Got a birthday around the corner and am looking at getting the Lowrance Elite 5 or 7 HDI to replace my crappy Humminbird 170 that I've had for years.  I get a good discount on the Lowrance fish finders so I was wondering what if there's a notable difference between the 5 and 7 besides screen size?  Also curious as to how difficult the installation process would be for an aluminum hull boat and what my potential costs would be if I took it somewhere to have it installed?

 

Thanks in advance guys and feel free to offer any tips or advice.

My fishing partner has a 5 on the front and just got the 7 for the dash. I would definitely go with the 7. The features are the same, but the size makes a huge difference. Much more than I thought it would. We had his hooked up in about 30 min, including putting the ram mount on. Really good unit as compared to what it would cost you to go the HDS route with SS.

I agree with jbsoonerfan, I run HDS units on my boat but I run the elite 7HDI ram mounted for mapping and if you can fit the 7 inch screen it is worth the money to get the bigger screen.

I have a elite 7 at bow and hds5 at dash.  The 7 is worth the money and will be the only way you can run three views, and much better for running two screens at once. 

Installation is easy...where are you installing and on what kind of boat- I have tin as well.

Installation is easy. Just follow the directions that come with the unit. I just bought the 7 and it is really nice, but takes awhile to figure out. I am not big on techie stuff. The guy who sells Ranger boats here in Boise told me to make sure the puck is about 1/4" below the bottom of your boat and between ribs if your boat has those.