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Lowrance HDS 9 Gen3-Who's running?


Wanaflatsfish

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Ive got one Dino, running an air mar B150m, LSS2 and a point 1 heading sensor.  I looked hard at Simrad and extensively used displays in stores on both units making my decision.  For me there were 2 main reasons I went with Lowrance:

1- was very concerned about how glossy the simrad screen was.. seemed this would cause glare a lot more than the matt finish on the HDS

2- Simrad limits you on where info is displayed on screen ie depth, temp, position, heading etc.  Theres an info bar on the right side of the screen that contains all the info and its quite large which takes up a lot of screen real estate which is already at a premium especially if youll be split screening a lot.  You can not change its size but you can turn it off and have zero info displayed which *** in my opinon.  The HDS you can overlay individual data anywhere on any screen, choose from 4 different sizes and whether its outlined with a small box.  ITs so easy to do and is similar to dragging app icons on a cell phone and placing them where you want.

I also prefer the looks and design of the HDS over Simrad... the Simrads appear to be delicate and have a lot more "case" surrounding the screen causing to have larger dimensions than the HDS.  The Simrad does have a bit more power and is a little more capable in the offshore arena with acc such as radar, auto pilot and also has available BSM's capable of running several transducers with up to 3 separate CHIRP frequencies.  So unless you are going to be hardcore offshore especially in deep waters <200' most of these features are moot.  The HDS has done excellent for me from 500' offshore to inshore around the inlet or bridges.  I highly recommend getting a heading sensor regardless of which one you go with, best thing since sliced bread if you ask me.  Ive got plenty of screen shots if you need to see how it performs

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nice unit. a friend was looking at same and liked it very much but went with garmin. he felt it was easier to use. was also told that by salesmen at west marine. felt salesmen should not have said that. let buyer determine that himself. he was pushing garmin to everyone because it was the one he really knew, and had one. jmo ;)fin

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If your considering Simrad go on boe marine. They have re maned units with 1 year warranty for a fraction of cost. I ran a Simrad nss7 evo 2 on my last boat and plan on running again on my next. Glenn's chip is worth every penny. When you order he puts you on his email list and sends emails once every few months. He sent an email when the nss3 series came out saying he was having issues with his chip working to full potential, may want to call and ask before you order. Glenn runs Simrad so he's probably your best bet if you want the best advise. I, myself am a choko newbie, I've been fishing there past 3 years, and have gone fishing with people that have been going there since the late 80s that don't use gps, and they say FMT has shown them things they never new of. I would strongly recommend considering a 12 inch screen for the following reasons. One is that Glenn's chip has so much information and notations that if your running from rabbit key pass down to plover or bird and you want to zoom out the screen is filled with stuff and you really can't keep track of where your at, this is true on a smaller screen, not so much as true on a larger screen. Next reason is if you do go 12 inch I would suggest mounting on a RAM to have closer to eye level. Check out these mounts http://www.balzoutllc.com. The salesman at my west marine store are block heads and I wouldn't let them fix me a sandwich. You can get an idea of what I'm talking about regarding zooming out while running, as well as FMT on Simrad. Hope this helps. 

 

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7 hours ago, FINCHASER said:

Ive got one Dino, running an air mar B150m, LSS2 and a point 1 heading sensor.  I looked hard at Simrad and extensively used displays in stores on both units making my decision.  For me there were 2 main reasons I went with Lowrance:

1- was very concerned about how glossy the simrad screen was.. seemed this would cause glare a lot more than the matt finish on the HDS

2- Simrad limits you on where info is displayed on screen ie depth, temp, position, heading etc.  Theres an info bar on the right side of the screen that contains all the info and its quite large which takes up a lot of screen real estate which is already at a premium especially if youll be split screening a lot.  You can not change its size but you can turn it off and have zero info displayed which *** in my opinon.  The HDS you can overlay individual data anywhere on any screen, choose from 4 different sizes and whether its outlined with a small box.  ITs so easy to do and is similar to dragging app icons on a cell phone and placing them where you want.

I also prefer the looks and design of the HDS over Simrad... the Simrads appear to be delicate and have a lot more "case" surrounding the screen causing to have larger dimensions than the HDS.  The Simrad does have a bit more power and is a little more capable in the offshore arena with acc such as radar, auto pilot and also has available BSM's capable of running several transducers with up to 3 separate CHIRP frequencies.  So unless you are going to be hardcore offshore especially in deep waters <200' most of these features are moot.  The HDS has done excellent for me from 500' offshore to inshore around the inlet or bridges.  I highly recommend getting a heading sensor regardless of which one you go with, best thing since sliced bread if you ask me.  Ive got plenty of screen shots if you need to see how it performs

thank you....

 

dc

 

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