Captain Quest
New Member
Hi everyone, Happy new year & I am sure everyone up here in the cold is starting to count the weeks to boating season. Aside from tuning the 7.4's & making a few other dry dock repairs, planning the buffing job etc, a major item on the agenda (for me anyhow as I don't currently have one) is a gps chartplotter. I would appreciate some input, here's where I'm at right now......was just about to settle on a Lowrance HDS-7 or 8. Went to the Toronto boat show on the weekend, started talking to some people & received quite a few negatives on Lowrance in general (pooor customer service, long waits for warranty work etc). Then got really excited about the Raymarine E7....rave reviews, easy to use, bluetooth, wi fi, hybrid touch screen, seems awesome.
Here's my dilemma....the E7 is around $1600.00. The lowrance HDS-7 is just under $1000.00, the HDS-8 is around $1400.00, so for $600.00 less I can get the same size 7" screen & for $200.00 less I can get an 8" screen both in the Lowrance. Any opinions if the E7 is worth the extra, also is there a better area I should be looking in like maybe Standard Horizon, Garmin, etc. Would love some opinions & guidance as I wish to make the right choice. Would like not to have to spend $1600.00 plus tax but will if its well worth it. Thank you in advance for your much appreciated ideas
Here's my dilemma....the E7 is around $1600.00. The lowrance HDS-7 is just under $1000.00, the HDS-8 is around $1400.00, so for $600.00 less I can get the same size 7" screen & for $200.00 less I can get an 8" screen both in the Lowrance. Any opinions if the E7 is worth the extra, also is there a better area I should be looking in like maybe Standard Horizon, Garmin, etc. Would love some opinions & guidance as I wish to make the right choice. Would like not to have to spend $1600.00 plus tax but will if its well worth it. Thank you in advance for your much appreciated ideas