anyone have experience with a lowrance elite-5x?

stackz

Master Chief Petty Officer
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May 29, 2008
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830
I'm narrowing down my fish finder/chartplotter combo and I'm leaning towards one of these.

lots of features for the price.

I tried talking my wife into a garmin 70s and then getting the black box later (teehee) and she was a no go on that lol.

does anyone have a competitor product in the same price range as this unit? I'm such a newbie with boat electronics its not funny. I've basically just talked to a bunch of guys I know locally who do boat charters and this unit kept coming up and I like the price point w/transducer $300~400 but I have no idea how to compare it to others.

I've seen a couple youtube videos but if I do go with this thing, would people recommend that I buy the tutorial video on ebay that is supposed to walk you though how to properly use the thing?
 

gm280

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Jun 26, 2011
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I would try a local outdoor type store and pick their brains about the options and usage for the unit you picked. If they can offer how it really works then I'd do that route first. If you have a Bass Pro shop around they have experienced tournament folks that actually used those units and can easily answer your questions and even do some demonstrations too. Also a local tournament group would be a get place to gain more knowledge about that unit. I have never seen any of those videos and therefore have no idea if they are worth the cost or not. Maybe some others will chime in and give you a better idea about them... JMHO!
 

ondarvr

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Apr 6, 2005
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11,527
Yes, X means no GPS

You are looking up the "X" line of products, not the Elite Combo that has everything.

Now that the chirp units are coming out the normal Elites have been discounted a great deal.
 

gm280

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For those that don't know what CHIRP technology is, CHIRP is a new way to transmits signals to obtain a better return resolution for a better display of objects. It actually transmits on multiple frequencies sweeps and then receive those frequencies back and depending on the substance they bounce off of that frequency is used to better display that return. The actual word CHIRP is really a acronym that stands for "Compressed High-Intensity Radiated Pulse". Now is it merely a better new way to do things or merely another marketing gimmick? I honestly don't know... But seems all the latest offerings from all the manufacturers are advertising it to be the best since sliced bread... IDK JMHO
 

stackz

Master Chief Petty Officer
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May 29, 2008
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yeah I was reading up on the chirp stuff and looked at some youtube videos and its REALLY cool. I love the 3D view where you can see the fish suspended in the water column and the contour of the bottom of the river or what not. really really cool. also, I think its out of my price range which goes back to my original post of why the wife wouldnt let me get the garmin 70s and the accompanying black box. $1200 for those two pieces and then I still have to buy the down/side-vu transponder to get the full 3D lol.

why not just sell all that together bundled? I mean I understand its to get someone to buy the unit, and then add the upgrades as they go but dangit I want it all at once.

I'm looking at the elite 7 and the elite 5 HDI right now and reading up on those. I cant figure out the difference between the elite 7 broadband and elite 7 HDI but then again I'm still trying to learn this stuff so I guess it must be in the transponder difference?

edit: also, I just found a raymarine A68 with chirp thats discounted from $1100 to $450
embarassed.gif
 
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gm280

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Jun 26, 2011
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stackz, Not trying to push you to buy more then you can or the other direction either. But I know how I do things. If I wanted the better version and settled for something less, then I would forever wonder what the better version would have been like. BUT, understanding that, I'd also wait if I had too to save my money for that better version. But that is just me... I can wait for months or more to get what I actually wanted and didn't have enough at the time... And my reasoning is I want to buy the best value for my money (not to be confused with the most expensive,) and if that means waiting for six months or even longer, to save that amount, then I will do that. Because I don't want to rebuy a little later and waste money... JMHO!
 

ondarvr

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Apr 6, 2005
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Electronics are one of those things that waiting doesn't help much, whatever you buy today will be old news next week. I just buy something that fits my budget/needs and go with it. The latest and greatest will be discounted to less than what you paid for the old stuff this year, and by then you know if it actually worked as advertised.
 

Derekc294

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Oct 1, 2013
Messages
152
Was just at Bass Pro looking at the Elite 7 by Lowrance. Talked with three different guys who had 2 different opinions. My intent was the best imaging for 500-600 bucks. After watching the demo and them all agreeing that the best imaging is from the Humminbird HELIX. Its a 5" not a 7" but after talking with them for about an hour this was what I chose. Install to come soon and than the waiting game for time to drop the pole in the water.
 
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