Best Price - Lowrance HDS

[whiteman]

Thought it might help me and others if anyone has found somewhere in Australia selling Lowrance HDS units and accessories for a good price as some big retailers will do price matching. I have yet to buy one but am getting seriously close.

Straight from the latest BIAS catalog is the following - I'm after the HDS-8 but this thread should not be restricted to this unit:

HDS-8 50/200 $2495
Fuel flow sensor $149
Fuel flow starter kit $65
Navionics Gold (Australia wide) $385

Any one getting better prices?

[sporty1]

Hi Mate

I just checked on ebay and hds 8 combo delivered to your door $ 2054 AUS. Do a serch on ebay and havce a look.

[leelee]

Thought it might help me and others if anyone has found somewhere in Australia selling Lowrance HDS units and accessories for a good price as some big retailers will do price matching. I have yet to buy one but am getting seriously close.

Straight from the latest BIAS catalog is the following - I'm after the HDS-8 but this thread should not be restricted to this unit:

HDS-8 50/200 $2495
Fuel flow sensor $149
Fuel flow starter kit $65
Navionics Gold (Australia wide) $385

Any one getting better prices?

Mate contact Grand_Marlin from this site. Pretty sure he can better those prices and then he also can do the install and can look after any issues or warranty concerns you may have in the future.

I can vouch for Petes work and his prices and be careful when purchasing units from Ebay as you cannot 100% guarantee the units are not grey imports being sold onwards and also check that the prices include transducer as most do not. Also be wary of warranty etc.

Many members of this site have gone through Grand_Marlin and can vouch for him and his products.

Cheers

Lee

[camboy]

I will second what Lee has said, he is right on the money

Cam

[myusernam]

bias (check online) have hds5x and 5m's for $749 why not get one of each (plotter and sounder)

[fishmtb]

bias (check online) have hds5x and 5m's for $749 why not get one of each (plotter and sounder)

Not a bad idea that. Has anyone else done this? I've got a X97 sounder already, i could get the GPS now, then upgrade the sounder as the finances/time allow. Or, get it over and done with and get the combo unit? Any suggestions?

[leelee]

Not a bad idea that. Has anyone else done this? I've got a X97 sounder already, i could get the GPS now, then upgrade the sounder as the finances/time allow. Or, get it over and done with and get the combo unit? Any suggestions?

The idea of having 2 separate units might sound good in theory, but when you realise you only have 2 units with small screens then the idea of 2 units may not be worth the effort.

Everyone seems to think that 2 units would be better, but what happens if your GPS unit breaks. Will you still go fishing even though you can't get to your GPS marks? What also happens if your separate sounders breaks? Will you still see if there are fish at your spots and ensure you are over the correct patch as GPS are not 100% accurate.

I have a HDS8 on my boat and I upgraded from a HDS7 for the bigger screen and it has made a world of difference. Think along the lines of a HDS5 having a screen size of a 6 x 4 and the HDS8 = Poster size.

I can split screen and have 3 screen running at once and adjust zoom and contrast with the press of 1 button. The HDS8 has so much more functionality.

I live in Brisbane area and if you are most welcome to come and have a look at my setup if you like.

Cheers

Lee

[krazyfisher]

Leelee

two units are handy. yes i have still gone fishing when thr GPS stopped working (fuse) and I have had the sounder stop working (102df kept turning on and off) but I had gps so fished the marks.

when you can get 2x 5" screens vs 1x 7" for the same price it does add up. size is better with 2 5" screens than 1 7" split.

the Hds8 is also $1000 more than 2 hds5's.

