Because both of my units have crapped out on me, I am in the market for new graphs for the first time in like 12-13 years.

I was really sold on the Lowrance Elite 5 HDI from a specs standpoint and a price standpoint (great deals on this unit now). Howver I was at Academy last night and got to looking at a HB 587 ci HD DI that is on clearance and was pretty impressed with it as well. It has a 1/2 inch smaller screen and was $30 more, but the DI imaging looked much better than the Lowrance. So now I am torn but need to make a decision quick before neither are available.

Does anyone have any experience on comments on either system?

Oh and to throw another into the mix, Gander Mountain has the Elite 4 HDI with Lake Insights Pro map card on sale for $199. My initial inclination was to do the 5 HDI on the console and 4 HDI on the deck and then use the map card on both units, would that work?

You'd need two map chips if you want them to both have maps at the same time. Otherwise you'll have to move the chip back and forth. Also, I'm not sure how great the insight maps are. I'd be looking at Navionics.

Have you looked at the new Helix units from Humminbird? I was in the same boat as you a few weeks ago and I was looking at the Elite 5. Ended up spending the little extra and went with the Helix 5 with side imaging, gps, and a lakemaster chip. I think you can get a helix si/gps for $450 if you do some calling around or $499 if you just want to go through a big box store. Worth it for the SI and screen...

I have a 4X HDI on the bow that I bought a year ago, I'm happy with it, but it would be so much better with gps. And honestly, if I was doing it again I'd go for the larger screen of an Elite 5 or Helix. And SI if I could swing it...

I put the Helix on a ram mount so I could swing it around to face the bow for GPS use.

I second the Helix 5. It's a great little unit for the price. I purchased the si/GPS version for my aluminum boat.

I had an elite 5. It's a decent unit but doesn't compare to the Helix in my opinion. As far as the Lake Insight, it's not much better than having no map program at all. Very little detail, hard to read, really a useless program in my opinion. I was very disappointed when I got it on the lake and tried to use it.

Thanks both for the comments.

I have looked at the helix units, and the one with SI is a little out of my budget since I am in the market for 2 units. The one with DI/SOnar and GPS is closer to budget.

Thanks for the input on the Lake Insights map card. I will not let that play a role in my decision making now.

Still find myself leaning towards the 587ci due to the picture quality of the DI, but I really liked the functionality and ease of use of the 5 HDI.