Need some opinions HDS-5 or HDS-7?

[tbull]

Well guys I have decided I am going to splurge a little here. Right now I run a Lowrance x510c, and am going to be upgrading to a new HDS unit with GPS. It was stupid of me not get the GPS the first time, I didn't realize how much I would like to have GPS until I didn't have it...lol...It all came to a head a week ago when I was on the Ohio River at night, got real foggy and I couldn't find a spot on my own home river that I have fished 50 times!:angry:

Anyway I was looking at the HD-5 and HD-7 in a catalog. Does anyone have a HD-7? And is the screen considerably larger than the HD-5? I guess the HD7 has a 6.4 inch screen, would love to go bigger than that but I haven't hit the lottery yet. I guess the main reason I was wanting a larger screen is for when the Lowrance SI technology comes out this year, I guess it can be added on to the HD units, so having a little bit larger screen already would be a plus. I had my buddies 797c2si on my boat for a while and personally I think the screen was way to small on that thing. What would you guys do? Is the HD7 worth the extra $?

Also I mainly fish the river, there are no lakes around here that hold blue cats, so I am usually fishing just the Ohio River 99% of the time. Do the mapping options like insight USA, basemap, really benifit a river fisherman? Or are they more for lakes and resevoirs? Any help anyone can offer would be great, I know these units just came out so I wasn't sure if anyone had any experience or not with them. Thanks in advance, sorry for the long post just wanted to make sure all my questions were out there.:ooooh:

[Jollymon]

i hope you get a lot of info, i,m hoping to up grade soon myself the info would help a lot

[Steve]

Since you live close to Cinci. Go to bass pro and compare the size dif for your self. My self, I like the hds7. My buddy has a 5 and doesn't feel like its a big enough dif to be worth the money. I bought a unit with basemap. Big mistake. Should have got the insight. They still don't have the update for Navionics yet.
Steve

[tbull]

Since you live close to Cinci. Go to bass pro and compare the size dif for your self. My self, I like the hds7. My buddy has a 5 and doesn't feel like its a big enough dif to be worth the money. I bought a unit with basemap. Big mistake. Should have got the insight. They still don't have the update for Navionics yet.
Steve


How do you like it compared to the older Lowrance unit's? Also you mentioned basemap was a mistake, what do you mean by that? Do you fish the river alot or lakes? I know I am asking alot of questions, I just want to make sure I get it right. If navionics isn't gonna benefit me being a river fisherman I dont want to spend the $, but if there is something to it let me know. I just was not sure how helpful these mapping programs are with the rivers other than GPS..

[Steve]

Base map has no depth contours at all on most lakes. On the river it is nice to have barge channels and markers at the very least. This is the first Lowrance that I have had. Blows away the HBs and Garmans I've had. If I had it to do again I would get the Insight as it covers the whole US. Would still go with Navionics for my local fishing. Its even got decent coverage on the river.
Steve

[tbull]

So are the barge channels and markers covered on the basemap?

[Steve]

No. The base map is no more than a rough sketch of the body of water. Water being white and land being yellow. A Lot of times it will show your position on land when you are on water. Had that issue with my old HB with its basic mapping also. With Navionics it seemed to be very accurate. Hope Lowrance comes out with their Navionics upgrade soon.
Steve

[Wabash River Bear]

Ive got an HDS-7, with Insight USA gps, about all I can tell you about it at this time (I havent had it out yet) is that it's the smallest I would go for. The 5's screen is no bigger than anybody elses small sonars (H-Bird 565, ect.). The 7 is alot larger than the 5.