Help choosing lowrance

AS always I can't make up my mind. Its time for a new FF as I'm planning to do some night fishing.
I've had an eagle and HB never lowrance. The 727 with the wideside ducer was interesting but I didn't like the screen. I'll be at BP next week I'm gona get a lowrance. Since it will be my first color FF it will certainly be an upgrade. I'd like to keep my price at $650 or less. BP has a couple on sale older models, thats why I'd like to get you feedback on the choices.
1) HDS-5x $399
2) Elite-5x DSI $399
3) Elite-5 Fishfinder/GPS Chartplotter $550
4) HDS-5x Gen2 Fishfinder $550
5) Elite-5 DSI Color Fishfinder/Chartplotter $600
6) HDS-5 Gen2 Fishfinder/GPS Chartplotter $700 This is only $50 more. Is it worth it and that much better than the others?
Thanks
Fin

If you want me to do the pickin', you better dig a little deeper in the well. You might find the bottom of things. Good luck.

The Oak Ridge Boys - Dig A Little Deeper - YouTube

You'll be able to decide when you see them. Just look at all the units you mentioned. Let the salesman wow you, then play around with the unit.

You'll do fine.

After you decide what you want check with Brian for a lot better price than BPS. http://www.crappie.com/crappie/membe...1329-00-a.html I bought my Elite 5 DSI from him and am very satisfied.

You might think about possible future plans...

The HDS units upgrade nicely with addon components...

The Elites are plug and play...

Rickie

Thanks that's the kind of info I needed.
I'll look closer at HDS.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rnvinc

You might think about possible future plans...

The HDS units upgrade nicely with addon components...

The Elites are plug and play...

Rickie

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Ricky is right. With the list of units you gave, it's hard to even guess what your requirements are. HDS is a very expandable system, I have it, and would recommend it to anyone.

Yep, before buying talk to Brian @ BBG Marine. Not only does he have good prices, he's very knowlegable.

FIN ... if you've had a Eagle brand depthfinder, then you HAVE had a Lowrance. Eagle is basically just the low end Lowrance unit series +/-

If you're going to be stationary most of the time, you can ditch the DSI units ... their picture quality & rendering is dependant upon constant movement. You'll want something that has 2d capability, if you plan on keeping the depthfinder running during stationary fishing.

If you haven't already done so ... read thru my sticky post about the Elite 5DSI, at the top of the page. It has some charts & info that will explain the differences in 2d & DSI cone shapes/angles, as well as other info that may possibly help you decide which features a unit must have in order to benefit you in the ways you fish (& intend to use the unit).

Where you intend to mount the unit will also come into play. Down Image units don't distort as bad as Side Image units, when mounted on the trolling motor ... but, they can distort if the trolling motor is turned. It's the nature of the shape of the sonar cone of a DSI unit, which is more of a fan shaped (flattened oval) deal than the cone shaped circle of a 2d unit.

... cp :cool:

HDS would be my choice, I've had a Elite-5 DSI and was not in the least impressed. The HDS has 2D, a better GPS and with a structure scan the down scan image is much, much better. Buy the biggest unit you can afford, and yes you can save money buying from BBG marine or BOE marine.

My opinion.
Once you find the Low that you want. Note the specs and checkout the competition. Who knows, maybe one of the other brands will rock your world.

My Opinion..buy the best unit you can afford. If its a HDS get the biggest you can afford. If its an Elite then so be it. The bottom line is learning how to use whatever unit you buy to its full potential. Yes I have 2 HDS units and I had to do without for months in order to pay for them but I have never been sorry and I would do it all over again.......Ranger

I agree with everyone about Brian. I bought a GEN2 HDS8 AND GEN2 HDS7 from him. I absolutely love them with especially with the structure scan. Go as big as you can afford. You will not regret it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EARL KITCHENS

I agree with everyone about Brian. I bought a GEN2 HDS8 AND GEN2 HDS7 from him. I absolutely love them with especially with the structure scan. Go as big as you can afford. You will not regret it.

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agree 100%. Have bought from Brian also. Top notch. Can't go wrong with HDS.

agree 100%. Have bought from Brian also. Top notch. Can't go wrong with HB.

HDS Gen2 the bigger the better. Saving my pennies up once I get the T-Top on.

I've had the hds 5 for over two years now. Only regret is i didn't get a bigger one. Saving up for it and structure scan. I will say that i've had two issues with mine, Both of which were resolved very quickly by lowrance. The first issue was my temp was jumping all over the place ie. it would go from 42 degrees to 65 degrees and back again. Called lowrance and they sent me a new transducer. The other problem was a bad seal which fried my unit and they sent me a brand new one to fix that. On both occasions the sent me the parts first and all i had to do was send them the bad parts. Great customer service. Thumbs Up