I got a question, I have a lowrance lcx 17m with navionics on my console and am wanting to upgrade to a bigger screen with a color display, would you buy new or used lowrance unit? I would like to go with lowrance again. I looked at maybe buying the elite 7 hdi ($800 new). I'm just looking for an opinion and want to get the most for my money or save some money. Mainly want a bigger screen with color and navionics without breaking the bank.

im in the same boat as you and from what I've heard and the advice I've been given is you want to go HDS with structure scan... if you go to craigslist or something like that or even on here you can probably find one i found an HDS 5 pretty good... but i also looked at the elite 7 hdi.... i liked that one as well

+1

get in touch with http://www.shut-up-and-fish.com/ and see what he can do, great guy to do business with.

if you go used there are some good deals on here in the classifieds and also on bbc.

http://www.bbcboards.net/electronics/

If u don't get newest model it is hard to get updates from lowrance.

Thanks for the responses. There are so many units, it just frustrates me to even try to compare. I'm just a weekend fisherman on a budget that wants to make the most of my time on the lake. I'm still a fairly new dad and don't get to go much. I just want the best affordable unit to locate fish to maximize my opportunity on the lake. I don't do tournaments. I just love fishing, my dad passed that passion on to me and I want to pass it on to my son. I have a 17' 1996 Ranger w/a 115 hp mercury on it, nothing special but gets me on the lake. I'm no expert at any of this, I just love to fish. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

find a humminbird 798c si and use it, you get down/side image and can update off the site easy it also has 2 slots for cards so you can learn to mark and save waypoints and use a map card too.

they sell for pretty reasonable prices when you find them. one advantage is if you decide to move up later you can get the 898 or 998 etc. and link them so you have the 798 on the bow and the other on the console but can see the return from the transom ducer if you want to.

The elite 7 has the same sonar as the HDS units. The benefits of the HDS are: faster maps, processors, side imaging capabilities, four screen splits, 2 year warranty with a 5 year pro rated warranty, and a few other things I'm prob forgetting.

The elite 7 comes in 2 different forms, one has GPS and the other doesn't. Both have down imaging but from what I've read it's not as good as the HDS down imaging. You kinda get what you pay for and I'm not sure you are going to get a HDS & the structure scan as cheap as you'd like.

They are also making a elite 5 now if you're wanting to save even more money, but personally I'd go with at least a 7".

Besides having mapping ability, I just need it to have a color sonar , down scan and a larger screen than the elite 5. I don't care about side imaging. Is the hds really that much better as far as down scan is concerned?

Can I buy an HDS unit without the lss 1 stuff and just use the navionics and color sonar until I can afford the rest?

I upgraded to the elite 7 in the spring. I like the features and bigger screen. I had a 522c previously However, I have been disappointed in the processor speed in the Elite 7. I have the navionics chip installed.
When I switch screens it takes several seconds for the processor to catch back up with the map. The processor speed is sometimes slower than the boat speed. The map cant keep up in real time with the boat. I have experienced the boat cursor running on the map on occasions. I ran a friends HDS side my side recently with the Elite 7. No comparison in processor speed. Buy the HDS unit if your budget allows. I plan to upgrade again and move the Elite 7 to the bow.

Yes, but consider buying an HDS Touch w/o transducer and buy the HDI transducer. It will give you broadband sonar and down scan, but no side scan.

Consider buying a touch? I've got about $600 to play with, that won't even get me half of that. Any other ideas that someone else has done?

Whatever you decide,u can put it on a johnyray swivel mount, and u can make do with a console unit without the TM mount..I did that with a HB 1198, and it works pretty well..

Anybody else have any thoughts on this?