fish finder bang for buck??

Been looking never owned one. I've looked at the lowrance elite 4 dsi. I def need it to help navigate and put me on the structure/points drop offs. I want to know what is the latest and greatest in your guys eyes without breaking the bank to bad. this is the whole reason I joined the forum so thanks in advance!

Lowrance Elite 4 DSI is a great starting investment. I wish it was this cheap years ago before I invested in my Humminbird. DSI is a valuable asset to detect and evaluate structures. However, search around a bit, and you can find the same price for a used, in extremely good condition, Elite 5 DSI for the same price as a new Elite 4 DSI. It was quite tempting for me to purchase the Elite 5 when I saw a slightly used Elite 5 DSI for just $80. That deal was sweet, and gone super fast (less than 5 hours posted on Craigslist).

Ill try and find an elite 5 then cause I really want to spend my money wisely. I'm gonna try an get a used one though are there specific types of the 5 what specs should I be looking for thanks.

The Elite 5X HDI is more than enough, without breaking every bank account you have. Unless you have a boat, having a GPS built is pretty much useless, since the underground structures tend to shift from season to season.

If you can't find a good price for the Elite 5X HDI, then look around for a used Elite 4X DSI. Once again, critical key is an active sonar system (using dual to quad frequencies) to find your fishes, while having a higher band frequencies piggy backing as a down scanning (or in Humminbird equipment is called down sonar) imaging. This is critical to see the structures clearly, and cleanly. Every minute detail is crucial.

My Humminbird 718 only provide enough detail for me to identify things, but I wish it could provide more indepth details as the DSI or HDI.

So I plan on buying charts and using them in conjunction with the fish finder I notice there is a chart plotter option on some of these can you explain that a little bit what are the pros to having that or should I not worry bout it. I'm actually part of a navigation team for the navy so I can get all the help and info regarding charts/navigation/plotting. Jus wondering thanks a lot for all the info and I think I'm gonna wait and try an get an elite 5 I'd rather have the bigger screen.

GPS chart plotting is great to grab information about depth, water temp, and coordinates so that you can create a lake contour bottom using certain software, like DrDepth. If you're willing to shell out about $150 to $200 more, it's an option to chose.

The plotter allows you to return back to the original plotting points where you marked your "desire positions" with the names, such as prior structures, or hot spots. It also retains all your traveling paths, and later you can update your internal software with contour maps of the waters that you're hitting, if they are available.

Bells and whistles that you can sink your teeth into if you have the budget.

I know some will disagree..But the Lowrance DSI shows more fish...better structure with much better target seperation
and the fish you see are more to scale than regular Sonar
I just purchased a new elite 5 HDI/DSI
it is great But uses too much power..i will have to make a batter setup for it that will last more than 3 hours'it oulls 1.1 amp..so my Float tube fanatics battery just wont do it..as much as i love it
Thinking of building my own mount with a Lithium Ion battery ..they have small 12ah deep cycle batteries but they are 200.00 plus another 100 buck or so for the charger
I would stay with the lowrance 4DSI or 5DSI
you will see just as many or MORE fish with the DSI


the HDI added to it just uses too much power

Ytown25 wrote:Been looking never owned one. I've looked at the lowrance elite 4 dsi. I def need it to help navigate and put me on the structure/points drop offs. I want to know what is the latest and greatest in your guys eyes without breaking the bank to bad.  this is the whole reason I joined the forum so thanks in advance!

TheAsianGuy wrote:GPS chart plotting is great to grab information about depth, water temp, and coordinates so that you can create a lake contour bottom using certain software, like DrDepth. If you're willing to shell out about $150 to $200 more, it's an option to chose.

The plotter allows you to return back to the original plotting points where you marked your "desire positions" with the names, such as prior structures, or hot spots. It also retains all your traveling paths, and later you can update your internal software with contour maps of the waters that you're hitting, if they are available.

Bells and whistles that you can sink your teeth into if you have the budget.

I have the 5 elite DSI with the chart plotter but the chart plotter cannot be turned off..so it uses more battery power
I spend 5-7 hrs on the water many days so you need a lot of Battery for it

I have two lithium power packs designed for my cycling and multipurpose needs. I have kayaks now, and more power for lights, equipment, livewell bubbler, and fish finders. So, a 12AHr with the 8AHr as a back up is great for the day of adventure with my family.

Best to grab a nice LiPO pack, minimum of 8AHr for your needs. Since you are sucking at 1.1A constant, my recommendation is a solid 12AHr LiPO, for weight and rechargeability/reliability.

TheAsianGuy wrote:I have two lithium power packs designed for my cycling and multipurpose needs. I have kayaks now, and more power for lights, equipment, livewell bubbler, and fish finders. So, a 12AHr with the 8AHr as a back up is great for the day of adventure with my family.

Best to grab a nice LiPO pack, minimum of 8AHr for your needs. Since you are sucking at 1.1A constant, my recommendation is a solid 12AHr LiPO, for weight and rechargeability/reliability.

Thank you
I have been looking online for these very batteries...seem they are about $100.00 each shipped from Alibaba
so far the cheapest i have found
Thank you Sir
1952

Best to spend a bit and save in the long run from the extra mods or replacements. I purchased mine through allbatteries.com and some good deals through amazon, of course, routed through a few sites making the same LIPO packs for the best deals. Don't buy cheap packs from China. They wont last. Taiwan is OK. Best packI got was made here in the US via Tenergy, using boards from Japan and Taiwan. The boards from China and Mexico burnt out in less than 3 months.

I have a garmin echo 150 that's float tube ready rigged to run off 8 aa batteries for 60bux

You guys have to make sure to read the power specs for these larger display fishfinders, as well as the current they are requires to have just to power their essential minimum components. My Humminbird 718 requires minimum of 800mA for a dual band transducer. Quad transduscer sucks up to 1.1A. The Lowrance elite 5 sucks at 1.1A minimum. A largest 8 pack of AA at 2400mAHr capacity wont last long. So, make sure to do calculation before suggesting, or members will merely be wasting money instead of investing properly

Ytown if you don't wanna run it off the 8aa's you can always use a diff power. source 60 bux isn't a bad price for a ff but it's up to you pm me if your interested