I am looking at new depthfinders and need to stay under 500. (Placed on bow, upgrading from lowrance 4hdi). Some things i want it to do: The biggest thing to me is being able to pick up the spot on the spot. Structure in weeds, bottom structure. Deep breaks. Sure SI is great for this part. I like to be able to sit on top of structure and hold. I have an old transom trolling motor placed on the bow, so i need something that helps me respond and correct positioning easily. My hdi does that somewhat now. Thats why i think i need di still. 
my question is in my price-range do i pick one over the other and get maybe a newer tech or get something like triple shot with alittle older tech?  
should mention i want atleast 7” screen

Id look into the Garmins. Some deals out there on the 73sv and maybe the Strykers as well. I would say yes you need di and si but only you know how important either or is. Good luck

Thanks @Shimano_1 What about the lowrance hook 2 tech? Reason i ask is bp has a hook 2 9 tripleshot  On sale for 500 (300 off). Ive heard really good things about image detail on the garmins. I know i like down imaging detail. As far as side imaging it definitely looks awesome but ive never experienced it on the water. Eventually im going to have to play with them.

 

Though a tad higher than $500, I'd recommend A "Lowrance Elite-7 Ti2".

You definitely want a touchscreen unit, and though a 7" screen isn't ideal, it's adequate. 

 

Roger

Also how big of a diff is there between 6 and 9 inch

20 minutes ago, Bdnoble84 said:

Also how big of a diff is there between 6 and 9 inch

All screens are measured diagonally - just like TVs and Computer Monitors. Takes a little calculating, but...

A 6" screen is about 17 square inches

A 9" screen is about 39 square inches - so over twice the viewing area.

Lowrance has a new Hook Reveal series that came out this year. It looks pretty good, available in multiple screen sizes, has a lot of features higher end models come with, and currently has a $100 rebate through August.

4 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Lowrance has a new Hook Reveal series that came out this year. It looks pretty good, available in multiple screen sizes, has a lot of features higher end models come with, and currently has a $100 rebate through August.

Ya, I know...I've got a Reveal 7 Splitshot/GPS on my wishlist - be quite an upgrade from my current Hook 2-4.

13 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Ya, I know...I've got a Reveal 7 Splitshot/GPS on my wishlist - be quite an upgrade from my current Hook 2-4.

It looks like a nice unit! It’ll probably get reduced in price next season when their next model is introduced.

Good luck trying to buy one right now. Daughter and son in law were in a BPS 2 weeks ago shopping for a new unit. Each one they asked about was out of stock. Salesman said what he did have was a much shorter list than what he didn't have. I checked several sites on line and more were out of stock than available. 

  

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

Lowrance has a new Hook Reveal series that came out this year. It looks pretty good, available in multiple screen sizes, has a lot of features higher end models come with, and currently has a $100 rebate through August.

Saw these. Is the reveal di? Images ive seen look cool

Bps has a hook2 9tripleshot on sale im leaning towards

6 minutes ago, Bdnoble84 said:

Saw these. Is the reveal di? Images ive seen look cool

Bps has a hook2 9tripleshot on sale im leaning towards

Reveal comes as either a double-shot with DI or triple-shot with DI and SI...just like the other Lowrance series sonars.

14 hours ago, Bdnoble84 said:

Saw these. Is the reveal di? Images ive seen look cool

Bps has a hook2 9tripleshot on sale im leaning towards

Its actually a rebate through July, not August. I misspoke in my previous post.

I don't know about other brands, but Humminbird SI includes DI.

I wouldn't suggest lowrance. I've had two units go bad in the past year. From..... water damage.....

 

 

I've been hearing a lot of good things on garmin lately. Id give them a close eye. 

I'm a humminbird guy so I always reccomend that. 2nd Garmin and last lowrance.

 

     A touch screen will constantly be covered in fingerprints. It's hard enough keeping a graph screen clean I don't need any extra help dirtying it up. 

 

SI works better at a few mph so if you fish alot of electric only lakes where your on the trolling motor moving alot it can be beneficial.if not moving images are extremely drawn out. 

 

    If you want to veritcal fish alot DI is almost a must in my eyes. 

