Rebuilt depth finder

Ok a two part question here.
#1. Cabelas has HDS's that has been reconditioned and from what I have seen a pretty good price. My thoughts are that if they have been rebuilt by Lowrance they are probably as good or better than new. If rebuilt by Cabelas well I would think they didn't do any more that rebox them and put them back on the shelf. What are your thoughts or experience on this?
#2. If you are getting a depth finder and a LSS structure scan, do you really need to get a transducer with the depth finder since you would be getting one with the structure scan?
One more question. Is the jack plate the best place to mount the transducer for the structure scan?

#1, unit is reconditioned by Lowrance. Go for it!
#2 they are different transducers.
#3 I don't know
When I was looking I was looking at the HDS-7, everyone and I mean everyone, recommended I buy the biggest screen I could afford. There is nothing wrong with the smaller units but I am glad I decided to buy the HDS-8. My eyes aren't getting any younger and I do like those soft keys on the 8's. I may buy a 7 one day and mount it on the front ,of course I may mount it on the console and put the 8 up front.

I love finding reconditioned items when shopping for new. With most companies, if a problem comes up and a return is made, it goes into the recondition bin. This is a group of people separate from the main assembly line that are specialists in the product. Most of them check everything that has to do with the item and makes the appropriate repair. Last fall I bought a refurbished Milwaukee 12" sliding miter saw. The retail was around $750 and I bought the refurb for $475. I love it. Most reconditioned products come with the original manufacturers warranty too.

I am all for a good deal but not on reconditioned electronics. Here is my thought, why do they have so many reconditioned units. I know they had several problems with the HDS series and maybe these are the "fixed" units that went bad. Not sure and not knocking their products. I personally won't buy refurbished electronics but that is me.

What I have heard is that the HDS 8 & 10 are easier to navigate and are more user friendly than the HDS 5 & 7.

Happy shopping

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Originally Posted by katjim00

I am all for a good deal but not on reconditioned electronics. Here is my thought, why do they have so many reconditioned units. I know they had several problems with the HDS series and maybe these are the "fixed" units that went bad. Not sure and not knocking their products. I personally won't buy refurbished electronics but that is me.

What I have heard is that the HDS 8 & 10 are easier to navigate and are more user friendly than the HDS 5 & 7.

Happy shopping

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You heard right

Reconditioned stuff usually goes over the bench of a tech, not a line worker. Better trained worker who double checks that the original problem is fixed. The only real downside is they don't usually have a full warranty.

Go for it... I didThumbs Up

Thanks for all the replies. This is one I'm kinda on the fence about. I will have to check a little more but I think they had full warranty.
As for the transducer am I correct in thinking you may as well save a couple hundred bucks and just get a unit without a transducer if you are going to get a structure scan transducer with the LSS module. Or do you need the regular transducer to view in the 2d mode?

They are completely different transducers and you need them both. 1 transducer is for HDS unit 2d, 1 transducer is for LSS-1 side/down scan.
DO NOT try to save the money.
If you were going to link 2 units together, 1 on console (which has both transducer) and add another unit on the bow, then you would not need transducers for the 2nd unit but it's reading would be from the transom. If you wanted readings from the trolling motor, then you would need a 2nd set of transducers to install there.
I believe the reconditioned units have a 1 year warranty and the new units carry a 2 year warranty.

Thanks to everyone who has replied. I value the varied responses. I wanted to get varied information and I did. Thanks to all.
BUT, I do have another question.
In reading on the lowrance Elite 5 dsi it says you can track back to view and mark waypoints. I know most of the finders have this feature now but, How far back? What dictates how far back you can go on the screen? Time, memory size, distance, or from the time you power it up for the day till you power it back down? Or can you go back to a complete different day and view it and mark waypoints on it?

From Cabela's description of the recondtioned HDS5X on their website...

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HDS-5X features:
High-resolution 480x480 pixel 5" color display
SolarMAX Plus display with fully adjustable screen/keyboard backlight
Built-in broadband high-definition sonar
Network on NMEA 2000 and Ethernetworks
Two-year warranty

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