Garmin, Lowrance, or Bird

[Allen]

So, I have been feeling like I'm getting a little left behind by technology as of late. Those of you who have played with Livescope, Panoptix, and Active versions of the big 3 sonar makers, which do you prefer, and why?

Thinking of a dual purpose unit that I can use on the ice and off the boat via a pole, or ???. I have no experience with any of them.

If it matters, I currently am running HDS Gen 3s with a 7" screen on the dash of the Toon and Lund, and have a newer Garmin Echomap up in the bow.

 

[LOV2HNT]

I was out with a buddy this past weekend who is running the Garmin Panoptix, the latest one I believe. It was the first time I've ever seen one in action and it was pretty cool and now I want one. I'm in the same boat as you Allen and haven't kept up with all the new technology and am in the dark on these things. They don't exactly come cheap though. I'll be paying attention to this thread as I'm sure there's others on here who are using the other brands and I'd like to hear their perspective.

 

[AaronJ]

I have had Lowrance Active Target and Garmin Livescope with both the LVS 32 and LVS 34 transducers. Humminbird is light years BEHIND both Lowrance and Garmin in the FFS game.

For all of my FFS (2 or 3 in the boat) I will be running Garmin. I will have Garmin 12 and Lowrance 12 on the dash, Garmin 16 and Lowrance 12 on the bow (with Livescope), and Garmin 12 on track mount for my wife to use a 2nd LVS 34 LS in the back of the boat.

I feel the image quality of Garmin is better than Lowrance. I also feel the hookup is easier without having to have the "black box" wired to a switch. I will have the ability, with Lowrance on the bow and console, to add Active Target pretty easily if I have a Garmin failure or want multiple views at the same time.

I used to have a Garmin with LVS 34 set up as portable, but I rarely ice fish and found it a PIA in the boat. Arc Lab shuttle, from what I heard is pretty hard to beat for overall quality and portability. I had a summit portable shuttle and was not impressed.

 

[Shockwave]

We have the Garmin and it is great! The only complaint is the pole and I don't know what the poles for the other brands are like.

 

[YCbtx]

Garmin for me...Just upgraded from the 32 to the 34. Was able to get the 10" 106SV ultra head unit only (no transducer) from Scheels for 899 and had them price-match the LVS34 ice bundle with bass pro for 1799 (the 10" fits perfect in the bundle even though it only says up to 9"). I use the brew city mount for the boat and then made a PVC mount that breaks down for ice fishing that I am able to leave the brew city bottom mount on the transducer and just transfer between my pvc ice fishing set up and the brew city pole in the summer. I have fished with the 32 and 34 in the same boat, side-by-side the the 34 is WAY better in forward and perspective for spring jig pitching. Plus, if you want to use livescope in deeper water for vertical jigging lakers or salmon (have done this for salmon on Sak) the 32 will only get you down to about 80ft....the 34 will still be clear and can see jig in 120ft. Have not fished with the Lowrance, so cannot gives my 2cents on that unit.

 

[wslayer]

There is a good YouTube side by side comparison of all three set next to each other. Just watched recently Garmin got the edge for clarity, Lowrance for picking things off the bottom. If I can find again, I'll post.

 

[wslayer]

 

[Captain Ahab]

Garmin is the deal when it comes to FFS. I've ran Panoptix, Livescope LVS 32, Lowrance Active Target and Garmin LVS 34. The LVS 32 is better than Active target and the LVS 34 is better than the LVS 32. Lowrance seems to have enough lag in it just to piss a guy off. Currently running Garmin GPSMAP 1243xsv with LVS34 and a Lowrance 12 Live. Still prefer Lowrance's regular sonar and scanning.

 

[701FishSlayer]

Garmin or bust.

 

[FightingSioux]

Garmin is the cheapest ways to get in the live sonar game. 9 or 10” Garmins can be found on sale, the lvs32 is always on sale. I wish I would have picked up a 106 over Xmas for $999 plus 15% off a cabelas. You get get into it way cheaper than lowrance. Once you get hooked you can upgrade to the lvs34 for $1000.

 

[rapala_09]

I have had Lowrance Active Target and Garmin Livescope with both the LVS 32 and LVS 34 transducers. Humminbird is light years BEHIND both Lowrance and Garmin in the FFS game.

For all of my FFS (2 or 3 in the boat) I will be running Garmin. I will have Garmin 12 and Lowrance 12 on the dash, Garmin 16 and Lowrance 12 on the bow (with Livescope), and Garmin 12 on track mount for my wife to use a 2nd LVS 34 LS in the back of the boat.

I feel the image quality of Garmin is better than Lowrance. I also feel the hookup is easier without having to have the "black box" wired to a switch. I will have the ability, with Lowrance on the bow and console, to add Active Target pretty easily if I have a Garmin failure or want multiple views at the same time.

