for one, you dont have to buy the lss1 or put another transducer on the transom which has to be within 18 inches from each other. also humminbird uses the left and right side to comprise one accurate immage of the down scan. it is less expensive to do. the thing i like about the hds is the short cut keys which you only get with the hds 8 and 10. i have used both imaging graphs and humminbird stands out way more. HDS 5 AND HDS 8 WITH NETWORK nmea and lss1 would be about 3500-3600 with all neccesary options including USA INSIGHT. You can get equivalent humminbird with imaging for about 3k. You can snapshot with both., they have similar options. I know more pros switching to humminbird than guys switching to hds.