motion Posted April 11, 2011 Report Share Posted April 11, 2011 (edited) Hey guys. I just bought a new pontoon for the cottage. Its a 21' c/w a fishing package (two pedestal seats and live well) The boat will be mainly for friends and family outings. The marina is willing to install a fish finder for me (that I will supply). My dilemma is this. I have a fishing boat I use at the cottage (for serious fishing LOL)that has a Lowrance 520C at the helm and which I bought and moved my X102 to the bow. I also own an Lowrance H2O handheld that I used for the hard water season. I use one Hotmaps chip to go between the boat and the hand held. Since I need to buy a new fish finder, I was thinking of getting the HDS5 to install on the fishing boat and moving the 520C to the new pontoon. Is the HDS5 a good improvement on the 520C? Is the HDS7 worth the extra money for less than 2" of screen? Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Edited April 12, 2011 by motion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted April 11, 2011 Report Share Posted April 11, 2011 Is the HDS5 a good improvement on the 520C?.....yes Is the HDS7 worth the extra money for less than 2" of screen? ......yes and the the more things you use on the screen , the bigger the screen you want...you split it for the GPS and fishfinder , then if you add down scan/side scan.... the hds 5 screen is just too small for that..if you just use the fishfinder screen most of the time then the 5 is great and the Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Bob Posted April 11, 2011 Report Share Posted April 11, 2011 (edited) motion, it really depends on what kind of fishing you intend to do. I have 2 LMS 520C units networked on my vessel and love them...the HDS units are a bit better on screen resolution at best IMHO but really shine if you want to add side scan if your a avid bass angler. Again the 7 is a bit better than the 5 but from what I have heard it's best going to the 8 because of the soft command buttons you get with the 8. Of course that comes with a HUGE price increase. The HDS units do come with a a 2 year warranty but "if" I was you I would get a lower price end unit for the pontoon boat and keep the 520C unit where it is. You're going to need that extra cash for $6 gallon gas to get you to the lake. Good Luck, Bob Edited April 11, 2011 by Billy Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scugpg Posted April 11, 2011 Report Share Posted April 11, 2011 If you only want one thing on the sonar at once (i.e. GPS or sonar) than the 5 will be good. Otherwise you may want to consider the 7. The 520 series are hard to beat, I would think the GPS is the biggest improvement. They are noticably slower than the 520's as well in usability. Hopefully as more updates come out the potential of the HDS's will be realized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motion Posted April 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2011 ]Is the HDS5 a good improvement on the 520C?.....yes Is the HDS7 worth the extra money for less than 2" of screen? ......yes and the the more things you use on the screen , the bigger the screen you want...you split it for the GPS and fishfinder , then if you add down scan/side scan.... the hds 5 screen is just too small for that..if you just use the fishfinder screen most of the time then the 5 is great and the Thanks. Dang, Terry. I missed a great deal at the Sportsman Show. Radioworld had the HDS7 for $899.00 plus Lowrance had the mail in rebate for another $100 off. Now back to $999.00. The HDS5 is 300.00 less but around 1-1/2 smaller. That works out to $200.00/inch more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landry Posted April 11, 2011 Report Share Posted April 11, 2011 Unless u r gonna go real big (add scan technology, bigger screen...) I would just stick with the LMS520c. I have one and I think it is fine. Just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motion Posted April 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2011 Unless u r gonna go real big (add scan technology, bigger screen...) I would just stick with the LMS520c. I have one and I think it is fine. Just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motion Posted April 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2011 Too bad the don't make the 520 series any longer. I like my 520C as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Bob Posted April 12, 2011 Report Share Posted April 12, 2011 Another great option depending on the deal of the day is putting TWO HDS units next to each other...one for Sonar, one for GPS (of course networked)..if one fails you can ride out the time with one until it comes back from being repaired. Sometimes this is cheaper than on large unit.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motion Posted April 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2011 Hey Terry, thanks buddy. You just cost me an extra 300 bones. I came out of Radioworld with my new HDS7. I figured if I ever wanted to add the structure scan, I would be kicking myself for not getting the bigger unit. Now we just have to wait for mothr nature to deal with the last bit of ice in the water.......... Thanks for your help guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted April 12, 2011 Report Share Posted April 12, 2011 LOL I am glad I could help you spend your money...LOL:whistling: you are going to be very happy with the unit.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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