Here are my thoughts on the Elite 4 DSI. Reply that turned into a review, so forgive the hopping around.

Had it out for 10 or so trips and its got its greats and 1 horrible. It can generate some pretty impressive returns in deeper water. On the shallows, < 3ft, it gets a bit cloudy, but the depth readings are always accurate. Maybe all the way down to < 1ft.

1 thing I really don't like about it, is the sd card slot. Its suppose to be sealed by a rubber gasket. But the rubber gasket doesn't like to stay put. So saltwater can and will enter the slot causing rust to form on the pins where the sd card goes and malfunction. We'll see what Lowrance does about this problem and report back.

Other than that, its a great unit. The gps is quick and accurate. Lots of functions that we'll probably never use on the kayak and lots we will. Marking spots, scrolling back through the sonar page and mark some fish. Switch back to the gps page and navigate to it. Awesome. Tracking back your course in fog or low light. Never be lost again.

Installation is can be straight forward or creative, depending on what you want.

Most of these images are in some of my recent reports.

Rig offshore, with coral growth on the legs.


Same trip, but here we see a bait ball being chased to the surface by a few bigger guys.


same bait ball.


Long fish cruising the bottom.



Now for some shots from the causeway.

Bait ball sitting just off the battleship.



Can you see it? Crab trap.



Another. Notice where the buoy line is, the tide was ripping out that day.



Bridge Pilings.



Cont'd...

Couple Snags I found under the Admiral semmes bridge. Was wondering why bass was being caught here.




Drop off.



Shallow Textures.



Good unit, I would recommend it and just watch out for the sd card slot.



Potential Sleigh Ride?



Qutlass.

Do you find it hard to read when in the sun? I went to get one and after having a hard time reading it in the store light I didn't get it.

since it doesnt have regular sonar, does it show fish fine? i will be in freshwater

Thanks for posting! I'm looking at the Elite 4x DSI and you're review hits most of what I was wondering.

@sToddh, I have no problems reading in the sun. It has alot of contrast and brightness adjustments to play with.

@ Bass, there are fish in he pictures above. While it doesn't show the "fish arch" or display fish with the "real id". It will show blobs and well define bait with predators as shown above in the screen shots. Where it does excel is showing structure on the bottom.

Glad to hear it Brian.
thanks for reading.

Nice review.

Is that the unit that runs about $350?

Has anyone tried a DSI transducer inside the hull? I know I can mount it outside but I think it would be a much cleaner install if I can mount it inside.

I have one. I find the glare a big problem. Perhaps I still need to play with it. It tells you although you can mount it inside that performance will suffer and it is best not to.

I will say that I've had it a couple of months with multiple trips done and I'm still learning the settings. Best to power it up and play with it inside while reading the manual. Most things you would be frustrated doing on the water turn out to be simple once you understand the workings.

How long will a 7 amp hour battery run the unit? Thinking of upgrading and want to be able to take one battery, no solar cell and run it for a day of fishing without a recharge.

Enjoyed the review, thanks.

I use a deer feeder battery (don't know the amp hours) and have used it for around half dozen 6-8 hours trips and have not had to recharge yet. I probably will for this coming weekend just as insurance but it seems to have very little amp draw.

Perfect. Thanks for info. At 5 amp hour or 7 it will last MUCH longer than can be used in one trip.

I run a small lipo pack meant for RC helo's (light weight) and get 8-9hrs on a single charge. Those deer feeder batteries will run all week like the others mentioned.

TXWW You can play with the brightness and contrast levels to get optimum viewing in sunlight.