Lowrance Elite-5 gps/graph

[ski_doo1200]

Was wondering if anyone can give some real advice on the Lowrance Elite-5 gps/graph. Looking for a dual gps/graph without having to spend a grand. The reviews I see on this unit seem to be mixed. Just looking for something I can use the card chips in and a split screen, but is also fairly easy to use and 1/2-a$$ quality.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Jim.

[JohnMickish]

My buddy runs two of these in his boat. One up front and one in the dash. I run big Humminbirds so when you compare them (unfairly) they are not neary as good, BUT, "for the money" they are a pretty decent unit. Easy to use but the screen is small, but it does show you the info you need.

I wouldn't be affraid to use one if that that is what the budget dictated.

[BobT]

You don't think you'll get mixed reviews here?

I have also been checking out the Elite series so I am interested in opinions as well.

[fishing tech]

GM has them for $375 right now after $5o mail in rebate.

[delcecchi]

I was just looking at the first of the fishing catalogs to arrive in my mailbox (BPS bass book). Very interesting new unit, Elite-7 widescreen Hybrid Dual Imaging. 549 to 699. Broadband sonar and down imaging. And a horizontal split screen in addition to side by side so you can have the Down imaging on one and the broadband, which looks more like regular sonar, in the other and they line up. Or you can overlay the two modes on one screen.

If I was in the market and wasn't still carrying a grudge from my 3xx and 5xx units, I would take a close look at this one.

[uffdapete]

I've had one for 3 years and no complaints. It's fairly simple to use. The split screen is obviously a little narrow but it is what is is for the price. The big C has the Elite 5 DSI for $380 (270 off) as a door buster tomorrow for 5 hrs or until they run out.

[BobT]

For what it's worth skidoo, Here's my last posting in a thread I started titled, "Down Scan Imaging?" Maybe this will be useful information for you. Note that the Lowrance Elite-5 series was my other unit of choice.

Quote:

Update!

I thought I'd share a rundown of my decision process and let you know that I have made my decision and ordered my new sonar unit. YeeHaw!

Due to budget limitations I decided it would be best to limit myself to the 5" diagonal screen size.

For whatever reason, I decided early on that my choice would be between Lowrance and Hummingbird.

I decided not to go with GPS capability. I have a Garmin Rino120 hand-held GPS that I have been using for this purpose. In addition, the hand-held provides more flexibility because I have MN Lakemaster, MN Topo, US Topo, and US Roads & Recreation software that I like to use for winter and summer fishing, hunting, ATV riding, etc. This saved me about $100 in purchase cost of the sonar plus over $125.00 in mapping software expense. The money I saved can now be applied to upgrade my hand-held to a Garmin GPSMap78sc

With regard to screen resolution and picture clarity I felt Lowrance most definitely has the edge in the 5” diagonal units in 2D mode however in Downscan mode I didn’t see any striking difference between them.

After reviewing everything, I am not sold on side imaging technology. It seemed too confusing for me to look at. I guess I could get used to it eventually.

I do like the Downscan Imaging but I hesitate to give up completely on 2D sonar and I think there is a place for it. For this reason I was hoping to find a unit that offers the ability to use both 2D and Downscan functionality. Lowrance does not offer this option but Hummingbird does.

One feature from Hummingbird that caught my eye was their Dual Beam Plus technology. It incorporates a narrow beam to focus on structure directly below the boat but then overlays a wide 60° beam to capture echos from further out. At 20’ deep, the coverage is 23’ in diameter offering a better picture of what is in the vacinity below. This seems to offer a somewhat similar advantage as side imaging although obviously not quite the same.

After reading customer reviews I concluded that Hummingbird’s customer satisfaction rating seems to have a slight edge over Lowrance. That does not mean Lowrance has a bad rating and I would not have any reservations about buying a Lowrance product either. My experience has been primarily Lowrance over the years and I have been more than happy with them.

The unit I finally settled on is the Hummingbird 596c HD DI. This color unit features Hummingbird’s Switchfire™, Down Imaging®, and Dual Beam Plus™ sonar technology with split screen zoom that allows multiple technologies to be displayed simultaneously.

This unit is available from Hummingbird for $399.99 but I did manage to find a place in Florida that has the units in stock for $347.00 plus $8.95 shipping UPS ground to my location. Customer reviews of the seller rated it pretty high so I felt comfortable placing my order with them. I expect to have it in my hands by the end of next week.