I have a Lowrance 4800m GPS and a X75 sonar on my boat.
I been thinking of upgrading the X75 to match the 4800.
Now I been looking at the Humminbird 700 units.
Lowrance or eagle have been the brands of choice and I already have accommodating holes in my transom for Lowrance hardware.
Humminbird looks very good now days. What do you guys think? Would a Humminbird be a better choice than Lowrance now days? 
Now that is a loaded Question. 
Whofan You will not be disappointed if you switch to the Humminbirds. I just put a 1197 on my boat it is amazing. All of the Humminbird stuff has come a long way.
I was looking at a Lowrance lxc 38 and then I looked at the Birds. The birds are that much better than Lowrance.I could not believe how easy it was to put on,and how easy it is to run. Go Birds you can’t go wrong 
Jim Mcdonald
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Whofan You will not be disappointed if you switch to the Humminbirds. I just put a 1197 on my boat it is amazing. All of the Humminbird stuff has come a long way.
I was looking at a Lowrance lxc 38 and then I looked at the Birds. The birds are that much better than Lowrance.I could not believe how easy it was to put on,and how easy it is to run. Go Birds you can’t go wrong
Jim Mcdonald
Why are they better??? Have u run a LCX 38 what is it based on?? The birds have come a long way they look
like some nice units have not run one yet, so can not commet on there preformance. On the other hand nothing but good things to say about the Lowrance Lcx 38, one thing the Birds are missing is there are no Icons at least the one I looked at .
I have been running Humminbird for the past few years and they are awsome. But with this question you are going to get loyal people from both sides. I know many people on both sides that say they will never switch from the one that they are using.
The Humminbirds have come a long way and are not slowing down, the side image is to die for.
You won’t be upset if you go with Humminbird.
I made the switch to the new Birds lasy year and was very inmpressed. Lowrance has a decent product, but they cannot compete with the new Birds. A few weeks back I worked a weekend at a Bass Pro for the Spring Fishing Classic. They couldn’t keep the Birds in stock. One of the guys at the electronics counter said they were selline at least 5 HB units to 1 Lowrance. A lot of them are tournament anglers and they don’t want to be at a dissadvantage. The HB rep. said a lot of the top pros paid to run Lowrance have a HB with side imaging hidden in a compartment or mounted below the consol.
They have come a long way and the new side imaging technology will amaze you. You won’t be dissapointed. The HB gps puck will fit in the same location at a Lowrance with out drilling new holes. I have a Ram mount so the unit easily swapped out. The menues are easy to get used to. I wouldn’t trade my new Birds for anything.
Jason
I have always been a big fan of Lowrance but this year I made the switch to Hummingbird.
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I have a Lowrance 4800m GPS and a X75 sonar on my boat.
I been thinking of upgrading the X75 to match the 4800.
Now I been looking at the Humminbird 700 units.
Lowrance or eagle have been the brands of choice and I already have accommodating holes in my transom for Lowrance hardware.
Humminbird looks very good now days. What do you guys think? Would a Humminbird be a better choice than Lowrance now days?
I think you’d be happy with either Lowrance or Humminbird. Both are very good. In your case, you already have a Lowrance GPS so it might make more sense to go with a Lowrance unit in the event that you decide to network the units. If I were in your shoes, I would probably get a Lowrance LMS-520C with 200khz transducer and without GPS for around $450. You can run it as an independent sonar unit, or you can network it to your globalmap so you have GPS on both units. That may come in handy if you ever had the Globalmap malfunction while you’re on the water.
If networking doesn’t interest you at all, then the Humminbird units should be considered. If you are looking at a stand-alone sonar unit, the Humminbird 777C would be a great choice. It has a very high resolutions screen and is fully powered at 500 watts. One advantage it has over Lowrance is the dual beam sonar. While Lowrance offers dual beam sonar on select units, they cost a little more and they only offer a 12 degree cone at 200khz on their dual frequency units (their single frequency units are 20 degrees at 200khz). This Humminbird unit offers a dual beam with a 20 degree cone at 200khz, and 60 degree cone at 83khz. You can view this dual beam together as one image on the display, or you can view each separately, selecting either 200khz or 83 khz. This particular Humminbird feature is an advantage for fresh water anglers, IMO.
I hate to knock a product, but my Humminbird 959c crapped out on me on Lake Michigan this weekend. I repositioned the transducer like people had told me, and that fixed it for a while, then it went back to giving me 900-1000ft readings and now it won’t even power up. It just beeps twice and says off.
