Humminbird 859 DI vs Elite 7 Chirp

[Ebiz]

Finally time to upgrade from my super sophisticated HB 141c and have spent the past few weeks researching a new sonar/GPS combo, based on budget I think I'm ruling out the need for SI but do want the DI & GPS;  have narrowed it down to either the HB 859 or Lowrance Elite7.  I know with both I'll need to also invest in a map chip but otherwise both units appear to come ready to go out of the box with the right transducer, etc.

 

Anyone with experience with one/both have any insight into the best route to go? Any other options out there that I've somehow missed?  Total budget with the map chip is ~800 or less if possible.

Sidebar question - has anyone ever bought a reconditioned unit from Cabela's?  Looks like the warranty is only for 90 days but they have the 899 DI/SI right now for $719...

 

Looking to pull the trigger in the next week before I head up north and also some of the rebates expire, any help is much appreciated, thanks!!

[busse3775]

I have been running the Lowrance Elite 7 for 2 summers now and have had no issues with it whatsoever. The DI really comes in handy sometimes and it is a fairly simple locator to figure out. Being really picky, the only problem I have found is when you are moving really slow, for example less than .5 mph, the tracker will not pick your location up and will instead make a straight line such as connecting the dots every 100 feet. I had a friend who wanted to fix this so he could see exactly where he had traveled while pulling lindy rigs but the GPS satellite system for Lowrance is not compatible with the Elite 7 so I was told.  

[Cheers]

I just purchased the Elite 7 and am still learning it . I am old school and have a hard time learning/ using electronic computer type gadgets, I found the instruction book completely useless  . Many of the pictures and windows are so small I cant read the words . I had to purchase a dvd  on line  to learn  how to use and set up the unit  in order to use the unit, after that it seems good .