

> I've never owned anything other than Raymarine and Hummingbird.


There is a lot more user friendly and not menu based machines out there.

Lot's of complaints with Raymarine over the years.

Garmin is the most user friendly. 

There is a lot going on in the industry. CHIRP or non CHIRP? How deep you fish has a bearing. How bad are your eye's? How much console space?

I've put a lot of them in and fixed a few "Professional" installs too.


Georges pushes Raymarine....Why? They must have a bigger profit margin, because it sure ain't the best.


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## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

Garmin, garmin free software [homeport] and excellant tech support that actually speak English.


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## Lil' Scout (Oct 1, 2007)

I highly recommend that you get in touch with SEMPERFISHING (Gil) on THT. He's a wealth of knowledge on electronics and can probably beat any price that you find.

http://www.thehulltruth.com/semperfifishing/628356-welcome-here-what-my-forum-all-about.html


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## off route II (Sep 28, 2007)

1. Furuno
2. Garmin


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## badonskybuccaneers (Aug 19, 2013)

My personal favorites
1. Lowrance
2. Garmin
I have never had a Humminbird, Furino, or Simrad (basically a Lowrance to me)- so I can't really say about those personally.
We upgraded from Garming GPS/FF to a Lowrance HDS 10, not the touch screen though. We only have a 22' bay boat and I figure a touch screen would only eventually get messed up between fishy fingers and sun damage (yea- no top on our boat either). 
I was interested in the structure scan, and I'm getting older and figured I needed the larger screen to see it better.
Love it! And I'm not real sure about complaints about them not being user friendly? What piece of electronics doesn't require some familiarization time nowadays? The "pages" make it fairly easy to navigate between screens, and the additional programmable soft keys make it easier still..... 
My best piece of advice has always been, with most people, it will come down to your _personal preference_. Go to a dealer, look at the display units and try them out. Keep asking questions. Check reviews online- is the one you are looking at getting good reviews? In the end, It's going to be your piece of equipment and your decision.... 
I hope this was helpful, and I hope you find some more useful advice on this thread.


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## X-Shark (Oct 3, 2007)

off route II said:


> 1. Furuno
> 2. Garmin


That is what I usually recommend if you want separate units and what I have on one boat. Furuno 582 and Garmin 492 and that's on my Flounder boat. It's way Overkill, but I had the equipment.


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## Getsome (Sep 28, 2007)

Thanks for the replies. Not made a decision yet still window shopping!


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## Skeeterdone (Jun 21, 2014)

I personally like hummingbird.. Had Lowrance sponser for a while. Doing MWT, MWC and PWT Tour but didn't like the return they had for walleye.. Grainy Course and poor structure Id... Mapping was slow.. Humminbird connects with I pilot and many accessories..


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## hjorgan (Sep 30, 2007)

Garmin is my preference but I have a Lowrance HDS 8 now and it's not bad.
Haven't figured out the nema stuff though.


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## 5tmorris (Jan 17, 2013)

I recently upgraded all of my electronics and after a great deal of research went with Raymarine. It was a quandary because all I have ever had before was Garmin. I couldn't be happier. The equipment is robust. The installation is truly plug and play and for items which aren't Raymarine, such as my Autopilot and AIS I had no problem configuring the NMEA ports. The few times I needed support I had a very good response from Raymarine. Fortunately, I believe all of the big names produce quality equipment. So it boils down to personal preference and the human/machine interface that you are most comfortable with.


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