HDS 7 or Elite 7

[Barnacle Bill]

I'm working with Brian to rig my new to me boat and have come down to one of these 2 units. Which would you go with and why? Keep in mind I could care less about all the extra bells and whistles. It looks like the HDS 7 may come with better basic maps but I'm not sure of that. No Humminbird recommendations please cause that ain't gonna happen. And I prefer Toyoto over Ford and Chevy.

[Cane Pole]

I have never used an Elite seven, so my input would be biased.

[Barnacle Bill]

I have never used an Elite seven, so my input would be biased.

Are you saying you use the HDS7? I just told Brian to send me that one.

[Cane Pole]

Yes. It is good. I have 3 hds7s touch and had hds7 gen1. As stated, I am biased.

[SeaRay]

I had an Elite 7 HDI and after fighting with the Navionics issue for a year, I got Lowrance to swap out the Elite for an HDS 7 touch. The Elite 7 is a nice unit and they now have fixed the Navionics map issue (so I'm told) but you are comparing apples to oranges if the regular HDS is like the HDS touch. The HDS touch is really easy to use, plus it has side scan capability which the Elite does not. It also cost more so you would expect it to have more features. I really like the HDS using the regular size SD card rather than the micro that the Elite uses. It is hard to change out the micro chip especially in cold weather when your finger are numb.
I am not knocking the Elite 7, I bought it because it had more features than any other unit for the price. Up until I got it, I had always had HBs. I found the Elite a little harder to use but that may come from my having HBs in the past.
If I was spending the money to get the HDS I would go with the touchscreen because it is simply easier to use. I base this on helping one of my buddies set up his regular HDS 7. I got it done, but it took a lot more button pushing to get to where I wanted to be.
I might add that I am familiar with touch screen I-Pads and phones, so the touch screen was familiar technology to me. If one is not familiar with touch screens it may take a bit of getting use to, but once you do it is really easy and fast.
I got mine from Brian at BBG also.

[Eatmorecrappie]

BB I would have to say the HDS 7 over Elite 7, heard people have had too many issues with the Elite7. Oh and get the bundle with structure scan. BBG is a good choice, he's a good guy.

[okhawg]

I have the Elite 7 HDI, and I would get the HDS. I only have one issue with the Elite, the processor speed. When moving your maps around or zooming, its slow, still a very usable unit, but slow. The HDS's gen 2 are way faster, in this respect.

[blueducklane]

I have the elite 7 HDI and dont plan to change any time soon but I think you're focus should be on whether you desire side imaging or down imaging.

[Rees Guide]

Do yourself a favor and get the HDS 7 with Insight maps included, if you can afford it get the Touch. With it you can grow and expand if you want to later, it is an awesome stand alone unit!