I was decided on the striker 4 dv but west marine ran out of them and 180 is too expensive. I mainly want this for identifying brushpiles, stumps, and creek channels as well as fish. The elite 3x has only dsi while the striker 4(not 4 dv) has only sonar.  Thanks!

The Striker has 2D and ClearVu (aka DownVu). DV in the model name means DownVu.

The Lowrance DSI units have Down Scan only and are OK paired with a 2D-only unit, but not much by themselves (actually quite ignorant marketing).

17 minutes ago, Wayne P. said:

The Striker has 2D and ClearVu (aka DownVu). DV in the model name means DownVu.

The Lowrance DSI units have Down Scan only and are OK paired with a 2D-only unit, but not much by themselves (actually quite ignorant marketing).

Ok thanks. Think I might get the striker 4. Is it difficult to tell apart structure and type of structure on regular sonar?

The coverage of traditional sonar and its sonar pulse shape just shows something is "down there".

The imaging technology shows fine detail with its very small coverage. It is basically useless for vertical presentations when motionless. Takes movement to scan to create the images.

Having traditional sonar and imaging technology gives you the technology to interpret what each displays. Gotta have both

 

This is both:

Ok thanks. Wish I could get down imaging but oh well.

Definitely get traditional sonar at a minimum.

 

Let me suggest the Elite-5X which offers CHIRP technology and DownImaging with a 1" larger screen size for just 20 Bucks more.