wrote in message
...
On Sun, 23 Mar 2008 09:59:35 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 22 Mar 2008 19:52:28 -0500, "Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers"
wrote:

HumminBird 383c Combo locator/gps?

Evidently I won one in a Bass & Walleye Boats Magazine contest. I've
looked
them up on the Humminbird website, but I don't know anyone that has one
to
see how they like it.

I haven't used one. However, I HAVE been doing a bunch of comparative
legwork, looking for a new unit for Dad. I saw the 383 at my local
Bass Pro, alongside many other units, both from HB and other mfgrs.
The color screen is a BIG PLUS in that the display is readily visible
from almost any angle, in all lighting conditions.

Have fun with your new unit!

Sounds like a fun new toy. I've been a fan of Garmin GPS map units for a
while now, but my BassCat came with a Lowarance GPS map at the console.
The
first thing I noticed is that the Lowrance unit seemed to lock onto
location
much quicker. What has this got to do with your Humminbird you might
ask.
LOL. The second thing I noticed was theat the base map for the Lowrance
was
next to useless, while the base map for the Garmin included many standard
features and locations. The Mapcreate software that came with the
Lowrance
made the unit useable, but when I loaded all the local data it was only
marginally better than the base map that came preloaded on the Garmin
units.
I loaded topo maps that came with my Garmins, and they were better, but
for
real world work the Garmin Roads & Recreation map extras were what I
really
needed to be useful. Nothing like that was available for Lowrance. In
fact
finding any additional map info for my areas was impossible for Lowrance.
Their Fishing Hotspots was next to useless in my hoime region. It
actually
reduced map data. (Not bad for Lake Mead though).

Anyway... I suspect the usefulness of any GPS map unit will in part
depend
on both your own knowledge of the area, the quality of map data
available,
and the ease of installing map data.

Hopefully Humminbird included some decent map data with the unit, and its
easy to load.

P.S. I found my Garmins to be both easy and awkward to load map data
onto.
I hook them to a serial port on my PC and the software is almost
intuitive
to use. I can upload the field data like waypoints from the unit, I can
set
my own waypoints, and then I can download them all to the unit. Its
pretty
easy. Transferring map data is about the same. The awkward part is that
I
have to remove the unit from the boat and bring it into my computer. The
Lowrance units use a card, and have a reader available for the card, but
the
software is cludgy and difficult to use in my opinion. On the water they
are both pretty easy to set, use, set waypoints, save tracks, etc. When
water levels are fluctuating, and I plan to fish a way up river in a
tournament I like to go out the day before and save a safe trace on my
GPS.
Paired with knowledge of the area that allows to me to run WOT all the
way
to my first spot with only minor fear of wasting part of my morning
dragging
the boat off a sandbar.

If you fish lakes with rock bars and submerged rock islands that type of
thing could be very useful for you Steve. If you locate good fish you
can
of course save the location to make it easy to take a client to the spot,
but on your way back you should be able to save a trace, and possibley
save
some waypoints so that you can quickly and safely take a client directly
to
the spot.

It sounds like it could be a fun new toy and possibley a good new tool
depending on some of the things I mentioned.

I have found that the Lowrance systems seem to be overpriced. Many
models from other makers with similar or more features, for much less
$$$. When I asked the salesman at Bass Pro about the discrepancy, he
simply stated that if I want a Lowrance, I gotta pay for the name.

Bob, you mentioned Mead .... given that the lake has fallen about 100
feet in the past few years, I was wondering... How are the mapping
features are keeping up with the ever-changing depths and
shorelines???

I have not fished Lake Mead in 3 years, so I really don't know.


--
Bob La Londe
The guy who decides who we do business with.

The Security Consultant
PO Box 5720
Yuma, Az 85366

(928) 782-9765 ofc
(928) 782-7873 fax


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