I am in the market for a new depth finder/GPS. I really would like the new Elite 7, you guys that own one out there, do y'all like em? The one thing left on my curiosity is the GPS maps. I want to know how the maps look with the best mapping chip you can buy in the unit. All the advertised pics and such show the base maps which is ok but I want contour lines and channels and such. Can anybody post any pics of what the Elite 7 maps look like with a really good map chip. You can PM me if you'd like. Thanks

they dont have an exit/back button. i know it sounds like a small complaint but trust me at times it will leave you wanting to kick your brand new unit off the boat

Lol. Good rant

Have one on the front of my boat and good bang for the buck.

Tjbubba What kind of card do u have in it?

I've got one wih a Navionics Premium South in it. I'm very happy with it. If you look at the navionics web app on their website, it's identical to what I see on my elite 7. THe only negative I see is the slower response due to the chip. If I split all 3 screens then I get a pretty big lag in zooming in/out as compared to instant zooming with the base map. I'll shoot you an email with some pics from my phone if you want.

I like mine alot. The lack of an back button isn't a big issue once you get familiar with the unit and how to surf the menus.

I just installed mine yesterday, and very anxious to get out this weekend and check it out!

Cool. Let me know your thoughts of it after you give it a try Brandon potter

no card, I run navionics on my dash unit.

Have had mine up front about 3 months, with Navionics Premium. Really like the unit. Seldom use/display map up front, OK when I do. Normally have it split between sonar & DSI.

I snapped a couple of pics with my phone for you to see the differences in the mapping. I don't think you can do a screenshot with the map chip in - but I could be wrong. Looking at the images you can see that there is a very big difference. (These are not zoomed in all of the way.)

Here is a snapshot of Sam Rayburn without using a map card:



Here is the same snapshot but using Navionics Premium South:



I like having the Elite 7 up front. I typically leave it on 2D and down scan and run my map card in my HDS unit at the console.

Thanks guys. Y'all have helped a lot.

these thing's know how to find hydrilla?

Just heard that Lowrance is about to release another software update for the Elite 7. Hope it addresses the issue with missing roads and creeks in the Hotmaps Premium chip. Anyone else hear about this?