Skyler76

I am at a loss on a few features of the elite 7ti. I've had this unit for a couple of months and like it but there are a few things that I know it can do that I cannot figure out how to do. The first is contour mapping/relief shading. On my unit these options are grayed out. What do I need to get them enabled? The other thing is, how on do I push aerials (sat. imagery) onto the unit? Thanks in advance!

Hey, I'm new and looking for some insight or advise. I started looking for a new finder with about $450. Now I am up around $750. I've narrowed it down to the following - Lowrance 7ti Hummingbird Helix 7 si gps Garmin 73sv I am strongly infavor of the Helix 7 however I am wondering if I can load maps onto it without buying their ridiculously overpriced $200 SD card? I am new to charting finders but it appears that if I want to use the charting features on the helix, I have to buy their card which pushes the price of the unit way beyond what I want to pay for it. I know I get 8 hours of livechart without the card but that won't do much for me. I'd love to use livecharts but that $200 after buying the unit is a huge turn off when I know fine well that the hardware they provide for that fee probably totals $15. Are there free charts I can load onto this unit? I am not a big fan of garmin but it comes with charts which cover my areas of interest and is one of the cheaper options. My previous finders have all been lowrance but I have no brand loyalty. I feel like I am paying extra for a touch screen that honestly I don't care about. I set my finder up and roll for most of the day with it in one view. The only way this unit fits my budget is with the current $100 they are offering. Do you guys have any other recommended units in this price range (these already max out my budget and I really need a 7 inch due to the position in my boat I need to view it from)?