I think my next unit will be a Lowrance… I have a tourney Friday and can’t afford a new depthfinder so i need to get this fixed or replaced ASAP. Could be the power cord, hopefully…
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I hate to knock a product, but my Humminbird 959c crapped out on me on Lake Michigan this weekend. I repositioned the transducer like people had told me, and that fixed it for a while, then it went back to giving me 900-1000ft readings and now it won’t even power up. It just beeps twice and says off.
I think my next unit will be a Lowrance… I have a tourney Friday and can’t afford a new depthfinder so i need to get this fixed or replaced ASAP. Could be the power cord, hopefully…
I wouldn’t let a bad experience with any single unit completely inform your opinion on an entire lineup. Both Lowrance and Humminbird make a quality product, but your always going to have some defects/malfunctions with electronics. It’s gonna happen from time to time, whether you run Lowrance or Humminbird.
You are completely correct there Wade. After using both units though, it seems that Humminbird just hasn’t get up to Lowrance level just yet, darn close though!
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Whofan You will not be disappointed if you switch to the Humminbirds. I just put a 1197 on my boat it is amazing. All of the Humminbird stuff has come a long way.
I was looking at a Lowrance lxc 38 and then I looked at the Birds. The birds are that much better than Lowrance.I could not believe how easy it was to put on,and how easy it is to run. Go Birds you can’t go wrong
Jim Mcdonald
Why are they better??? Have u run a LCX 38 what is it based on?? The birds have come a long way they look
like some nice units have not run one yet, so can not commet on there preformance. On the other hand nothing but good things to say about the Lowrance Lcx 38, one thing the Birds are missing is there are no Icons at least the one I looked at .
I just set a whole bunch of icons on structure this weekend on my 997 
I always ran Low’s but the new ‘birds are great units and EXTREMELY easy to use so I made the switch
For me, the biggest seller was the ease of use.
Lowrance makes a great product don’t get me wrong. But, the Hummingbirds are so much easier to use.
Will the Hummingbird accept map chips?
Ed
My 595c does accept chips, I am running the Navionics Premium North chip
Thanks Mike!!
Ed
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Will the Hummingbird accept map chips?
Ed
Most of the units accept Navionics Premium and Gold, and some of the newer unit will accept Hotmaps Platinum.
Thanks for the replys guys! I`m also looking at the 787c2 as well. I might just pull all my Lowrance stuff off my boat and go Humminbird, or go with the 520lms to compliment my 4800.
Humminbird products look great. My old x75 has been bullit proof though. If I knew I could get the quality from any graph that I now now have with the x75 I would not hesitate to buy it. Maybe I should just keep it til it dies?
Cabin fever has got the best of me in Michigan`s U.P.
I`m driving myself nuts.
Wade thank you! Your advice is very valuable. I might be shopping Jolly Ann soon?
P.S.
Whats the word with the Humminbird transducers concerning rooster tails and tracking bottom at speed?
This is the only issue I been reading about Humminbirds new products.
I always liked Lowrance`s Transducer design. Lowrance just keeps changing their connections so much that you have to tear your boat apart every time you upgrade.
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Thanks for the replys guys! I`m also looking at the 787c2 as well. I might just pull all my Lowrance stuff off my boat and go Humminbird, or go with the 520lms to compliment my 4800.
Humminbird products look great. My old x75 has been bullit proof though. If I knew I could get the quality from any graph that I now now have with the x75 I would not hesitate to buy it. Maybe I should just keep it til it dies?
Cabin fever has got the best of me in Michigan`s U.P.
I`m driving myself nuts.Wade thank you! Your advice is very valuable. I might be shopping Jolly Ann soon?
P.S.
Whats the word with the Humminbird transducers concerning rooster tails and tracking bottom at speed?
This is the only issue I been reading about Humminbirds new products.
I always liked Lowrance`s Transducer design. Lowrance just keeps changing their connections so much that you have to tear your boat apart every time you upgrade.
The issues you’re referring to have to do with the larger Side Imaging transducers. They are larger than the average transducer and some guys have had trouble getting a good read at high speeds. Many anglers are going to a second transducer for high speeds and using a transducer switch to switch back and forth between the SI ducer and the regular ducer.
However, none if that is an issue with the units you are looking at. That only applies to the larger side imaging units like the 997C, and not everyone has had this issue either. It appears some of that issue has to do with the particular boat one is using.
That 787C is an excellent unit too.
I have a 997 and at 53mph the other day, I keep in contact with the bottom
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