Lowrance Elite 5 DSI

[KokeKruiser]

I'm looking to get a new depth finder and am leaning towards the Lowrance Elite 5 DSI. It has sonar, gps, and the down scan imaging. My only concern is that it only has a max depth of 250 feet. Some areas I fish have depths exceeding that and am concerned that the depth finder will be worthless in those areas. My question is: Will the depth finder work in deeper waters such as 400 feet and just read to the 250 foot mark or will it not work at all?

Any other suggestions on a good depth finder in the $450-700 range would be appreciated. Thanks, Doug.

 

[kokaguy1]

I'm looking to get a new depth finder and am leaning towards the Lowrance Elite 5 DSI. It has sonar, gps, and the down scan imaging. My only concern is that it only has a max depth of 250 feet. Some areas I fish have depths exceeding that and am concerned that the depth finder will be worthless in those areas. My question is: Will the depth finder work in deeper waters such as 400 feet and just read to the 250 foot mark or will it not work at all?

Any other suggestions on a good depth finder in the $450-700 range would be appreciated. Thanks, Doug.

I too am looking for a new fish finder however I will not be looking for a Lowrance. The one I had lasted 4 years I think I was lucky, my two neighbors both had difference models one very expensive (over $2,000) and the other was a $150 model but both had issues and poor service. My nephew had a $275 model on his Northriver nothing but problems from day one. I'm looking for a Humminbird this time had a cheap one years ago but sold it with my old boat wish I still had it never a problem. Anyone out there that has any opinions / suggestions regarding what I should be looking for? Kokanee and Walleye are what I like to go after. Thanks

 

[Bduck]

I have 2 seperate Lowrance units, X100C FF & the GlobalMap 5200C GPS. I've been really happy with both units but ready to upgrade to todays units. But from what I'm hearing thru the grape vine about Lowrance, I might be persuaded to lean towards Hummingbird. Lowrance has been going through internal changes with personel. When they do respond to problem with there newer units, a band-aid or debug fix is implemented and not an actual software fix is addressed. Hummingbird has a conflict of interest against Lowrance about the HD rights. I'm reading about more cons than pros with Lowrance on how long it takes them to respond and how they respond. I have no issues with my current units which I think there old enough dating back before Lowrance started going through changes. Until Lowrance makes changes to straighten out the way they do business and with their products, I'll continue to look at other products that are more competive.

 

[Pogue]

A bunch of years ago, I bought a Hummingbird 3D wide FF. It is a great unit, altough it also only reads down to 400'. I think the reason is that the 3D option takes up power from the transducer so it can't read any deeper??? The one you're looking at might work fine at deeper depths, like mine, if I am in deeper water than 400', I don't get a depth reading, but it will still show fish and bait balls just no bottom or it will show I'm in 2 feet of depth. (BTW, I tried out the 3D setting once and have never used it again - it can go from 3D to 2D or split screen but I always leave it on 2D. No wonder they quit making it!!!)

When I do upgrade, it WILL be another Hummingbird!

 

[SilverBullets]

Another vote for the Humminbird.... I've had the 777c2 color unit for around 4 years now. It's got wide view options with the Quadrabeam transducer and plenty of power with a 640V X 480H display. This unit is advertised to read to a depth of 1,500' and has 4000W peak to peak (500W RMS) power output. I upgraded with GPS and WeatherSense (barometric pressure readout.)

 

[Pogue]

*I was mistaken, my 3D Wide View only reads to 240', not 400' - sorry!!

My next one will have sonar and GPS. I go with a friend of mine who also has a chartplotter..... that would be SWEET!!!!

 

[Bduck]

On a single unit FF or seperate GPS unit, those screens are big enough. But when combining FF/GPS, the small screens are hard to read. If upgrading the large screens that are split are the way to go whether its Lowrance or Hummingbird.

 

[Pogue]

On a single unit FF or seperate GPS unit, those screens are big enough. But when combining FF/GPS, the small screens are hard to read. If upgrading the large screens that are split are the way to go whether its Lowrance or Hummingbird.

thumbsup Agreed, forgot to add it has to be a color screen also!

 

[Bduck]

Got to have a colorful FF. My wife stole my big screen from me at home but her viewing is recorded, mine is in reel time on a FF. signfishin

 

[Ken Sauret]

Hello Doug,

It doesn't sound like the DownScan Image would be best for your type of fishing. The DSI is best used to view structure on the bottom. The traditional Broadband sonar is the best choice to see fish in the water column and to the depths you are indicating that you fish.

