I need to get new electronics and I am looking at the Lowrance Elite Chirp series. Is there a difference between the Elite 7 and the Elite 9 besides the screen size and cost? How does everyone feel about this line of graphs? Thanks for the input.

slow mapping, great image quality

Is there a better option than this model in the $1200.00 price point?

Do not waste you money on chirp unless your fishing 100 feet deep plus the chirp is for target separation and doesn't really give any help unless your over that 100 mark. I have an elite 7HDI and it's a good unit but and if you buy one I wouldn't pay over $450-$500 tops shop around. However, if you have the extra $$ buy a HDS 7 touch or 9 touch gen II model. I also have the gen II 9 touch and it's a way better unit, speed loading mapping, 2D looks better even tho it uses the same frequency as the 7HDI, and plus you can then add side scan. Shop around and you'll be able to find a HDS 7 touch used for $800-$900

I have the elite 7 chirp and it will only show me 5' contour lines with my Navionics chip. From what I have read it is supposed to show 1' lines. Thats a pretty big negative if you like to fish offshore structure. The chirp does give a nice image but I would consider the HDS 8 before I would buy the elite 9 for $1200.

Thanks for the info yall; sounds like I need to take step back and re think. I mainly only bass fish North and East Texas lakes, so it sounds like this isn't the model for me. I appreciate the advice once again.

I love my Elite 9 excerpt for the fact that it is slower than cold molasses when you turn it on, the resolution is awesome, I only use the down scan, no need for the 2 d, I have it on my trolling motor.

The HDS 7 gen 3 is what I have and it is $1200 plus $300 for the transducer if you want side scan capability. From the little time that I have had mine it has been great. Granted a 9" or 12" screen would be nice but I can't justify the extra $700 to $1300 for a little more screen.

It has the latest processing power from Lowrance and also has wifi capability to load updates, maps, etc.... one thing I can do is use wifi to link to a ipad or droid notebook if I want a bigger pic. It starts up fast and has 2 micro sd slots.

It's a option if you're in that price range.