1 hour ago, Hower08 said:

A touch screen will constantly be covered in fingerprints. It's hard enough keeping a graph screen clean I don't need any extra help dirtying it up. 

 

The past few years I've been using a Lowrance Elite touchscreen chartplotter.

Frankly, I'm not sure what you mean by 'fingerprints'.

 

Roger

1 hour ago, Hower08 said:

I'm a humminbird guy so I always reccomend that. 2nd Garmin and last lowrance.

 

     A touch screen will constantly be covered in fingerprints. It's hard enough keeping a graph screen clean I don't need any extra help dirtying it up. 

 

SI works better at a few mph so if you fish alot of electric only lakes where your on the trolling motor moving alot it can be beneficial.if not moving images are extremely drawn out. 

 

    If you want to veritcal fish alot DI is almost a must in my eyes. 

Knowing me i wouldnt be able to see screen after one day. Definitely going to be using it alot vertically on structure whether dropshotting smallies or jigging eyes so i agree DI is a must. I am on the trolling motor alot so SI would be nice too. Big thing for me is being able to dial into the spot on the spot as i am not good at that now. I think SI would help with this because i have a better idea of whats around me.

what makes you prefer hummingbird to the rest?

Quote

I think SI would help because i have a better idea of whats around me.

 

If you're budget-minded, I wouldn't place too much faith in side-imaging.

I've used SI for a few years, but found that I wasted too much fishing time 

deciphering questionable objects. To each his own, but I prefer to maximize my actual fishing time.

 

Roger

How much value would u put in a 9in vs 7in display?

12 minutes ago, Bdnoble84 said:

How much value would u put in a 9in vs 7in display?

Well, 7" would be just under 25 square inches of screen, 9" a bit over 40 square inches - so 60%+ larger. All depends on whether that extra viewing space is worth it to you.

Thats whats got me leaning towards the lowrance for the price. But seems like everyone is down on the Lowrance and prefers garmin or hummingbird. So im wondering if im better off with a seven in one of those vs the 9 with similar amount of features

3 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

I've used SI for a few years, but found that I wasted too much fishing time 

deciphering questionable objects.

Interesting - this is a 10 year old SI image from an X98 unit I had.

 

 

To me there's no doubt that those are fish cribs and that boat in the upper right is clear as a bell....and SI has improved by orders of magnitude since then.

1 hour ago, Bdnoble84 said:

Thats whats got me leaning towards the lowrance for the price. But seems like everyone is down on the Lowrance and prefers garmin or hummingbird. So im wondering if im better off with a seven in one of those vs the 9 with similar amount of features

Based on fishing with folks who have all three brands...they all work great.  While I'm a Humminbird/Minn Kota guy, I don't really think there's much difference, other than a feature here or there.

 

IMO, you're better off going to the store and playing with the unites and seeing which menu system makes the most sense to you.

 

6 minutes ago, Further North said:

Interesting - this is a 10 year old SI image from an X98 unit I had.

 

 

To me there's no doubt that those are fish cribs and that boat in the upper right is clear as a bell....and SI has improved by orders of magnitude since then.

Based on fishing with folks who have all three brands...they all work great.  While I'm a Humminbird/Minn Kota guy, I don't really think there's much difference, other than a feature here or there.

 

IMO, you're better off going to the store and playing with the unites and seeing which menu system makes the most sense to you.

 

Sounds like apple vs droid. Thats my next step, go to store and see what i call in love with. Barring breaking this will be on the boat next 15-20yrs

Here's another HB screenshot from LOTW (but I messed with the GPS info).

 

 

Inside the Zoom box you can clearly see two big fish (musky or pike) and one smaller one hanging out around a pocket in the weed line.  The other side clearly shows breaks in the weed line too.

 

1 minute ago, Bdnoble84 said:

Sounds like apple vs droid. Thats my next step, go to store and see what i call in love with. Barring breaking this will be on the boat next 15-20yrs

It's exactly like that, or Mac/PC, or Chevy/Ford/Toyota (I drive a Jeep ?), IMO.

 

Go play with them, or fish with folks who have them.