The Elite 5 or an HDS 5 would be more suited for your type of fishing. The Broadband sonar image on either of these units will give you the view of the water column you will need to find fish, bait and that "activity level" or level where the "LIFE" is in the water.

Both will do the job. The difference is mainly in the price. The Elite is more affordable but with less features. The HDS is a tad bit more but it is a full feature model. Go to www.lowrance.com and check out the differences and make the decision that is best for you.

Ken Sauret
Lowrance Pro Staff

 

[KokeKruiser]

Ken - Thanks for the reply.

I mainly fish for kokanee and sturgeon. I'm looking for a graph that will pick up both the thermocline (activity level) and very accurately read the bottom structure while I'm sturgeon fishing. I rarely fish below a depth of 100' but sometimes I may be sitting in 400' of water while kokanee fishing.

Do you know if there is a difference in the sonar between the Elite 5 and the Elite 5 DSI models? As far as I can see the difference is in the type of transducer.

 

[Ken Sauret]

For your Kokanee fishing the 83/200 khz Broadband is the best choice. But now that you add the sturgeon fishing and needing to see the bottom in great detail the best total choice for you is to get an HDS unit AND the Structure Scan that connects to any HDS unit. This way you can have the Broadband for kokanee and the Structure Scan will give you the Downscan view which is the view the DSI gives you but the added advantage of looking to the right and left side of your boat as you look for those holes where sturgeon like to lay. This may be a little more than you originally wanted to spend but will be worth it in the long run. You can break the cost up a little by purchasing the HDS unit first and then a little later when you save up some money get the LSS-1. If you get the HDS 5 and add a Structure Scan and decide later that you want a larger screen you can upgrade your HDS unit and just plug the LSS-1 you already have into the new unit.

 

[Ken Sauret]

Do you know if there is a difference in the sonar between the Elite 5 and the Elite 5 DSI models? As far as I can see the difference is in the type of transducer.

The difference is the view of sonar that you get. The transducer IS the only difference but this difference is huge when it comes to what you are trying to "see" in the water (Broadband) or on the bottom (DSI).

Ken Sauret
Lowrance Pro Staff

 

[KokeKruiser]

Ken,

I'm definetly leaning towards the HDS 5 unit now. I would like to get the unit with GPS on it also. I've been at Lowarance's website and all the pictures of this unit show a split screen half gps/half sonar. Can you view either the GPS or sonar independently. With the split screen it makes the sonar viewing area awfully small.

I also have a question about the Elite DSI model. My impression was that the DSI model also has a sonar view. Is that correct?

Thanks for all your advice and help.

 

[Ken Sauret]

When looking at the HDS units, the HDS 5,7,8 or 10 are sonar/GPS combo units. If the HDS model number has an x after it then it is a sonar only unit, HDS 5x for example. On the other hand if the number has an "m" after it then it is a GPS model only, HDS 5m.

In my previous post I explained that you can upgrade the size of the screen later and use the same Structure Scan on the larger unit. It's all about your budget, the larger the screen the better the view when splitting it. If you start with the HDS 5 there is an option to change the size of each side of the split screen, so you can have the sonar screen a little larger than the Chart side.

As for the DSI, the sonar is Downview only. There is not an option for the traditional Broadband sonar on the DSI unit. The Elite 5 DSI is a DownScan Image/GPS model. The Elite 5x DSI is a sonar only unit.

 

[nofish]

I have had a few problems with my lowrance, but I have nothing but good to say about the service I have recieved. I did have a shipping issue once.


I realy like the picture I get from the unit I have, I think what I am saying is that I had a few problems but I am happy with what I have now.

 

[KokeKruiser]

Thanks for all your advice. I will be heading up to Spokane very soon so that I can actually look at a few units hands on and make my final decision. I am pretty sure i will be buying the HDS 5 unit.

 

[ReelJerks]

Thanks for all your advice. I will be heading up to Spokane very soon so that I can actually look at a few units hands on and make my final decision. I am pretty sure i will be buying the HDS 5 unit.

Did you buy that Lowrance HDS yet? If not, now may be the perfect time with their new promotion.

Edd

 

[SalmoTrutta]

If you haven't bought the HDS yet I would suggest getting one without a transducer and ordering an Airmar P66 transducer. Its a huge upgrade over the stock lowrance unit. I just added one to my HDS and couldn't be happier.

 

[steveausten555]

Thanks for the info... i m using this Lowrance Elite 5 DSI....