Advice On Fish Finder

[Bassmaster21]

I am looking at purchasing a new depth finder for our older bass tracker. I decided that I am going to go with the Lowrance Elite 4 or the Lowrance Elite 4x DSI. They are the same thing except one has sonar and down imaging and the other has sonar and chartplotter (lake maps/ability to make waypoints) they are the same price. I am looking for advice/opinions on which to go with

[jpb2187]

What are you more interested in - depth contour and ability to mark spots , or a more detailed view of whats underneath. I have an elite 4x dsi, and it is a decent unit that will display what is underneath you pretty accurately. In hindsight I wish I would have gotten the elite 4 b/c of the chartplotter. Also, make note that the dsi will not have "fish arches" that appear on the traditional sonar. The higher frequencies used will make fish only appear as specks on the screen.

[moguy1973]

Look at the new elite-4x HDI unit. It has both down imaging and 2D sonar in it and both can be displayed side by side. I'm debating on upgrading from my 4x DSI. The Elite-4 HDI has all three, down imaging, 2D sonar and GPS in it, and all can be displayed at the same time.

[Seth]

If you can swing it, get a unit with GPS. The down imaging would be a plus, but having GPS is super handy.

[jdmidwest]

I have seen some pretty good deals on the older Lowrance 5 DSI models.

I have a Mark 4 DSI, black and white version with GPS that I bought at Academy last spring for $139 after rebate. I wish I would have gotten the color and a bigger screen. At least with color, the fish show a different color than the background and structure. I do miss fish arches but the little thing really picks up on the structure and shows it clearly. And it is really easy to mark a spot with the gps and come back to it.

I am with moguy, the new hdi would be an improvement and I saw them on sale somewhere for around $199.