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Posts: 233
Location: Iowa | Hopefully going to be getting some new graphs for my boat this spring. For now I'm leaning towards lowrance with structure scan.
A couple for questions...
Would you rather want a hds 10 on the console and a hds 5 on the bow or would you rather want a hds 8 on the console and a hds 7 on the bow? Any thoughts??
My other question is about insight. Is it really worth it? For those who have it, how accurate has it been for you? The other day I was at Bass Pro playing around with one the hds models. Looking at insight on my favorite lake and most the the mapping wasn't real accurate. So now I'm wondering if my favorite well known lake isn't that accurate I guessing other lake probably won't be very accurate either.
Jeremy
Edited by jwelch 3/2/2010 10:27 PM
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Posts: 2323
Location: Stevens Point, WI | When it comes to electronics, the philosophy of bigger is always better applies in my opinion.
The HDS 10 is awesome, but unless your a tournament fisherman or have the money to buy whatever, it's a bit overkill in my opinion. The HDS-8 is the way to go for sure. The HDS-8 still offers you the Hot keys that the HDS-10 offers, just in the smaller screen. The HDS-5 is just a touch too small to my liking, but I've had nothing less than a LCX-27 the past few years so I'm use to the bigger units. If I were going to buy, I'd go with the HDS-8 for the console and the HDS-7 for the bow.
As for Insight, this question was just asked today on WalleyeFIRST. I used a few of my buddies HDS units last year with Insight, it was a waste of money in my opinion. I've got my two HDS-8's on order for this year, without Insight. I'll be running two Navionics Platinum chips in my units. Save the money that Insight would cost, buy a Navionics chip. |
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Posts: 646
Location: In a shack in the woods | Kevin at reeds in walker told me the same exact thing as tj said when I bought mine. He said if you are going to be on an ocean it's great but the cards are a much better option for around here.
Tj what are hot buttons? Is that why the 8 costs so much more? I opted for 2 hds7's because I couldn't see the price difference between the 7 and 8 for the little bit of screen size. |
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Posts: 2323
Location: Stevens Point, WI | The main difference cost wise is the screen size but also what many have coined the hot keys. All the buttons along the bottom, six of them to be exact are buttons that will actually make it easier to access different screens. These hot keys are only offered on the HDS-8 and 10. The screen size is the main price difference though.
Here is a link to the Lowrance website as to the soft command keys at the bottom only offered on the 8 and 10 models.
http://www.lowrance.com/en/HDS-Revolution/Ease-Of-Use/
Here is a picture with the hot keys on the bottom.
Attachments ---------------- 257372_l.jpg (35KB - 124 downloads)
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Posts: 646
Location: In a shack in the woods | Ok thank you |
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | jwelch - 3/2/2010 11:24 PM
My other question is about insight. Is it really worth it? For those who have it, how accurate has it been for you? The other day I was at Bass Pro playing around with one the hds models. Looking at insight on my favorite lake and most the the mapping wasn't real accurate. So now I'm wondering if my favorite well known lake isn't that accurate I guessing other lake probably won't be very accurate either.
Insight's accuracy supposedly varies from lake to lake. I say skip it. I checked it out at a West Marine, and here on LSC several of the bouys were in the wrong spot, or didn't even exist at all. That, and the biggest thing I think, is that when zoomed down below a half mile or so, it reverts to a standard 2D chart and the cool 3D overlay is gone. It works on some lakes, but I think it's by and large it's just a fancy thing to pay extra for. Go with Navionics.
And I'm 100% with TJ on screen size. I have an 8 and it's great. The 10 would be sweet, but the 8 is plenty. |
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