I used to have a Garmin with LVS 34 set up as portable, but I rarely ice fish and found it a PIA in the boat. Arc Lab shuttle, from what I heard is pretty hard to beat for overall quality and portability. I had a summit portable shuttle and was not impressed.

Holy smokes. There's nothing around your boat that you don't know about!

 

[AaronJ]

Holy smokes. There's nothing around your boat that you don't know about!

I love fishing, boating, setting up boats, and proper break-in. The more I learn about my equipment the more fun I have. I am also fortunate that my wife loves to fish and has more rods than purses or other "girly" stuff so I get to go hog wild on our builds.

 

[Wall-eyes]

smart man^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[Hamm's]

Definately Garmin Livescope. Buddy had his Lowrance Active Target next to my Garmin, and there was no comparison. The delay with the Lowrance is terrible.

 

[Allen]

Minimum screen size thoughts?

I know my 7" Lowrance units aren't worth a shiite on down or side scan.

 

[AaronJ]

Minimum screen size thoughts?

I know my 7" Lowrance units aren't worth a shiite on down or side scan.

I have used Garmin 93sv and it was decent. Personally I wouldnt go less than 12 inch. As I get older my eyesight gets worse. Larger screen and higher end units with higher pixel counts are worth the $$ to me. I am running 8612 and 8616 Garmins and Live 12s from Lowrance.

 

[YCbtx]

For ice fishing...I thought my 9inch was plenty of screen. For boat fishing...the biggest your budget allows...like stated. When out of Ft Peck...was able to stand in the middle of the boat jigging and see my buddies 10" and my jig no problem (about 7ft away from screen), so that is why I went with that, plus, easier to explain cost to wife. It also depends on your color scheme. I like the "yellow" setting. In "day mode" it sets the background color to white and the fish really stand out on it...even the ones rolling in on the bottom in deep water....but everybody has their preference with this setting. I actually switched my setting this winter to full time day mode and then I am able to turn down the screen brightness after sundown to 40% (to save battery) and it still stands out like crazy.

 

[CatDaddy]

Minimum screen size thoughts?

I know my 7" Lowrance units aren't worth a shiite on down or side scan.

Allen - I went from a 7" Lowrance to a 9" Garmin and have used it summer and winter. It's an absolute game changer for side/sonar/down and is great with the Livescope and charts. I'm sure bigger is better, but don't be shy on the 9's.

 

[Coldfront]

Good Morning

First, I do not own a Garmin, but my neighbor does. The one he has is the first Panoptic. I seen it in action while ice fishing and it was very cool. Watching him put the pole together was a joke. I believe that Garmin still uses the same pole today. The panoptic was better than the first Lowrance by a long way. I think the Garmin is a little ahead of Lowrance and always will be because of the patent lawsuit they won over Lowrance.

Second, on my boat I have a Helix 10 Humminbird and a HDS 12 Live Lowrance. Johnson Outdoors has better mapping software (not by much) and way better integration of the trolling motor and mapping with the depth finder. I didn't want to buy another depth finer and when I did some research, I found that Summit made a shuttle bag for the HDS12. Being I owned a Lowrance I bought the Active Target. I may be a little prejudice here, but I think the HDS series is a little more user friendly.

The Summit pole is light years ahead of Garmins pole. The shuttle and shuttle bag are great. The Summit pole mount for the boat works great also.

Also, I wanted to point out that so far with Lowrance you can use the latest transducers like the Active Target 2 in 3 generations of head units, the HDS Pro, HDS 12 Live and the HDS Carbon. Plus Lowrance's new Active Imaging HD with FIsh Reveal is outstanding. No body has that technology accept Lowrance.

 

[v193]

I have had Lowrance Active Target and Garmin Livescope with both the LVS 32 and LVS 34 transducers. Humminbird is light years BEHIND both Lowrance and Garmin in the FFS game.

For all of my FFS (2 or 3 in the boat) I will be running Garmin. I will have Garmin 12 and Lowrance 12 on the dash, Garmin 16 and Lowrance 12 on the bow (with Livescope), and Garmin 12 on track mount for my wife to use a 2nd LVS 34 LS in the back of the boat.

I feel the image quality of Garmin is better than Lowrance. I also feel the hookup is easier without having to have the "black box" wired to a switch. I will have the ability, with Lowrance on the bow and console, to add Active Target pretty easily if I have a Garmin failure or want multiple views at the same time.

I used to have a Garmin with LVS 34 set up as portable, but I rarely ice fish and found it a PIA in the boat. Arc Lab shuttle, from what I heard is pretty hard to beat for overall quality and portability. I had a summit portable shuttle and was not impressed.

Look like a mobile sports book with all those TV's