attention lowrance hds and elite owners

[jason p]

i would like to know your thoughts on which of the two hds or elite has the better quality sounder and why.

thanks jp

[FishHunter]

You should maybe read the specs on the 2 units before demanding answers from us.

The answer is obvious and its in the specifications, the HDS has a broadband sounder and can be upgraded with the structure scan module and possibly other add ons later down the line.

There is a reason the HDS is nearly $500 more expensive.

[jason p]

hey fish hunter
mate theres no demand going on here mate. yes the hds can have alot of add ons that cost an arm and a leg. and it is also broadband, great stuff, you would not belive how much i have read from numerous sourses and sites, hours and hours of research on product description and priceing. the elite to me had a good sounder option and the hds standalone without all the extrs that would make it an outstanding sounder SEEMED to be equaly good. I guess i put the question out there to see what others would think to sway me in a direction as i was stuck with decision decision decision, in the end i have gone the hds. so i guess theres no more decions to be made.

thanks jp

[marty666]

i too was in the same position between the elite and hds so i spent the $400 extra and got the hds and am glad i did cause i am going to get myself the structure scan when the leader of the opposition signs off on it.

[jason p]

gday marty
its a great base model for all the extras you can get for it and the structure scan would be an excellent option looks great on demo mode. i stretched the budget to get this unit as it was but i can see myself adding this on in the future too.

jp

[leelee]

Jason what unit did you end up getting?

I have had a HDS7 and now a HDS8 and can't fault them. Coupled with Structurescan they are an awesome unit.

Cheers

Lee

[jason p]

Jason what unit did you end up getting?

I have had a HDS7 and now a HDS8 and can't fault them. Coupled with Structurescan they are an awesome unit.

Cheers

Lee

gday lee
mate i ended up getting the hds 5, the bigger sets would certainlt look better on my dash but i needed 1 now as my old gps no go any more, and thats all i could squeeze from the misses pocket also being so close to xmass and a quite month comming up. its a big step up from my other sounder the x125 and when that suffers the no go symptoms a 7 or 8 may take its place.

jp

[jason p]

lee is that structure scan everything its made up to be, would certainly be a welcomed edition to the boat.

jp

[leelee]

lee is that structure scan everything its made up to be, would certainly be a welcomed edition to the boat.

jp

personally I think it is. I have sounded the wrecks at curtain and it shows them in very good detail. Have also used it to sound out snags on deep banks at the pin and used it in a few fresh water impoudments.

i think its worth every cent.

Cheers

Lee

[Stressless]

I was going to buy a HDS8 from the US given our dollar value, with the approx saving of $ 1200 off a local current catalogue

The supplier emailed back last night:

"Lowrance has started implementing geofencing on the units bought from the US. This means that a unit bought from the US and taken across a certain GPS zone will be limited on use to English language and imperical units. It wont allow you to use the unit in other languiges or metric. Otherwise it will work perfectly fine of course. They are doing this on HDS units now. Here is the bulliten from Lowrance :
"The limited features mode functions with English language and imperial measures only - all non-English languages and metric measures are eliminated. There is also a flashing reminder at the bottom of the screen that indicates that the unit is operating outside of its intended area of use."
I attached a picture also. Basically if the unit is used in the red area it will be restricted to english units. "

The red zone includes Australia, Asia, Africa and Europe. If you like to fish deep water in metres and creeks in feet, then a US purchase is out of the question.

[jason p]

hey stressless
mate there are canadian ebay sellers that r doing the worlkd wide map and i sore the hds 8, not sure of price though, may pay for you to have a look. i ended buying mine local wich now im glad cause the unit was faulty straight out of the box (overheating and drawing huge amounts of power). took it back the next day and exchanged it for another, new 1 working fine. could only imagine how p1ssed off i would a been if i had got it ofshore and it was faulty, the dramas of warrenty, probly wouldnt get out fishn till xmass. these r the risks i guess of buying overseas product.

jp

[Stressless]

Thanks JP

I bought my Furuno 585 for the reef boat from the US, and thought I would pick up a HDS8 for the tinnie at a good price.

Glad I didn't, hearing yours and others experiences with the unit in general.

I'll still go with the HDS8 and buy local and deal with any warranty issues locally

Steve