Which Sounder Combo

[Stillrockn]

Hi Fello Raiders

Need some advice I have a choice between a Lowrance Elite 5

or a Humming Bird 788 CXI. I have been trying to find out

Which would be the better for my purpose Which is Bay , river &

close off shore fishing .. All advice or Info would be much Appricated

Cheers Tom

Edited August 12, 2012 by Stillrockn

[Geoff]

Tom I fish similar areas to you. Spent a fair amount of time at the Boat Show looking at different Combo's under $1000.

It came down to 3 ,

Elite 5

GME 142CFD

H.B. 788cXi

From a technical aspect they were ,in essence , much in a muchness

H.B. was the most expensive but does have the best pixel at 640 x 640. Looking at the screens I could not justify the additional $$$$.

The GME had the largest screen at 142mm (5.6") compared to the others at 127mm. It was a bit more expensive than the Elite 5 but it could be argued the larger screen offset that cost.

The map on the Chartplotter I thought was not as good as the Elite but it was only a minor difference & basically came down to personal preference rather than a technical aspect.

The split screen is horizontal compared to the others which are vertical which some may prefer

The Elite 5 had all the functions I wanted & was easy to navigate around. That's not to say the others were difficult , I was just more comfortable with the Elite.

Having said all that , it then came down to price & I ended up buying the Elite 5 for $750.

If your leaning toward the H.B. then suggest you consider the Elite 5 DSI . It's a similar price to the H.B. but the Elite DSI has Down Scanning which provides a much clearer picture of bottom structure.

In summary , I think it's a flip of a coin between the Elite & the GME with the HB coming in third.

Geoff

[Stillrockn]

Thank you for your reply Geoff much appreciated.

Well it looks like there will be two of us out there with the Elite 5 on board.

Cheers Tom