pony181 Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 (edited) Hello all im looking at purchasing a new sounder and have been looking at the elite 5 dsi or the hds 5. whats the general consensus on these units. i mainly fish the harbour and along the heads, any sort of info would be greatly appreciated. cheers Edited October 7, 2015 by pony181 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 For the area your fishing I would be leaning towards the DSI which includes Down Scan as a standard feature . The HDS is approx $100 more expensive & whilst it has newer technology & is more powerfull I think the Structure scan is an optional extra costing more $$$$$. Also , I seem to recall a comment in a previous post that fish images are better on one unit than the other but cannot remember which one. Perhaps points worth checking with the retailer. Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
port hacking addiction Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Yeah mate dsi is awsome, geoff is right the dsi is harder to see fish but if u pick the right colour like the white background and get use to wht they look like on tht sounder its not tht bad.i dont think ul regret buyin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasksta Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Hds 5 is hard to beat, resolution is awesome. Can always upgrade to structure scan later? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 I've just had a look around the web , am I correct in saying the Structure Scan option is an additional $600 - $650 ?? If so the HDS 5 with SS cost around $1400 where as the DSI 5 with Down Scan , which may not be quite as advanced , is half the price at a realistic $700. Pony181 , for the area your fishing the HDS with SS is rather difficult to justify. Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasksta Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 There isi one going for 650 on a well known auction website... Brand new! I use hds 7 in the harbour twice a week and its awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pony181 Posted February 2, 2013 Author Share Posted February 2, 2013 cheers for the reply's i have also sourced a elite5 dsi for $370 structure scan does sounds good but for that much of a added cost, im not sure if its worth while. at that price it seems to be the better option. The one thing im worried about is i have have heard a few people say that with the dsi its very hard to see bait and fish. im mainly targeting kings so structure is a major part but bait also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasksta Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 (edited) Mate i would snap that one up for 650! Just to clarify its an HDS 5 for that price.. Edited February 2, 2013 by tasksta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
port hacking addiction Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Hey mate if u pick the white back ground u see the fish easy i find pilchards and yellowtail easy on my sounder its 5x colour dsi if u wait til next weekend i can take pics and send them to u of what baitfish look like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 The technology just isn't quite there yet! I've been talked out of it by a low&@$(e rep and he said wait about a year or so!!! They are pretty much useless when stationary as the bounce off their own sonar which renders them useless! This is what I've been told. Good luck deciding..... Cheers scratchie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formosan Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 (edited) The technology just isn't quite there yet! I've been talked out of it by a low&@$(e rep and he said wait about a year or so!!! They are pretty much useless when stationary as the bounce off their own sonar which renders them useless! This is what I've been told. Good luck deciding..... Cheers scratchie!!! That's right, you gotta be moving over the fish and it takes a scan pretty much like a photocopy machine. If you are anchored you are not seeing much in front of behind. Where as HDS is a real sounder , It has a cone shape projection to the bottom so you can see more under your boat and with HDS you can see deeper. My mate has a DSI and it struggles when it is more than 25 metres deep. He now has both a DSI and HDS on his boat. DSI has better structure pictures , HDS detects fish better but not so clear on structures , it has better depth range ie 200 metres and cone shape projection. I reckon you firstly need a real sounder HDS then supplement it with DSI which is structure scan. DSI alone can be abit limiting. Edited February 7, 2013 by Formosan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a boat Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 HI, I agree with the above the HDS-5 is a FAR superior unit to the Elite and if you want SI and DI, just add the structure scan kit when the money is there. I only stock the HDS-5 out of these two if that says something. Do yoursefl a favour too and check out the Raymarine A67 combo, it is better again and comes with an OZ wide chart in the price and a little birdie has told me they will most likely have DI/SI sooner than latter. Cheers, Huey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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