Upgrading My Lowrance

[zildjian]

Hey guys,

Im thinking about upgrading my Lowrance X50 ds Fish Finder/Depth Finder that came as a package with my Bass Tracker. Looking at DSI models Lowrance has to offer. Really considering the Lowrance Elite 5 DSI. Does anyone have any experience with this model? Pros/Cons? Easy to install? Do I need to buy anything extra to install it? I'm looking for some advice.

Also, is the Hummingbird Models comparable with Lowrance? Hummingbird has the Side Imaging, but the price is pretty high.

Thank you guys

-Zildjian

[MaineBassFishin]

You'll probably get more answer in the boats section where these questions are usually discussed.

[zildjian]

lol sorry about that, i wasn't sure where start this thread.

[3dees]

I had the Elite 5 DSI last year and replaced it with an HDS 7. if you must have DSI I would go with a bird. it gives you the choice of dsi or 2d. Lowrance is dsi only. my Elite was on the bow so maybe it would be better on the console. with dsi, it reads better if your are moving, and going in a straight line. it reads the water in slices instead of the cone shape like 2d. the fish read as long lines instead of arches. they are great for reading hard structure like bridge pilings, sunken boats, etc. but over all I prefer the 2d.

[Wayne P.]

I agree with 3dees. While a DSI unit is a good unit for navigating to show want is on the bottom and in the water column, it's functionality when actually fishing is very low. It is worthless for vertical presentations. They make a good companion unit with a regular 2D unit for fishing purposes.

Humminbird has Down Imaging units that do dual frequency 2D and dual frequency Down Imaging. They are less expensive than the Side Imaging units. The Down Imaging units have DI in the model number.

They have DI models with screen sizes of 3.5", 5", 7", 8" and 10.4". Your Lowrance unit has a 3.5" display.

The smaller ones are available with or without GPS.

Review the Humminbird web site for all the models in the 300, 500, 700, 800, 900, and 1100 series.

[zildjian]

Thanks guys! I've been reading a lot about the elite 5 DSI and how much of a nightmare they are. Made my descion about that unit easy. Will look into the hummingbird DI models.

[Nice_Bass]

Just an opinion here...but i think you would be much happier with a unit with 2d and gps with an available mapping port vs. a unit that will run just DI off the front of your boat. Are you running it off drivers or bow? You will have to run new wires but fairly simple whatever you end up choosing. With the trackers you just have to start unscrewing lots of panals.

[zildjian]

I was looking at the humminbird 998c SI Combo.

Do you guys think it's worth it?

[zildjian]

I can't tell if this model can do all three 2D,DI,SI or not. I would like 2D as well though. Anyone have any idea?

[Wayne P.]

I was looking at the humminbird 998c SI Combo.

Do you guys think it's worth it?

All the Humminbird SIde Imaging units do 2D, Side Imaging and Down Imaging with a single transducer. The Down Imaging view is software generated using the two SI crystals instead of a dedicated crystal like the Lowance HDS with Structure Scan or the Lowrance DSI or Humminbird DI units have.

The generated image is not quite as sharp as the dedicated crystal units get, but is quite good.

If you get a Side Imaging unit, you won't be using Down Imaging very much, I rarely use Down Imaging or 2D sonar any more. I see all I need to see with Side Imaging except for vertical presentations which requires 2D sonar anyway. I'll look through my snaphots for a Down Imaging snaphot for an example and post it next.

[Wayne P.]

<p>I took these yesterday for a discussion on another web site. The single tree has algae hanging off it and shows a little of the thermocline temp density that is just forming (the hazy look at the bottom of the creek channel). The double tree is on a creek channel also.

[Wayne P.]

[zildjian]

That is awesome! Thank you so much for your post! Which unit were these taken on? Also I want to go with humminbird, which model would you suggest I take a good look at over the others?

Thanks again!

Really appricate it.

-Zildjian

[Wayne P.]

That is awesome! Thank you so much for your post! Which unit were these taken on? Also I want to go with humminbird, which model would you suggest I take a good look at over the others?

Thanks again!

Really appricate it.

-Zildjian

All the Side Imaging units do the same thing. Just the display size is different. The posted images are from the 1198c SI.

No matter what brand you get, I would recommend the largest display size you can afford if you want the type of images like this one that shows a left and right scan. Also when multiple views are displayed at the same time a larger screen is better. This is the same tree in the first image I posted. This unit has the 5" diagonal screen and the other one has the 10.4 inch diagonal screen. If you copy the images to your computer and use a picture viewer zoom to get the images the same size as the unit screens, you can see why bigger is better.

[Wayne P.]

This is a screen shot that shows the SI view of a 998c SI unit with the latest software update which removes the data boxes from the left side for that view. The screen size is 8" diagonally and you can use this same one with a 7" diagonal computer view for the 898c SI:

[Wayne P.]

Something you might want to consider if you want a mid sized unit. It was announced at ICAST that the 800 and 900 series units will have LED backlighting for the 2013 model year with no price increase over the present ones that have CCFL backlighting. The sunlight readability has been an issue for some.

That will make all the models that have that technology industry wide have the same bright screens.

December and January are the announced release dates for the two model series.

[Wayne P.]

Another ICAST unit announced for October. The 598ci HD SI at a MSRP of $899. No ethernet capabiltiy, and a single card slot, much like some other high end 500 series units, but the same screen HD display as the other HD designated models.

That will make 5 different models that have Side Imaging, Down Imaging and 2D sonar.