Lowrance® Elite-5 Fishfinder/GPS Chartplotter

[jekern1015]

Anyone have any experience with this unit. I noticed Cabela's has it on sale for $419.99 and if I use my Cabela's card to purchase it I get another $84 in points. The reviews that I have read all say that it reads the bottom great, but does not show fish very well.

 

[jekern1015]

Oops, maybe I should have used the search option first. I think I will wait for a better price on the hds 7 or that new hummindird 598.

 

[SuperD]

Swallow hard and pull the trigger on something bigger than a 5" screen. I have 2 units on my boat, a 10" and an 8". When I hitch hike on a boat with a 5" screen I need a magnifier to read the screen. In FF, bigger is better.

 

[KokeRook]

I beleved the elite 5 only has one or two items on it...gps, sonar...gps , down scan...I may be wrong.

The elite 7 hdi is a nice unit ...has GPS, sonar, and Down scan imaging. That is the one Im seriously considering for my little boat.
Comes with ducer for $699 at cabelas...better deals may be found elsewhere.

IF i could afford more I would go bigger..the new hds touch Gen 2 are very nice.

One thing I found in my rookieness is there is a big difference in Down scan and sonar. Sonar seems to show fish arches much better...DSI shows detail o bottom contour and structure.
Just my 2cents....amazing how far electronics have come in the last decade.

 

[Lund troller]

down imagining

I just recently purchased a humminbird down imagining unit before I read the reviews about it .Most of the people who have them say they do not look any thing like the pictures they show on line and on the box .They also say you have to be in a swimming pool to show the bottom like they say or show. I also talked to a sales person at Cabelas about Lowrance unit and he told me the customer service has gone way down hill.They want you to email them about any questions you have and any other situations you may have with there products. Not sure if this is true? So I purchased a humminbird 597 hd combo with gps have not had the time to install yet.Just got my electric downrigger plugs hooked up permanently in the boat. Finally found the right spot for the plugs to be out of the way.Hope this helps .

 

[mattlovefishing]

The rating is not so good on amazon. I recommend you read some reviews before purchase one. And I use this :Garmin echo 550c

 

[mrmike]

I had a Lowrance Unit in my sled and salt water had gotten in to the chip compartment, so I sent it back to Lowarance Co. for repair they sent it back (its was an $1800.00 unit) they said sorry we don't work on 5 yr old models. I went out and purchased a Garmin 740s there service is correct what Cabelas is saying about Lowarence. I will never purchase anything from them again.

 

[KokeRook]

After running the Lowrance Elite 7 HDI (gps, sonar, down scan) ...AWESOME unit. Sonar is key for finding fish...but dsi helps to confirm numbers of fish in a school. I'm still new to koke fishing but I am very happy with my purchase.

 

[Bogey]

I have to second the above opinion of the Elite 7 HDI!!! Had mine since March and just flat love it!

 

[gonefishing]

I just purchased my 3rd HDS Unit. This is becuase of boat changes. I just sold my Bayliner 2452 that I had installed a HDS 5M and a HDS 5X. I am very happy to go back down to a Lund 17.5 ft. A better boat to fish out of, in my opinion of course. I just installed the HDS 5 Gen 2. All I have had are the 5 " screens and they have been fine for me. If you are going to use structure scan, you should purchase the 7-10" units. Otherwise, I do not see an issue with the 5 " screen but larger screens are nice to have if you want too spend that much money. The HDS 5 units are easy to find fish with and I do not need to keep my face stuck on the unit. As far as reliability; I have never had a single issue as they have all worked great. I use a little comon sense and make sure that they are not abused by keeping them always stored indoors and not subjected to constant heat, sun, rain or freezing. I would by one agian.