The Lx-7 is Here!!!

[iceranger792]

Marcum has officially released the Lx-7

[Hardyboy]

unleashed but not yet for sale on the HSOforum. they have a single page with info but no in depth details or photos.

[Random guy]

[LundProAngler]

I'm dissapointed there is no GPS.

For the same money you can buy a HDS 5 and have a top quality sonar and GPS combo and it will do the same pretty much the same thing as this unit.

[McGurk]

I'm dissapointed there is no GPS.

For the same money you can buy a HDS 5 and have a top quality sonar and GPS combo and it will do the same pretty much the same thing as this unit.

+1 It's nice to see improvement, but this seems like more show with the same go. I know there are improvements, but frankly I see no reason to spend the extra dough to get this over an LX5 (I've got an LX3 TC). Had they simply incorporated GPS, or a camera input, I may be tempted. I guess we'll have to wait for the LX11 or so.

I do like to see some waves being made, and frankly we have nothing to complain about in the ice fishing gear segment. The strides made in available product in the last decade are simply astounding relative to other segments.

[leech~~]

Is it that much better then the LX-5?

Huum, maybe a good time to buy a used 5 from someone cheap!

[Steve Foss]

I like it!

Now, if it had GPS I'd get the second mortgage it will take to afford one. As it is, I'm on the fence but will probably say no. Not enough return on investment for this laker guy.

I'm betting they could just as easily have put out a second model with GPS on it, marked it up a couple hundred, and called it the LX-7G.

[pulleye16]

Whats the price tag?

[RiverFish]

I like it!

Now, if it had GPS I'd get the second mortgage it will take to afford one. As it is, I'm on the fence but will probably say no. Not enough return on investment for this laker guy.

I'm betting they could just as easily have put out a second model with GPS on it, marked it up a couple hundred, and called it the LX-7G.

Do you want to guess what Marcum will be putting out next year for its new Flasher? Probably the LX-7G

[Random guy]

Far from the old attempts of LCD flasher/Graph Combos or comparision of current open water units. First off what I feel is #1 for me the unit has no moving parts. No spinning dails, no LED lights whipping around at mach two, no motor, no bearings…this off course ups battery run times. As for speed that is one place the LX-7 excels. True time sonar is less than .02 seconds; that’s about as fast as your eye can talk to your brain. The lag of LCD that other units suffer from is gone from the LX-7. Another point is the heated screen keeps things moving in the sub zero temps we all love. Yes some open water units have a few more functions but take it out in the cold or let it beat around a portable shack in tow and see what comes out busted.(this is where my input to Marcum comes in) The LX-7 is made for cold weather abuse and abuse it I will.

Dashboard gauges put everything front and center to read at the glance of an eye. Dynamic Depth gives an instant reading of the depth that is great for those of us who rapidly scout depths from hole to hole. It also maximizes the display not only utilizing the full screen but generating the cleanest display while take full advantage of target separation capability. Other units have the screen broke into 10 or 20 foot segments wasting screen space and the opportunity to fully utilize target separation. Plus instead of splitting the screen and putting two views in one dial (zoom and full column) you can still run your full screen watching for high swimmers and pop up the zoomed in window alongside for those finicky fish on the bottom; no more micro display on the right side of your dial.

AS for the standard graph or summer time mode this option will take the LX-7 off the ice and into the boat. Now not only do you get a winter flasher but you have high quality portable sonar that can be attached to any boat whether running off the bow on a big walleye boat or hung of the side of canoe for those back water adventures.

Another HUGE selling point for me is the USB port. Now when upgrades happen you just plug it into your PC and alacadabra peanut butter sandwiches upgrade installed. No sending in the unit or the need to add any hardware, just plug, click, install and go fishing.

As for a GPS I actually feel it is not needed. Granted it would be cool but I don’t want to have to try and balance my LX-7 on the dash, it won’t fit into the clip on my handle bars and I don’t want to be dragging around a transducer cable and heavier unit when pinpointing waypoints. I will stick to a handheld GPS as to me it is much more efficient, plus I don’t to see the price point for adding such options.

Camera applications, my guess is that will not be far off.

I think Marcum knocked it out of the park when it comes to the concerns of, target separation, resolution quality, durability, battery life and they went to the moon and back with user features and functions.

[Steve Foss]

Do you want to guess what Marcum will be putting out next year for its new Flasher? Probably the LX-7G

Yeah, and probably for $1,000.

As for my interest in GPS within the unit, It looks to me like an LX-7 would be a unit swappable for on-ice or boat. Just a different ducer and mounting bracket and you're good to go. Add GPS to the LX-7 and you've got a great combo unit. Like many others here, I don't need GPS in a piece of on-ice electronics. I have a Garmin Etrex Legend HCx that does just fine for that kind of thing.

[Mid-Lake Rock]

It looks like I'm in the minority, but here goes. I actually prefer not having a GPS on a flasher. My handheld or droid is much more practical IMO. When I'm driving my truck on the ice, I use my handheld. I think it would be awkward to be messing around with a flasher or larger unit while driving. Second, I always have my droid with me and there are times that I'm out and about or driving for work and I pass a lake and mark access or where I see someone fishing, etc. I don't need to have my flasher with all the time. Third, I think walking around on the ice with a hand held is easier than carrying around a flasher - similar to the truck. For ice fishing, I enjoy having tools dedicated to one specific purpose and the ability to interchange those tools as needed. Flasher technology and GPS technology change at different times.

Now if the buyer is going use the LX-7 for open water, I can see the benefit of having that mounted in the boat during the summer months, as I use my electronic toys differently between open water and ice.

