# choice between Lowrance elite 7x HDI and HB 596c HD DI?



## buffresources (Feb 15, 2013)

I am trying to decide between the two.

I fish 40 ft or less, small lakes/pits/ponds in a 12 ft flat bottom w/TM

I want the most detail on structure and areas holding fish...i.e. the best picture

GPS is not really important...I have a hand held

HB 596c HD DI on sale at BP for $399.95

Lowrance elite 7x HDI $450 on line 

Could use some input

Thanks


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## wihil (Feb 17, 2013)

Well, it's going to be a personal decision, but looking at it from the tech specs:

HB - with the HD screen, you're looking at 480x640 (more vert pixels), but smaller screen width. Sonar is 83/200/455. There is no NEMA out.

Lowrance - the screen size is 800x480 (less vert pixels, wider, true 7" display with backtrack). Sonar is 83/200/455/800. Has NEMA out.

Technically, you'll have more info displayed on the HB due to more vert pixels for the same depth. With the Lowrance you get more real estate to look at, and can easily divide the screen if you want separate 2D/DS to look at. The Lowrance also has the ability to overlay the 2D image info on top of the DS image, giving you a hybrid between the two - eg, your fish will show up as arches but you can still see the structure clearly. I think this is a useful tool, others may find it information overload.

Personally, now that I've got a big screen, going back to a smaller screen is just aggravating - but I'm also using my finder's GPS at the same time as I'm using the sonar. 

Cost aside, I'd chase down the Lowrance because it offers things that are important to me (DS Overlay, Backtrack, big screen, and dedicated 800 for narrow beam DI). If cost was a factor, and I didn't care about screen size, the HB would have the nod and I'd be happy as punch.


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## buffresources (Feb 18, 2013)

thanks...the larger screen does sound apealing but the $150 dif....guess I will go with the 596 since I have some gift cards at BP

thanks again for your time

GTO


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## JoshKeller (Feb 22, 2013)

pretty sure the 'bird is 640x640 pixels. I had one on the front of my boat until I upgraded to side imaging, and the quality of images was incredible. it was pretty neat taking it in clear water, seeing a tree under water, then going over it and seeing the exact same detail on the scree - it was a real confidence booster. 

the only issues I ever had with it was interference with the digital trolling motor I had. A few calls to HB, and they sent me a shielded power cable, had me run a ground wire, and adjust a few settings and it was taken care of in about an hour.


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## nlester (Feb 22, 2013)

I have the HB 798 SI HD and I like it but if I were buying for the first time, I would take a close look at the Lowrance Elite 7 DI. I really do like the looks of it.
In your case, I would probably go with the Elite 7.


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## buffresources (Feb 23, 2013)

So if I decided to go HB 596c HD DI what I'm hearing is less detail on the horizontal but more on the verticle vs Lowrance?

What is the effect on detail if I fish primarily in water 20 feet or less using a tm? Still HB?

Most of my fishing is crappie in 20 ft or less out of a 12 ft jon with 30 lbs TM (in other words slow compared to an outboard). I mount the transducer in the front on an old tm mount.

Some of the Lowrance vs HB comparison pictures I'm looking at on the net seem to show better clearity with the Lowrance DSI vs Hb DI for the same depth (around 20 ft) but maybe they are old ...2004? They said something about HB upgrading its' transducer since then?

Sorry for all the questions and while I'm sure they are both good units in their own right I want to avoid making a $400-600 mistake for what I am wanting to use it for.

By the way found a 596c HD DI for $360 free ship/no sale tx...just waiting for a little more info.


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## redbug (Feb 23, 2013)

to get the best detail you want the high pixel count to be on the vert side. 


look at it like this i will use simple numbers so I dont screw it up



if you have 100 vert pixels and you are in 50 ft of water the detail given wont be that good 2 pixels per foot
now if you have 400 vert pixels you will have much better detail. 8 pixels per foot in 100 ft of water.
i hope that makes sense?


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## MtnDew (Feb 25, 2013)

The HB is 640x640 and for 2D Sonar and Down Image you want more Vert Pixels (top to bottom). The Lowrance Elite 7 is 800 x 480 .. so it is wider but shorter. In my opinion that is the wrong way to go for Down Image and 2D sonar. You want as many pixels per depth of water as you can get so things show up larger. Is it a huge issue, probably not, but only you can make that call.

A few other factors .. the HB has two buttons that let you quickly switch screens the view and exit they will scroll between the screens. And you can in the main menu turn off the screens you don’t want, so it makes it quick to jump around. The elite 7, you have to hit the pages button, then scroll to select your screen .. the HB seems to switch screens faster.

Also check out the built-in maps for the lakes you fish, all three of my lakes were missing from the HB not even a blue circle, but the Elite 7 had very good maps. If you have to buy a map card the price goes up another $150 so the HB + map card may cost the same as the elite 7.

I like to take screenshots so I can look at them later, on my HB 998, everytime, I take a screenshot it also makes a gps entry, so my map gets full of gps points. Not sure about how it takes screenshots on the lowrance elite 7. Also if you have a map card in the 1 slot on the HB, I don’t think you can take screenshots, since you can’t write to the map card.

The lowrance has trackback .. which I think is awesome and something I wish my HB had. On the HB, I have to tell it to record my sonar log and then to go back I have to switch to the recording screen and play it back from there. On the Lowrance, you just move the cursor over to the edge of the screen and it scrolls back.

I personally found the elite 7 a little hard to jump around in the menus because there is not a dedicated “exit” key. You may want to play with them both.

When I am hunting for fish I switch constantly between 3 screens on my unit that has 800x480 pixels. Screen 1 is dedicated Side Image, #2 is Down Image/2D Sonar, #3 is Sonar/GPS. The HB 998 has 3 hot buttons that I have set to those screens, then from any one, I can hit the view/exit key and cycle very fast to other screens. I cycle a lot to the full screen GPS.

I know the elite 7 has a screen that has 2D Sonar/Down Image/GPS but everything gets a bit cramped in my opinion. Now because Lowrance can track back, maybe have 3 narrow screens is not that big of a deal, since you can always hit the curser button and scroll the screens back if you missed something.

Best of Luck .. I was wrapped on this for a month before I went with the HB 998. In the end they are both good units.


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## RiverBottomOutdoors (Feb 25, 2013)

These guys have already said it all. Both have strengths and weaknesses. 

I will share one personal opinion. When it comes to electronics, the bigger the screen the better. I have never met anyone who raves about how small the screen on their fish finder is. I think this is Humminbird's Achilles' heel. That's not to say go buy one that looks like a frickin' flatscreen TV, but I would wager that if you went with the largest screen you could afford, you would be happy.

Anyway...not much scientific data like pixels and whatnot. ;-)


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## thewalleyehunter (Mar 8, 2013)

I was actually debating between those two myself, but then I read about the new Garmins that are coming out shortly. Supposed to be awesome units........I am holding out until they hit the market before I choose one.

Garmin echomaps 50s
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=119856


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