Anyone got a Lowrance HDS-5?

[Strewth]

Thinking of getting a Lowrance HDS-5, without structure scan. Would appreciate any comments, positive or negative, from those who have one.

I see that Lowrance are soon to release an Elite series. Compared to the HDS-5, the Elite-5 will have the same pixel resolution but no structure scan. Any other major differences?

[BR65]

I have the 5X, which is sounder only, no GPS, and give it a big thumbs up.
Lowrance are subject to water intake problems, Ive owned Lowrance all my fishing life, inshore, off shore and fresh, and have replaced multiple head units.
Now days I make sure I take the sounder out of the boat and store it when not in use, this seemed to eliminate that problem

[spelchek]

Third trip out with my new boat (and HDS-5) today and, frankly, I was starting to worry about my HDS purchase. Sounder screen was nothing like the images you see in brochures etc - very 'garbled'. Lokng thru the manual lat night I saw a 'transducer selection' option in the menu and set it to the correct transducer today. Problem solved!! (PHEW!!!!!).

Great unit (now I know it's working :)) - the GPS has always worked as advertised. My only worry was the sounder. Now Im a happy Lowrance camper :)

[anthony72]

Grand Marlin is the man to talk to he's amazing onall HDS Lowrance info!

[Grand_Marlin]

Third trip out with my new boat (and HDS-5) today and, frankly, I was starting to worry about my HDS purchase. Sounder screen was nothing like the images you see in brochures etc - very 'garbled'. Lokng thru the manual lat night I saw a 'transducer selection' option in the menu and set it to the correct transducer today. Problem solved!! (PHEW!!!!!).

Great unit (now I know it's working :)) - the GPS has always worked as advertised. My only worry was the sounder. Now Im a happy Lowrance camper :)

Also, when you have the sounder in auto mode, you can still adjust the sensitivity (gain) manually.
Press [menu] [enter] and it will bring up the adjustment window.
Play with this frequently at different speeds and different depths to get the best out of the unit.

Cheers

Pete

[lee8sec]

I have a 5X sounder + a 5M GPS, happy with both, as far as operation on the water. I have also found to get the best from the sounder you do need to play with the adjustments, but its worth doing. Leigh