Lowrance X-15

[Captain B.R.K]

This might be old news, but

I'm trying to figure out if those users of Lowrance X-15 or

those that have heard of any reports

Is it a model worth buying!

[andy j]

Captain,

THe X-15 is a proven unit and was top of the line at one time. I do think they are replacing it this spring, I think it will be called the X-17 and I think it will still be black and white. My quess is it will have more features, more pixils, etc.

[Brother Bro]

My understsnding it's underpowered for the new lake maps...I was at Cabela's ...and they said they are getting replaced by the new model x17 more power for the software...so IMO if you use lakemaps don't buy it not enough ponies.... IMO When I was there they had them on sale for $550.00 and the sales guys said...its a good buy at $250.00 ..if its not at that price don't buy it!!!period.............

Good Luck

[ChuckN]

Andyj is right. I've been looking at X-15 deals too and from what I understand the X-15 series is discontinued and the X-17 will take it's place with more pixels, features and acceptance of better mapping choices.

The deals out there are tempting, but I'm stumped on what to do. Maybe keep the old graph going another year...

[bassin]

The x-15 was one of the most popular units Lowrance had and still is. It has plenty of power for the lake maps, those are just rumors. The major difference to the x-17 is the vertical pixels went from 350 to 480 and the screen itself is better. Lowrance discontinues units almost on a year to year basis as the sceen availabilty and technology changes not because the unit is bad. Most of the time the units are discontinued becasue of the availabilty of that particular screen and no other reason. So they come out with another one that has a little higher resolution.

[rmh2o]

The big drawback to the x-15 is hardrive space so you are limited to the classic chips.To run the gold or premium chips you need a x-17 or better.It is still a good locator it just lacks the new software.

[LABS4ME]

I agree, the X-15 has plenty of power to run the reg. Navionics series maps... it won't run the premium or premium gold, but I find enough detail on the reg. maps to make me a much better fisherman. Once I fish an area and really learn it, I rely on the waypoints I plugged in and not the map anyways. Plus not all lakes will be in a premium map form... even a large lake like Cass. What manufacturers will do is actually "diminish" the desire to have "last years" model by really pimping the 'newer, bestest, greatest' model at X amount more money... then you deal with gliches the 1st few years (just as they did with the 1st X-15's) in the name of being the 1st to have it or being on the cutting edge.

I've been using the X-15 the last couple years and find it to be a dependable, fairly bullet proof unit that gives me the info I need. It reads the regular navionics maps (which have plenty of detail for 99% of the fishermen out there) and good target seperation and a clear readout. I have no intention in the near future of upgrading to a 17... will I someday? Yep as the price goes down and I can see there will be no re-curring problems with this unit, but it will still be 2-3 years minimum. If this was last spring, you'd be tickled to get into an X-15 for under a $1000.00 and you wouldn't even be considering upgrading to a 17 this year. At $550 for the unit and $699 w/ GPS pack it's a very good deal. I still would recommend it to most fishermen.

Good Luck!

Ken

[fish_on_llc]

I just bought a Lund with an X-15 including the North Region Navionics Hotmaps Chip . I was trying to download the Hotmaps into my PC and accidentally formatted the chip erasing all of the depth map data!

Does anyone have the files I need or am I AFU'd and have to buy another chip for $129? Is there any way to restore the data??

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jim Hudson]

fish_on_llc

I believe you can contact Navionics and they will offer you a one time deal of re-formatting your chip for $15.00 plus shipping and handling... Usually you will need a bill of sale for the chip... contact them and see what they say.. I do not know of another way to format the chip other then the company doing this for you...

[fish_on_llc]

JK,

Thanks for the input, I'll call Navionics Monday.

[MrBig]

If anyone has any tips on testing my X-15, I'd appreciate them! My X-15 cuts out at about 5-10 mph, and then might or might not come back at full speed. I've tried moving the transducer, moving the angle, and changing some of the settings. And it shouldn't be cavitation.

I guess it could be a bad transducer, but how do I know? It would be nice if I could have a field rep come out and see what they think. Does anyone know of an option like that? I'm really tired of not reading bottom unless I'm sitting still or going super slow.