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Posts: 555
Location: Tennessee | I'm impatiently waiting til taxes to spruce the boat up abit and have ran across something that looks dripping with awesome from Lowrance. Ive been wanting...well..needing new electronics and after I get my new Terrova it'll be time to look at graphs. I saw this today http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Products/Fishfinder-Chartplotter/Elit... and it looks amazing for the money. I had been looking at Hbirds and thinking of dumping 3k or so into new units. Coming across this however it seems to have about all I need. I sort of wanted SI but I can live without it, especially with split screen, DI, and GPS. And both units would be less than half what I had been looking at. And better still networking ability. So any thoughts? |
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Posts: 2323
Location: Stevens Point, WI | The Elite Series are great units. I'm really familiar with the Elite-5 and have had a chance to use the 7, you can't go wrong in my opinion for the money. It's really an awesome unit from my experience. |
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Posts: 2384
Location: Chisholm, MN | For the money... Sure it's a nice unit. I have the elite 5 and from my understanding, the 7 is just bigger? Personally I wouldn't get another one. The GPS is too slow. Sonar is nice though. When moving very slow with a trolling motor, these units will not track your position as well as an HDS or 700 series humminbird. My 788ci bird was worth every penny. |
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Posts: 1317
Location: Lebanon,Mo | I used a pair of Elite-5's for the last two years and was very pleased with the units.The new 7's are pretty much the same unit,just a 7" widescreen and the option of one model sporting sonar/dsi from one transducer. I personally dont want the dsi option,so I have a pair of the gps/sonar models on order. |
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Posts: 2323
Location: Stevens Point, WI | Kirby Budrow - 1/9/2013 8:41 AM
For the money... Sure it's a nice unit. I have the elite 5 and from my understanding, the 7 is just bigger? Personally I wouldn't get another one. The GPS is too slow. Sonar is nice though. When moving very slow with a trolling motor, these units will not track your position as well as an HDS or 700 series humminbird. My 788ci bird was worth every penny.
You are correct, the HDS and 700/900 series units are much faster. The price is also considerable more depending what unit.
Edited by TJ DeVoe 1/9/2013 12:21 PM
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Posts: 555
Location: Tennessee | I'd really like at least a 7" screen and I have a hard time with spending more than double the cost for something slightly faster and with SI |
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Posts: 393
Location: Hopefully on the water | TJ, do you know if the Elite 7's will work with a uniservsal sonar such as the Minnkota trolling motors. Obviously it would be the models without the DSI on them. I have been looking at them also and trying to decide if that feture is worth it to have front and rear or have the DSI on the consul and the regular Elite 7 up front. |
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Posts: 1317
Location: Lebanon,Mo | twells - 1/9/2013 3:18 PM
TJ, do you know if the Elite 7's will work with a uniservsal sonar such as the Minnkota trolling motors. Obviously it would be the models without the DSI on them. I have been looking at them also and trying to decide if that feture is worth it to have front and rear or have the DSI on the consul and the regular Elite 7 up front.
They will work on universal sonar without DSI.I have a universal Minnkota and will have the same connectors as a Elite-5,If you opt for the model without DSI up front.
Edited by missourimuskyhunter 1/9/2013 6:31 PM
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Posts: 555
Location: Tennessee | Do I need any extras with these to use dsi? I'm illiterate on this stuff. I have a could antique eagles on my boat now |
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Posts: 393
Location: Hopefully on the water | Missouri.. Thanks for the info on it. |
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Posts: 1317
Location: Lebanon,Mo | Wood_Duck - 1/9/2013 6:46 PM
Do I need any extras with these to use dsi? I'm illiterate on this stuff. I have a could antique eagles on my boat now
The new unit will come with the transducer that works the sonar/dsi. |
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Posts: 555
Location: Tennessee | sweet. I would still like a big 1058/798 combo but this sounds better and better. Not sure how much the increased lag with the gps would effect me and my fishing but right now about anything is an upgrade since one unit may claim I'm in 799ft of water on Melton Hill, hah. At least it's right on with water temp though. |
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Posts: 742
Location: Grand Rapids MN | You won't have to worry about the "lag" compared to the faster units. I contour troll with mapchips/trails all the time with no issues (Vermilion, LOTW, other N MN Lakes) with my Elite-5. My previous GPS was a Lowrance Globalmap and there was no difference. Guess I'm saying you can't miss what you never had. You will get your "timing" down after a few runs.
I was intrigued by the new 7's as well. 7" screen, sonar, DSI, and GPS for an MSRP $799 sounds like a great featured valued unit. |
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| Those elite units are great and fill a void in the market. Just be aware that they do not share info through the ethernet for sonar info like the HDS systems do. Also no sidescan. They are a great unit at a nice price point. Downscan is a great feature and one that has really helped me identify fish from other things. Once you use it you wont be without it. |
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Posts: 393
Location: Hopefully on the water | Just be aware that they do not share info through the ethernet for sonar info like the HDS systems do.
I thought that they can be networked to share waypoint with the NEMA 2000 connector from what I had read on these units. Or are you saying you can't use one transducer and have it shared between the two units? |
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| Yes they do network through nmea system and will share way waypoints but no sonar sharing. Sonar sharing allows multiple units to see sonar info at the same time without interference. If your only using one then these systems at a time then they will work great. Just so you know you can run downscan at 455/800hz on one unit and regular 2d sonar at 200hz on another without interference which would be nice.
Edited by 4amuskie 1/10/2013 11:04 AM
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Posts: 555
Location: Tennessee | Thanks for all these informative replies. I'm hoping maybe next month bass pro will have some instock that I can look over in person. |
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Posts: 555
Location: Tennessee | One more question. What's the general opinion on longivity and reliability of the Lowrance units vs Hbirds? I've saw alot of ancient birds out there still going, and not much experience with Lowrance in this category. I've had a couple bass buys at work told me to either avoid Lowrance or make sure I try to get an extended warranty. Any truth to this? |
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Posts: 32935
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | 'I heard' and 'someone told me' is usually not real reliable, and in this case, that's the fact of the matter.
So no, there's no 'truth' to that.
I attend about 20 tournaments a year, and see all the gear in use under the absolute most abusive conditions one could ask for. Issues with any gear from boat, to engine, to electronics, etc. are easy to spot in the morning and weigh in.
Very few issues with either 'Bird or Lowrance with their current units. |
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