Lowrance Elite 7 Chirp Questions

[lou304]

Hey Guys,

    I recently bought my first boat, an old Nitro 180TF, and am looking to upgrade the electronics.I have the opportunity to buy a new Lowrance unit for a pretty hefty discount through a buddy of mine, and am looking at the Elite 7 CHIRP Gold.

Does anyone out there have any experience with this technology? I've done a little research but am looking for real world stuff. I know its kind of new.
I'm tied to Lowrance due to the discount, so I'm not looking at any other brands.
Thanks.

[Todd Driscoll]

For the money, you can't beat that unit.  2D sonar, downscan, built-in CHIRP capabilities, good mapping.  High value for the price.

[fishguy613]

I own that exact unit, purchased it when it was released. There isn't a lot of info online yet about them. The Elite 7 CHIRP is simply clearer than the 7 hdi and has better target separation. It is a nice unit, but for the money I'd recommend spending a bit more and getting the HDS and here's why. The Elite 7 GPS is slow, it's really frustrating to be honest.. I wouldn't rely on it in a tourney it's not reliable enough. The picture on sonar and downscan is great though, I still need to fiddle with mine more but I can post some screenshots.. I was also disappointed with the "gold" card as it only has main waterways none of the lakes I fish were on it.

[Bluebasser86]

I own that exact unit, purchased it when it was released. There isn't a lot of info online yet about them. The Elite 7 CHIRP is simply clearer than the 7 hdi and has better target separation. It is a nice unit, but for the money I'd recommend spending a bit more and getting the HDS and here's why. The Elite 7 GPS is slow, it's really frustrating to be honest.. I wouldn't rely on it in a tourney it's not reliable enough. The picture on sonar and downscan is great though, I still need to fiddle with mine more but I can post some screenshots.. I was also disappointed with the "gold" card as it only has main waterways none of the lakes I fish were on it.

So maybe it would make a good unit for the bow while you're on the trolling motor but not so great on the dash while you're running and navigating then?