I have had the HDS 10 and HDS 8 since they came out, three months after I cast a while ago. I have tested them and taught alot of guys on this board how to use them. I can even tell you which weed is under the boat right now. I had a blast with it in the ocean this summer as well. Hard to tell in deep water though but you will get the hang of it. I will admit, Lowrance is much harder to use out of the box but with a little work you will far surpass that of any other imaging thats on the market right now. There are some great viseos out there as well to easily teach, Doc Sampson, Bennett Marine, etc.