Sounder/Gps combo advice

[spilt milk]

Hey guys i'm in the process of looking for a new sounder for my tinny, i have narrowed my choices down to the Lowrance hds 5 or the Elite 5 DSI and just wanting to get peoples opinions on the two.Also does anyone know if the dsi just does down scanning or does it do regular sonar imaging as well?

Are there any other brands like hummingbird etc that people would recommend for around the $1000 mark? I mostly fish in the bay/estuaries and am after a gps combo as well.

Cheers in advance

Dave

[rosco1974]

mate not sure what boat u have got but i would recommend havin 2 seperate units if you are only going to get a 5 inch screen combo.i had a 7 inch combo and it was on the small size when u split the screen.for 1000 i recon u would go close to 2 seperate units in the 5 inch screen size,just my 2 cents worth

cheers rosco

[spilt milk]

Ideally two seperate units would be the go but i don't think i would be able to afford the two. My main reason for upgrade is to get a better sounder, the gps is a bonus and i would only really be using it for saving marks. My boats only a 3.9m tinny that i use to bash around the creeks and out to mud etc

I might go for a drive down to bcf and have a look at some of them in person might help me out a bit.

[Bri The Pom]

Mate i have two seperate hds 5s,love them, got them from j&h products in the usa. Check the prices online.

[blockah]

Mate im running the Elite 5 DSI & love it.

[reef_raider]

elite 5 dsi only does downscan... i would go the hds amd you can always add structure scan at a later point.. i have plenty of customers that have bought elites and wish they had gone to the hds

plus the hds 5's have just dropped about 150 in price

[Ricko69]

mate I have the dsi it is a great unit, Split screen for GPS and Sounder is not a problem. I find it a lot easier than 2 units you only have to look at one screen I had 2 seperate unit befor this one and wouldn't go back. The 5 dsi only does down scan but the clarity and detail is unbelievable. You can add structure scan to the HD units later but it means fitting a structure scan box and cabling and a pretty hefty cost almost $600 last time i looked at it so it may have come down a bit. The navioncs gold maps are exellent too and included in the price of the unit Hummingbird you have to buy the map card seperate to the unit.

Hope the info is useful.

Rick

[spilt milk]

Cheers for all the responses boys. I ended up going down to bcf for a look and walked away with the hds 5 and navionics gold card. The manager gave me a deal i couldnt refuse.

The DSI looked pretty good too, i got a bit turned off by only having downscan (although it looks pretty sweet) but i just thought the hds looked like a better option for me and hopefully down the track il add the structure scan.

Thanks again

dave

[spilt milk]

So i just installed the new sounder but fot some reason i can't get a gps fix. Does it take a bit too lock on or are there any settings i need to change?