Hbird observations

  • John Shear
    Chippewa Falls, WI
    Posts: 205
    March 18, 2012 at 12:11 am #1307030

    Went to a Ted Takasaki seminar today which was awesome. There was also a Hbird/MinnKota rep giving talks about their latest sonar, gps, trolling motor, and charging products. I was surprised to hear a lot of Hbird owners asking the rep about problems they’ve had and what solutions are. Admittedly, a lot of the questions made it obvious some of these guys just weren’t tech savvy and others just plain don’t read a manual. Others complaints were:
    – New lakemaster chips are too slow to be useable in previous year’s models. The rep said the previous models’ processor is too slow and they need to get this year’s model which has dual processors – one dedicated for the Lakemaster chip.
    – Ethernet is unreliable. There is no solution yet but will be fixed in a future product. He admitted they’re behind Lowrance with ethernet in general.
    – The FOB on iPilot units has been unreliable. The solution is to buy the new redesigned FOB.
    – The automatic chargers have had problems not charging properly if in a close compartment and get too warm, and it won’t charge batteries that are discharged too far. The solution is to buy the new digital charger.
    – PowerDrive trolling motors have been difficult to deploy. The solution is to buy the new redesigned unit.

    I realize every product will have an occasional dud, but the rep pretty much acknowledged these were known frequent complaints.
    I’ve been debating whether to update from my LCX units to HDS or Hbird and consequently switch from Navionics to Lakemaster, and switch from Motorguide to MinnKota. The Hbird/MinnKota marketing presentations made their products sound really awesome, but as a result of this Q&A experience I’m now not so sure.
    I left with the impression that Hbird rushes to get stuff out to market and make money, then reacts to issues that arise by incorporating design changes into a new model that a guy has to buy.
    He also talked about the 360 side-imaging. That’s going to be quite an apparatus that’s gonna cost big bucks – overkill for the average Joe.

    Doesn’t make my decisions any easier.

    John

    85lund
    Menomonie, WI
    Posts: 2317
    March 18, 2012 at 1:11 am #1050110

    For what its worth I have been very happy with my terrova and my hb units. I have not owned a lowrance so I cant make any comparisons but the units have been reliable.

    traumatized
    eastern iowa
    Posts: 362
    March 18, 2012 at 10:41 am #1050134

    I have a 998 on the back of my boat and a 798 on the front with the ethernet. No problems here. Absolutely love them.
    I have a Terrevo on the front with i-pilot. Absolutely love it. Would have liked the better remote but what I have works fine.
    The Humminbird software for your computer is excellent as well. I can download all my waypoints and snapshots then overlap satelite images to see exactly where they are.
    I had a Lowrance 5300c on my old boat and it worked fine. But that is 10 year old technology now. So when I got a new boat I went with Humminbird because of the side imaging technology. Now everyone else is catching up.
    Just my two cents

    smokinbobo
    Monticello / Guthrie, MN
    Posts: 382
    March 18, 2012 at 12:39 pm #1050151

    I personnally have been very happy with by HB units and my Terrova as well as other Minn Kota Trolling motors and Cannon Downriggers that I own.

    Wade Boardman
    Grand Rapids, MN
    Posts: 4453
    March 18, 2012 at 2:07 pm #1050166

    Quote:

    Went to a Ted Takasaki seminar today which was awesome. There was also a Hbird/MinnKota rep giving talks about their latest sonar, gps, trolling motor, and charging products. I was surprised to hear a lot of Hbird owners asking the rep about problems they’ve had and what solutions are. Admittedly, a lot of the questions made it obvious some of these guys just weren’t tech savvy and others just plain don’t read a manual. Others complaints were:

    – New lakemaster chips are too slow to be useable in previous year’s models. The rep said the previous models’ processor is too slow and they need to get this year’s model which has dual processors – one dedicated for the Lakemaster chip.

    – Ethernet is unreliable. There is no solution yet but will be fixed in a future product. He admitted they’re behind Lowrance with ethernet in general.

    – The FOB on iPilot units has been unreliable. The solution is to buy the new redesigned FOB.

    – The automatic chargers have had problems not charging properly if in a close compartment and get too warm, and it won’t charge batteries that are discharged too far. The solution is to buy the new digital charger.

    – PowerDrive trolling motors have been difficult to deploy. The solution is to buy the new redesigned unit.

    I realize every product will have an occasional dud, but the rep pretty much acknowledged these were known frequent complaints.

    I’ve been debating whether to update from my LCX units to HDS or Hbird and consequently switch from Navionics to Lakemaster, and switch from Motorguide to MinnKota. The Hbird/MinnKota marketing presentations made their products sound really awesome, but as a result of this Q&A experience I’m now not so sure.

    I left with the impression that Hbird rushes to get stuff out to market and make money, then reacts to issues that arise by incorporating design changes into a new model that a guy has to buy.

    He also talked about the 360 side-imaging. That’s going to be quite an apparatus that’s gonna cost big bucks – overkill for the average Joe.

    Doesn’t make my decisions any easier.

    John

    John, it sounds to me like the rep was acknowledging problems with older (legacy) units and recommends upgrading to a new unit that these problems have been addressed in.

    Not sure if that left a bad taste in your mouth. I would think that a company would not want to waste cash fixing a problem that exists in outdated equipment. Did I read that correctly in your post?

    FWIW I have a HB 997c SI and a 917c in the boat. Yes the new LM chips are slow due to having to much info on them. There is some tech savy tweaking that can be done if you know the tricks and it works fine. The rep should have known about those and helped the guys asking.

    No issues with my current Terrova or the previous PowerDrive.

    Tom P.
    Whitehall Wi.
    Posts: 3532
    March 18, 2012 at 2:07 pm #1050167

    I think you hit the nail on the head with many issues. People for some reason don`t read the manual on how to operate there units. I see the same questions over and over again on some of the Hbird forums. I went for Lowrance never had an issue with any of my units, made the switch to Hbird for ease of use.

    Denny O
    Central IOWA
    Posts: 5827
    March 19, 2012 at 12:23 am #1050271

    Some how this seems out of place to me. Some one sturring the pot so to speak?

    Tom P.
    Whitehall Wi.
    Posts: 3532
    March 19, 2012 at 2:47 am #1050299

    Quote:

    Some how this seems out of place to me. Some one sturring the pot so to speak?

    NNNaaaa could never happen..

    John Shear
    Chippewa Falls, WI
    Posts: 205
    March 19, 2012 at 5:56 pm #1050490

    Traumatized,
    The software sounded cool, but it don’t work on a Mac. I avoid Windows whenever possible.

    John Shear
    Chippewa Falls, WI
    Posts: 205
    March 19, 2012 at 5:59 pm #1050492

    Wade,
    You are correct in that the rep was acknowledging problems that should be fixed in the new models. Has to be frustrating for the guys with the previous models though. I don’t want to get caught in that.
    However, I must admit that I bought my LCX units in 2008 not knowing Lowrance was coming out with HDS the next year. Ugh!

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