[Bowser]

At the moment I am running a HDS5 and and LMS335 (until finances improve and I can get a 2nd HDS). From my perspective the only arguements in favour of the HDS8 is the increased functionality. It does have extra functions that make adjusting screens etc quicker and easier and a very slightly larger screen area in total. To counteract Leelee's comments, with the the 2 units (and I would run identical units which both have GPA and sounder functions)

You can split the 2 screens into 6 if you want but when do you need this depth of info
You have built in redundancy, if one unit fails then the other can do both functions and you can still fish
Although the 8 is a little easier to toggle screens with, in reality how many times do you do this on a trip, aside from zoom in and out for the GPS, which is one button press on the 5, once maybe twice in a trip so the expence becomes a luxury.
With the 2 units, if you so desire, you can show so much more info without cluttering up the screen. I personally split my overlay info across both units so that it doesn't take up areas which are showing me important info. (and before it is suggested I do know how to adjust the size and the position of this info)

$ for $ I can't see the value in the 8, certainly the arguements do start to fall with the larger 10 which is significantly larger but even then you do not have the coverage of the inbuilt redundancy of separate units.

[lee8sec]

My boat has a hds5m & 5x pair fitted. Was in the boat when i got it & i like the idea. The thought of having one working if there is a problem is worth while. Leigh

[leelee]

Leelee

two units are handy. yes i have still gone fishing when thr GPS stopped working (fuse) and I have had the sounder stop working (102df kept turning on and off) but I had gps so fished the marks.

when you can get 2x 5" screens vs 1x 7" for the same price it does add up. size is better with 2 5" screens than 1 7" split.

the Hds8 is also $1000 more than 2 hds5's.

HDS8 is only $300 more then 2 x HDS 5’s with 200/50 transducers

In some situations yes you can still go fishing but that is up to the individual. If I needed to be close to a gps mark offshore and my gps did not work then no point going. Also in regards to the splitting well that’s up to the individual. I don’t have my screen split 50 50 either. I have my GPS/Sounder screen split set at 75% GPS and 25% sounder and my Sounder/GPS screen with 75% sounder and 25% GPS. If you are on anchor there is no point even having your GPS displaying as you can use your sounder option as you are really not going to go far so screen should be sounder 100%. Also when you split screen you shrink the size of the what’s being displayed. So a full HDS5 screen versus a HDS7 split on 75% sonar and 25% GPS will see about the same screen size for the sonar.

I agree with Bowsers comments the reasoning behind the units but as he mentioned they must be identical units which both have GPS and sounder functions.

I also have sounder info overlayed on my GPS screen for when I want to use 100% GPS and also have GPS info overlayed on my Sounder.

Just remember that HDS5 and & 7 can only split 2 way and HDS8 and 10 have 3 way split functionality.

I have previously ran two separate units on bats and currently run an LMS525 and HDS8 on my boat but the LMS is located on the bow and the HDS on the helm.

Cheers

Lee

[krazyfisher]

can you get a hds8 and transducer for $1800?

HDS5 sounder $725 and GPS $775

[davez104]

I thought the thread was about the cheapest pricing available, not the merits of two units versus one, my bad.

[leelee]

I thought the thread was about the cheapest pricing available, not the merits of two units versus one, my bad.

I agree hence my original post stating the fact I know of.

can you get a hds8 and transducer for $1800?

HDS5 sounder $725 and GPS $775

Nope I cannot get it for $1800 but not far from it, because that’s what I have now and I was going off Bias prices not the prices you are quoting.

Where are those prices from? B C F ?

Personally the value for money aspect of a HDS8 is much superior then 2 x HDS5's. Sure the $'s is one aspect and the twin HDS5's come in much cheaper but still you only have a small 5 inch screen and that fact will never change.

When using structurescan, which I have, it displays much more clearer on the bigger screen then it does on a HDS5 and yes before anyone asks, I have seen the results from a HDS5.

As I have previously mentioned I upgraded from a HDS7 to a HDS8 for screen size and for extra ease of functionality of the unit.

It really comes down to budget, availability in boat to actually run 2 units, the extra cost to network them which many have forgotten to mention, which is not much but the purchaser needs to know of the additional costs required to link the twin HDS5 units via nmea network.

I guess this all comes back to the original post of whiteman talking about a HDS8.

Cheers

Lee

[whiteman]

I want the hds8. Have 2 screens now and want to go to a single point of vision. Much better resolution than the smaller model and better features. The HDS8/10 models provide the technology leap - the 5/6 don't. Price is only an issue when comparing apples with apples.

I won't be buying grey or import as these things don't have the most reliable reputation as yet.