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dmorrow.
So I was checking out the sneak preview pics and noticed the Simrad NSS8 mounted on the 2013 Jaquar. Not familiar with this. Is it better than Lowrance and Humminbird?[/IMG]
Kevin Short has used one all year on the Elites. I believe he thinks its a step up in terms of efficiency but cost/benefit curves.vary based.on how much you use it. If i only put 20hrs a year on a boat it wouldnt make sense. If youre mad at em and.go a lot and have money to burn its the.ticket.C.O.D. Jr. III
It is Lowrances sister company and the screens will look similar to Lowrance, though it is touch screen technology and the processor operates faster. Menus are fewer steps and the time savings is significant as well as the learning curve.
All the goodness of a Lowrance HDS unit in a WAY simpler to operate package. Sonar, Structure Scan, mapping are very similar to HDS units. Faster processor than even the Gen2 stuff. Touch screen and easy to navigate menus. Boots up in under a minute. Brighter screen. Down side – several hundred dollars more per unit, depending on whether you go 7 or 8. (Rick wont build me a console for a 12 inch unit. Yet…) If youre looking at keeping a boat for many years or spend a lot of time working with your electronics, you might justify the added expense. Time saved in navigating menus as opposed to Lowrance is substantial. Cant help but think that all marine electronics will be like these in the near future.
And still somehow they only have yacht owning frogs on prostaff…What….The…C.O.D. Jr. III
Listening to Kevin compare the two reminds me of what Rick Morris had to say about HDS units when I was his marshal last year at Toledo Bend. He said the HDS units are the most “un-user friendly” units he ever had. He had one at the bow and console but he had his old 111 (?) at the console that he said was the best unit they ever made and he said he didnt know why they didnt or couldnt just add the new technology to that unit. Im planning to upgrade one of these days and, even though I am fairly computer literate, I will probably go Hummingbird just because of what has been said about the HDS units.Jim EbarbMany, LA (Toledo Bend Lake)2004 Cougar/ 225 OptimaxHumminbird Helix 12 Chirp SI on BalzOut Mount at bowLowrance HDS 7 at bowHumminbird Helix 12 Mega SI on Ram Mount at ConsoleLowrance HDS 8 in dash at console
My cougar only has the Elite 5 DSI graph. So its pretty easy to figure. My previous boat had 898si on it. The HB are very user friendly. I fortunatly do alot of work on the computer so it may come easy to me than some, but the HDS units to me are a pain in the a#*. I do like both equaly for what they do, its just being user friendly will be a key thing for me as a consumer.
I have had both, Lowrance HDS 7 and Humminbird 898 SI. The Humminbird is sooo much easier to operate. User friendly=Humminbird I like the graphics better too.
Touchscreens will be on the HDS unit soon ! Be patientBCB NOTE:We fully expect more to go to the touch screen technology as they develop, though at this time no depth finder company outside of RayMarine has made this goal obtainable. Nor has any other depth finder company made any announcement to support this. BCBLast edited by angler557 on August 15th, 2012, 7:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
conroeman wrote:I have had both, Lowrance HDS 7 and Humminbird 898 SI. The Humminbird is sooo much easier to operate. User friendly=Humminbird I like the graphics better too.Slowly, I may end up getting one those iPod Simrad devices. Not just yet though. All three are great machines. If HDS goes to anything remotely like SimRad Ill bite on that apple. Reason for the switch…. Im NMEA2000 centric. I was bit buy that bug back in 2009.
Dang..LOL. I think the HDS is a piece of cake of use. Of course I took the time to read the manual plus purchased a operating DVD before using it. Most people dont have the time to read and want something a simple as a flashlight to use.I know touch screen is cool but hope Lowrance doesnt go there anytime soon. Screens are hard enough to keep clean. I get one fingerprint on my screen and Im going nuts. LOLGotta buddy witha 898 and we both agree the HDS graphics are better. I guess its personal preference.Last edited by GRR884 on August 15th, 2012, 9:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
GRR884 wrote:I know touch screen is cool but hope Lowrance doesnt go there anytime soon. Screens are hard enough to keep clean. I get one fingerprint on my screen and Im going nuts. LOLGRR884, that is my biggest reservation with Simrad machines. Its bad enough with water spots, fish slime finger prints to boot? I guess the work around is putting the screen protectors on the glass. Might seem minor to most but I lean toward your camp on that. However, SIMRAD mojo is real cool. I sure like the zoom in/out dial. Fast too. However, I would like to see better software from both companies that makes these units more bullet proof and less prone to crashes and gremlins. Now that would be my dream machine!
You dont have to touch the SIMRAD screens, they have touch buttons also.
Something tells me Kevin puts enough hours on a boat in a year to give the average angler a near lifetime of single boat ownership experience.Most guys are 40-60 hrs a year in a single climate.Kshorts average I would belive to be in the 280 range per year.Thats a lot of hours with the unit on with far more miles trailered outside than most in a single boat ownership experience.Plus guys this is a unit designed for someone that just droped $80,000,000 on a boat. That group is a little more demanding than the average bassboat owner but granted thats use inside your Hatteras not outside it.C.O.D. Jr. III
Talked with Kevin Short and Rick Pierce when I ordered my 2012 Puma FTD, and Ive got Simrad NSS8s at console and dash, networked together. Ive run them hard all season, and have had not one minutes trouble from either unit. They do have a bit of a learning curve, but worth the time. The displays are super sharp, refresh rates, as Kevin said, are faster than anything on the market, and once you understand the touch screen it is amazing how fast you can change views and screen combination. I drove boats with Humminbirds and Lowrance units at the dealer meeting, and neither of them surpasses the clarity and ease of use on a Simrad. My Humminbirds had a connection issue that kept causing them to randomly shut off and recycle–no problem with Simrads.Fingerprints are just not an issue. I carry a cleaning kit, with some Windex all purpose, and just wipe them down at the end of the day–the screens get no dirtier than other units. Trust me on this one–I had the same concern, and it just is not a problem. And, as Rick said, you can use buttons and the control dial if you want. Unit only has 4 buttons and a control wheel on the face.I think they are the cutting edge of marine electronics, and I”m planning on putting them on my 2013 boat very shortly.And dont tell me they are waaay too expensive, especially the guys fishing Steez and Calais reels. All about where you allocate the funds.Thanks to Kpink and Rick for talking me into these units.Mike Whitten
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