Hey guys I’m looking at upgrading to humminbird. Let me tell you I’ve always been a lowrance guy. Honestly I don’t utilize my electronics very well but I want to learn to be better as I know they can be a huge tool. Is the helix a good series? I was looking at a 7 or 8. Also on the website it says mega on some what does that mean? Are the humminbird pretty user friendly? How do they compare to lowrance price wise? Thanks guys.
Helix is a good series. Mega is the better image for side imaging. Also for down imaging but I don’t think it is as important in down.
I find them less user friendly than Lowrance and Garmin but I am also a touch screen guy.
I’m terrible with technology so wondering if humminbird is to much for me. After reading their website I’m kind of thinking maybe it is. If I could find a good used elite series I would go that route maybe. For my fishing I don’t really need a hds live unit.
I recommend the Garmin UHD series. So simple a dummy like me can use it. Good sonar, DI, and SI. I do pair a Helix 7 with it solely for mapping
I was a Lowrance guy a long time ago and have humminbird and garmin now. I think that both the humminbird and garmin are both more user friendly that the Lowrance are now. I hated all the sub menus the Lowrance had. I found it very hard to navigate to find what I needed. If you are used to Lowrance you probably would disagree. I personally think that the helix are easiest to figure out. I have switched to a solix and they are completely different menus and have so many options it takes me a while to find how to setup new things with that one too. I’m just getting to old is probably the main issue.
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Same as Mojogunter I had lowrance years ago and switched to Humminbird. Like any change it will take a while to get used to the different menus and moving aroound within the system.
A few monthes ago a friend asked for help with his Lowrance and I was totally lost. Now he has lost the settings somehow and I need to try and set it up again. Guess it is what you are used to.
So this is going to be a long post so sorry for that. I ended up buying a lowrance elite 7 that went on the bow last fall. I bought a hds gen 3 7 for the console with side and down imaging. Then I am running a gen 1 hds 5 on the console for mapping purposes only. I kind of settled on the two 7s because we were going to only have the boat another year or two.
My dad is actually the guy that owns the boat. I’m the guy who uses the electronics all the time. I bet my dad couldn’t even turn a unit on. With that said he lost his job in December and my parents financial situation changed drastically. Therefore he will no longer be upgrading boats at this point. I don’t see myself being happy with those 7s long term so I bought a hds gen 3 9 for the bow and was going to buy a 12 for the console.
I have always been a 2d sonar guy with no down or side imaging. Everybody tells me the hummingbird blows Lowrance side and down imaging out of the water. I think with me being a newbie the better picture might be best. So I’m thinking of going with the helix 9 on the bow and 12 on the console. What is the difference between the gen3 and gen 4? Also with the bow one exactly what do I need as far as transducer for a minnkota Terrova? What is the difference between the 360 mega and just the regular mega? What is the a good used price for a helix 9 and 12? Thanks and sorry for the long post.
You ere going to need at least a Helix Gen 3 to run Mega 360 if you dig and search I bought both my Helix 12Gen 3s SI for $1,600 each used. You want to be careful there are Helixs that were specially made for places like Cabelas, Scheels and Bass Pro. They are not the same as the regular Helixs they take a special transducer and will not use the standard DI 2D Si transducer the normal Helix`s do. They were sold new for $1,600 versus the $2,500.
The newer Mega 360 is well worth the price to play provided you can even find one to buy right now.
you won’t be disappointed. the birds are very user friendly and after having one for a while you will learn how to use them to your advantage. i suggest watching some videos on youtube. another thing the Helix offers is the ability to use it on the ice if that is your thing?
you won’t be disappointed. the birds are very user friendly and after having one for a while you will learn how to use them to your advantage. i suggest watching some videos on youtube. another thing the Helix offers is the ability to use it on the ice if that is your thing?
I don’t ice fish. Just never have really got into it
My dad is actually the guy that owns the boat. I’m the guy who uses the electronics all the time. I bet my dad couldn’t even turn a unit on. With that said he lost his job in December and my parents financial situation changed drastically. Therefore he will no longer be upgrading boats at this point.
I hope you are in the position to purchase the boat in case he needs to sell due to his financials.
I would get at least the 9. The 9 and above have the view short cut buttons on the front, You can set your three favorite views and use these short cut buttons, I have GPS, fish finder and GPS/fish finder split view. I have this in my boat and when I fish in my buddy’s boat he does not. It drives me crazy having to scroll through all the screens to get back to the one you want. Also I would always recommend a bigger screen too.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>boos1906 wrote:</div>
My dad is actually the guy that owns the boat. I’m the guy who uses the electronics all the time. I bet my dad couldn’t even turn a unit on. With that said he lost his job in December and my parents financial situation changed drastically. Therefore he will no longer be upgrading boats at this point.I hope you are in the position to purchase the boat in case he needs to sell due to his financials.
I’m not in a position to buy the boat. But my parents financial situation is not that bad that he will have to sell. It’s just with what the used boat market has done he won’t be upgrading at this point. My dad is 76 years old so he will not have another job in the industry he was in. However he needs to find something to do a day or two a week. He’s not a guy to sit around and do nothing. He will go crazy lol.
He will buy another boat at some point I’m sure. I mean could he afford to now yes he could. It’s just that our boat is a 05 and still works just fine. If he still had good income coming in we were just going to upgrade but now that he doesn’t we decided why upgrade if you don’t have to.
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