Best FF I can get for $350 or less

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Originally Posted by cray

I am waiting to see how the new Helix units are but this a really good unit in your price range. Yes they have fixed the problem they had reading Navonics on the GPS.
bbgmarine

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This is also an excellent unit. I paid way more than this for mine. Lowrance swapped mine out before they fixed the problem. but this is a heck of a unit for the price. The graphics are excellent and keep in mind, this unit has DI and 2D which is really good to put side be side on the screen to help interpret what you are seeing.

I have the HDS 7 touchscreen which is also a good unit. It is the one they swapped out to me because the transducer and all mounts were the same so all I had to do was unplug and plug in new one. I had to pay some difference but Lowrance really stepped up to the service issue and I am loving this unit.

I am leaning toward saying this is a better deal(Elite7HDI) than the new HB Helix at this price. I think I paid nearly $600 for this unit when it first came out.

what does 2D mean? also does the new helix have 2D?

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Originally Posted by SeaRay

This is also an excellent unit. I paid way more than this for mine. Lowrance swapped mine out before they fixed the problem. but this is a heck of a unit for the price. The graphics are excellent and keep in mind, this unit has DI and 2D which is really good to put side be side on the screen to help interpret what you are seeing.

I have the HDS 7 touchscreen which is also a good unit. It is the one they swapped out to me because the transducer and all mounts were the same so all I had to do was unplug and plug in new one. I had to pay some difference but Lowrance really stepped up to the service issue and I am loving this unit.

I am leaning toward saying this is a better deal(Elite7HDI) than the new HB Helix at this price. I think I paid nearly $600 for this unit when it first came out.

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does that unit you listed in the link have gps and chartplotter? im not seeing it anywhere

I did not post the link initially, cray posted it and you are correct. The unit in the link is the 7X. I thought that was a really low price for the HDI, I think it is about $100 more than the 7X, but with new models coming out you might can pick one up at a deal.

The Elite 7X HDI does not have GPS(chartplotter).

The Elite 7 HDI has GPS, DI and 2D. When they introduced this unit it had problems processing the Navionics chip which gives you much greater chart and mapping detail. They have since resolved this issue, so I understand. If you go with this unit I would talk in person with Brian or whoever you buy from to insure the unit has the latest upgrade in it.
That said, for the price BBG has it listed, it has a lot of features for the money, which is why I bought it in the first place. I wanted a unit that had both DI and 2D so I could have the 2D available while I got used to using the DI. I still run both though.

I have decided that i am gonna go with the Helix 5 DI/GPS Combo

2d broadband sonar is the old format sonar that sends the sonar ping/signal down in a cone shape.
Depending on the degree of the signal, you get a wider shaped cone and therefore greater coverage area. A 20deg cone angle signal will show a circle on the bottom that is 1/3 as wide as the depth of water ... so in 21ft of water the cone will be 7ft wide on the bottom. A 60deg cone angle will show the same width of the circle as the depth ... so at 21ft deep, the cone circle on the bottom will be 21ft wide. But, you have to understand the shape of a cone is /\ so it's not going to cover/show as much in the upper portion ^ as it does in the bottom portion.
Also of note : a 2d screen image is going to look like a "finger painting" compared to a DI screen image, which will look much more like a photographic image.

DI signals are not circular or cone shaped, like a 2d signal ... they are oblong fan shaped signals that are only a few degrees thick (~6deg front to back) but extend out at greater angles than a 2d cone. The 800kHz signal is 45degs to each side, while the 455kHz signal is 75degs to each side. They're somewhat like SI sonar signals, except they do not extend to 90degs on each side, like the SI signal does.

This chart will give you an idea of shape & coverage area/angle of the different sonar types :

newDIbeams.png Photo by kosmo012 | Photobucket

... cp :kewl