I have a lowrance elite 7 down image. I wish I had a side scan. If I replace the Elite with a side scan which lowrance would give me good side scan. Also will my rtansducer for the elite 7 work with a side scan unit or will I also need a new transducer.

Unless you buy a bare bones unit from somebody, any new unit will come with a transducer.

Just replaced my Elite 7 with an Elite 7 TI w/ SS. Has all the "bells and whistles" ,including touch sceen, but still lite on the wallet. Unit comes with transducer that gives you 2D, DI, and SS. The internal GPS is much faster than the Elite 7 as well. A "little birdie" told me they are coming out with a 9" and 11" TI around Christmas.

I had two Elite 7's on my boat. Earlier this year I replaced the one at the helm with HDS 7 Gen 2 touch. I couldn't be happier. The HDS is MUCH faster than the Elite, and has a better sonar.

Bryan

The Elite 7 ti total scan has a lot of the same whistles and bells as the HDS gen3 7. The main thing it doesn't have is the ability to eithernet connect (can be NMEA connected to share waypoints) which is needed if you want to share transducers and/or maps.