All you lowrance E 5 DSI owner

i have a question: Would you buy this until again? i been looking for a fish finder with not have anything right now. i have never own any kind of FF. . The local sporting goods say there the best for under $600 now. With me never owning one i hate to drop this much cash at one time. what are some of the thing you like or dis like. About all the fishing i will be doing is crappie fish. I looking to mount it on my handheld trolling motor or one of the days getting a foot feed TM. I see where this unit is a down view only. Do I need to think more about looking at a side and down view FF with them be on the new way of FF. How would you rate this unit from 1 to 5 with 5 being the best for under $600.
Thanks gin

Gin dog look at the sticky at top of page titled Discussion Elite5DSI. Should answer all your questions.

For under 600 or right around. Check out the new Lowrance Elite 7 HDI. Gonna have sonar di and GPS all in one package. I am looking into putting one of these on my trolling motor. Then running my 998 combo that is on the console to run si while I troll and get a feel for what I need to do to get on the fish better. Spend the money if you have it. You will be happy you did in the long run as you understand everything more.


2003 Xpress X17
MinnKota V2 Powerdrive
Humminbird 998c
Cumberland Crappie Racks
BnM PSTs

You can purchase a E5DSI for way less than $600 !!

Here's one place where it can be bought for just under $400 : Amazon.com: Lowrance 000-10236-001 Elite-5 DSI DownScan Imaging Chartplotter/Fishfinder with 5-Inch Color LCD and Basemap: GizmosForLife

And here's the GOLD system for $470 : LOWRANCE Elite-5 DSI Gold Fishfinder / Chartplotter Combo at West Marine (total USA map chip included)

If $600 is your max upper limit ... you've opened up a whole bunch of opportunities for having a much higher end unit than a E5DSI.

... cp :kewl

Don't pull the trigger just yet. Give me a day to catch up.....on mobile now..low resources.

I can get the e5DSI cheaper than $600 here at gander mt. I think the about $399. I looking somewhere in $600 range when it not on sale.
The biggest thing I looking for as this will be my first one. Do I need the side view? I under stand the down view and what all you see on it it you in 10' of water and you ride over brush you see it and any fish you don't scary away when you go over them. What about the brush that 10' beside you or even 20' over. If you don't ride where the beam from the down view pick it up you have just miss it right? I'm thinking if your jigs are about 12' over and 10' deep are you going to be fishing the fish your seeing on the down view your seeing. I under the beem is like a V from the boat. I hope I'm making senses

Does the unit also have traditional 2D sonar? If not, I myself wouldn't care for it. I think the ability to have 2D is important for any DI or SI unit. Here's a link for Cabelas sale going on now. Cabela's: Lowrance® Elite-5 DSI Sonar with GPS

These screen shots are the piers of the I-40 bridge (before deer season). crappie,yellow bass,spotted green carp.
Attachment 110051Attachment 110052Attachment 110053Attachment 110054
This is the school the crappie in the pic came from.Attachment 110055
Attachment 11005012/14 on a ledge in sight of the bridge.
I run an X-4 on my TM. It was showing the same sort of image only 14' depth due to the solid target
My biggest peeves are the sensitivity and the sensitivity. It will "see" turbulence from a boat wake for 5 minutes plus. The cavitation from a powerhouse will blackout the screen too. The GPS is worth the extra few bucks just for the speedo.

L8r
TA

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shellback

Does the unit also have traditional 2D sonar? If not, I myself wouldn't care for it. I think the ability to have 2D is important for any DI or SI unit. Here's a link for Cabelas sale going on now. Cabela's: Lowrance® Elite-5 DSI Sonar with GPS

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No, Shelly .... this unit does not have a 2D sonar (cone shaped sonar ping). It's a down scan image unit, that has a thin fan shaped sonar ping. Its sonar crystal is dedicated totally to down scan imaging.

Good price from Cabela's !!

The Humminbird 587ci HD DI Combo unit is the closest unit I've found to the Lowrance E5DSI. But there are several differences in what is included on each of these units.
The 587 does not appear to have water temp, like the E5DSI does ... but does have dual beam sonar capabilities ( 200/455 & 455/800 kHz). The 587 has a higher pixel count in the vertical (@640x480) vs the E5DSI (@480x480) ... but the screen size is 4.5" for the 587, and 5" for the E5DSI. There are other differences, but those are the major ones IMHO.

Currently the E5DSI is around $50-$100 cheaper than the 587ci HD DI ... selling for ~ $400
I would look for most all of these lower to mid range units to go down in price, as the newer high end units come into production.

... cp :kewl

Quote:

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Originally Posted by crappiepappy

No, Shelly .... this unit does not have a 2D sonar (cone shaped sonar ping). It's a down scan image unit, that has a thin fan shaped sonar ping. Its sonar crystal is dedicated totally to down scan imaging.

Good price from Cabela's !!

The Humminbird 587ci HD DI Combo unit is the closest unit I've found to the Lowrance E5DSI. But there are several differences in what is included on each of these units.
The 587 does not appear to have water temp, like the E5DSI does ... but does have dual beam sonar capabilities ( 200/455 & 455/800 kHz). The 587 has a higher pixel count in the vertical (@640x480) vs the E5DSI (@480x480) ... but the screen size is 4.5" for the 587, and 5" for the E5DSI. There are other differences, but those are the major ones IMHO.

Currently the E5DSI is around $50-$100 cheaper than the 587ci HD DI ... selling for ~ $400
I would look for most all of these lower to mid range units to go down in price, as the newer high end units come into production.

... cp :kewl

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The 587ci HD DI Combo does have temp probe built into the xducer...

It's kinda hidden....under the "specs" tab at the bottom right of this page...
587ci HD DI Combo

Rickie