Not trying to start any arguments, just offering another point of view.

[IamZombie]

What about screen burn?

Having the same stationary graphics up on the screen for hours at a time is going to burn the screen.

[jwmiller33]

Jonny P, what is the battery life on this unit like in sub zero temps? Having the heated screen and multiple displays tells me it is not going to be able to run as long as a "standard" flasher

[DTro]

First off what I feel is #1 for me the unit has no moving parts. No spinning dails, no LED lights whipping around at mach two, no motor, no bearings…this off course ups battery run times.

You would think that would be the case, but..

Power Consumption: 850 milliamps. For comparison the LX-5 uses 750 milliamps.

[jwmiller33]

So theoretically it uses 15% more power than the LX5? It will be interesting to see how many hours you can get out of a full charge in sub zero conditions.

[Random guy]

Yes MAX usage is 850 milla amps but MAX usage is not constant. Yes sometime you will spend a few hours out in the cold and the screen heater will turn on but once on it maintains as it is thermostatically controlled .

As for the excat run time on a 9 amp battery. That is hard to pin down as it all matters on how cold and how many functions are operting depending upon conditions.

Does the LX-7 use more power than the LX-5 or LX-3, yes it does use slightly more power when conditions call for MAX power usage. Look at this way my big Ford uses more gas then my little Mazda but I don’t want to try to get my boat to the lake with my 4 cylinder Mazda; when I want to get thing done I use the unit that has the power and capabilities to accomplish the job.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

The LX7 looks cool, but I'm not 100% sold on the LCD just yet. I'm going to give it a winter and check out the reviews of people who aren't compensated to endorse the product.

Two things I definitely WOULDN'T want on my sonar are GPS or an underwater camera. Others covered it above, but having a graph sit on my dash while navigating to a spot, or holding it on my lap isn't something I want to be doing. Nor do I want to carry around 50' of camera cord while hole hopping.

IMO adding those things would kind of be like the new "smart phones". You get a mediocre camera, a mediocre music player, and a mediocre internet surfing machine. I much prefer a (separate) good camera, a (separate) good music player, etc. A side benefit to that is if you drop/lose/mangle one, you aren't SOL with everything.

[DTro]

Two things I definitely WOULDN'T want on my sonar are GPS or an underwater camera. Others covered it above, but having a graph sit on my dash while navigating to a spot, or holding it on my lap isn't something I want to be doing. Nor do I want to carry around 50' of camera cord while hole hopping.

IMO adding those things would kind of be like the new "smart phones". You get a mediocre camera, a mediocre music player, and a mediocre internet surfing machine. I much prefer a (separate) good camera, a (separate) good music player, etc. A side benefit to that is if you drop/lose/mangle one, you aren't SOL with everything.

So instead of carrying around an entire camera unit (cable, screen, battery, cord) you wouldn't want a camera and cord that was hot swappable with a simple connection? Added to that the ability to look at a camera image while seeing your sonar side by side? I can't see how anyone wouldn't want that.

GPS isn't that big of a deal, but would be a nice bonus I think (especially for open water utilization). But not a big deal, that is what my mediocre smart phone is for though. LOL

[LMITOUT]

So instead of carrying around an entire camera unit (cable, screen, battery, cord) you wouldn't want a camera and cord that was hot swappable with a simple connection? Added to that the ability to look at a camera image while seeing your sonar side by side? I can't see how anyone wouldn't want that.

Exactly. You've got the LCD screen right there in the LX7 and it looks like a decent size to handle viewing video playback (don't know the specs on the screen though). If you choose to deploy the camera it would be as simple as hooking it up and dropping it down the hole and hitting a button or two on the unit to view the camera, graph, or ideally both at the same time.

A $1000 bucks for a combo-platter would be a great deal for a person who is looking at having both weapons in the ice fishing war chest when you compare the cost of buying each unit individually.

[CAMAN]

What about screen burn?

Having the same stationary graphics up on the screen for hours at a time is going to burn the screen.

15 years ago maybe... Screens now days don't really have that problem anymore.

[IamZombie]

15 years ago maybe... Screens now days don't really have that problem anymore.

Tell that to the wendy's in Hopkins

They've got some screens that are badly burnt.

[Jim Almquist]

Really think the footprint feature by depth is a very cool feature.

[muc33]

I view things better at their specialties. If I want a camera, I'll buy a camera, I have two and hardly use either. I had a H2O GPS with chip, it was a drain on battery, and used more in my truck than anything. Now my smart phone is fully equipped with Contour maps and GPS, and like Darren said, it also is my still shot camera and mp3 player. Works great for me. If I wanted an all in one, I am pretty sure I would get mad if one part broke and the rest worked. If I have to carry 2 or 3 now, I'm ok with it, because they all have their place in my book. It's like the guy who has two trolling motors and a kicker and big motor. He has them all for a reason I suppose. Ha! I'm a fan, and I will have an LX-7!

[CAMAN]

Tell that to the wendy's in Hopkins

They've got some screens that are badly burnt.

I should have said "Under normal use" an LCD screen will never burn in, but if they are left on with a static image for weeks/months at a time they get what is called "video memory". LCD's have molecules that open and close to turn the lights on/off, if they get left on for an EXTENDED amount of time they will retain a memory in them. The nice thing about LCD's is they can be fixed by just running a monitor set-up program for an hour or so and the video memory will be gone.

My guess is the Wendy's never/rarely turns those monitors off, and I don't see any normal fisherman leaving a depth finder on for weeks/months, the battery wouldn't even last that long.

How many open water depth finders or GPS's have you heard about burn-in happening on? They all have a static image in one spot or another if you leave the unit on the same screen.