HDS Gen3 vs Live vs FS

[EZZ70]

Can someone please help me, is the Live really worth the extra $$ to fish salmon, hali/ground fish? ...any truth to the below?

"Lowrance Gen-3 is a good product. LIVE will provide better side scan with Active Imaging and the new LIVESight. Until you feel you need a better side-scan image, I would stay with your Gen-3 units."

 

[kingblazer84]

It’s cool seeing the fish come up to your bait but is it couple grand more cool I dunno... lol works nice for ice fishing though!

for jigging or mooching it would be epic for sure.

 

[EZZ70]

haha, I dont ice fish so gen3 will suffice? I may have to go with a Halo radar so not sure if Gen3 will make use of all the Halo has to offer vs the 3G/4G, cant be that much in the difference? I can almost get 2 x HDS9 Gen3 for the price of a 9live

It’s cool seeing the fish come up to your bait but is it couple grand more cool I dunno... lol works nice for ice fishing though!

for jigging or mooching it would be epic for sure.

 

[kingblazer84]

haha, I dont ice fish so gen3 will suffice? I may have to go with a Halo radar so not sure if Gen3 will make use of all the Halo has to offer vs the 3G/4G, cant be that much in the difference? I can almost get 2 x HDS9 Gen3 for the price of a 9live

@Fisher_dude has a hds live 12 he would be the guy to weigh in but I would personally just go HDS 10 and done

 

[EZZ70]

@Fisher_dude has a hds live 12 he would be the guy to weigh in but I would personally just go HDS 10 and done

HDS10" Gen2? hummm...

 

[macro]

I've got gen-3. Only reason to go to carbon or live is the option for dual chirp. I'd say your better off putting the money into a better transducer.
Carbon might have gotten a power upgrade too, but cant remember.

 

[ericl]

Just about all (except Furuno) side/down/whatever scan sonar use a very high frequency; too high for penetration beyond 100 feet or so IMO.

 

[EZZ70]

Hey was just talking to Alberni & Marine, they are recommending the EliteFS, does anyone have this unit installed and had a chance to play with it, any reviews?

I think In short Elite FS has the screen of HDS Gen 3 and internals of HDS Carbon, with a bit of HDS Live thrown in with only 1 ethernet and 1 NMEA port

What is the difference between Lowrance HDS Live and Elite FS?

Lowrance as a brand of marine electronics is well known to all anglers, but the differences within their range of different models seem to c...

teamcolibri.blogspot.com

 

[Charts]

Hey was just talking to Alberni & Marine, they are recommending the EliteFS, does anyone have this unit installed and had a chance to play with it, any reviews?

I think In short Elite FS has the screen of HDS Gen 3 and internals of HDS Carbon, with a bit of HDS Live thrown in with only 1 ethernet and 1 NMEA port

What is the difference between Lowrance HDS Live and Elite FS?

Lowrance as a brand of marine electronics is well known to all anglers, but the differences within their range of different models seem to c...

teamcolibri.blogspot.com

As you know I run the elite 9FS and its flawless in my mind. Downscan/side scan is good in shallow water and if you use it in lakes. If targeting Lings and Hali in 100 plus feet of water you won't use the function much IMHO. Only 1 ethernet port does kind of suck because it would be nice to run two plotters linked but you can buy splitters as well. Not sure if the Live or Gen 3 has more ports or not.

 

[EZZ70]

As you know I run the elite 9FS and its flawless in my mind. Downscan/side scan is good in shallow water and if you use it in lakes. If targeting Lings and Hali in 100 plus feet of water you won't use the function much IMHO. Only 1 ethernet port does kind of suck because it would be nice to run two plotters linked but you can buy splitters as well. Not sure if the Live or Gen 3 has more ports or not.

Yes the live and Gen3 has one ethernet and two NMEA...

 

[macro]

No radar capability on the elite, Gen 3 onward has wifi and can screenshare to a tablet.

 

[EZZ70]

No radar capability on the elite, Gen 3 onward has wifi and can screenshare to a tablet.

Elite FS has wireless capabilities and does support a variety of radars...

 

[Charts]

No radar capability on the elite, Gen 3 onward has wifi and can screenshare to a tablet.

The elite FS has full radar capability including overlay with a point 1 on a nmea. My phone directly holds to the FS so waypoints etc get directly transfered when I am playing around on the couch looking at charts and then I go to the boat and turn on the FS and it transfers. You can mirror it as well on a tablet or phone.

 

[macro]

The elite FS has full radar capability including overlay with a point 1 on a nmea. My phone directly holds to the FS so waypoints etc get directly transfered when I am playing around on the couch looking at charts and then I go to the boat and turn on the FS and it transfers. You can mirror it as well on a tablet or phone.

I stand corrected. I thought no ethernet ment no radar.

 

[Fisher_dude]

I haven’t had a chance to run mine in salt so my opinion might not be very helpful. I bought the HDS12 live as it was a good deal at the boat show. I was also getting the autopilot to go with it so I wanted a screen big enough that I could run everything and have no problem seeing what I needed to see. The processor in the 12/16 is faster than the smaller units. I run mine on medium chirp so I can see my ball down to 120ft to see how the fish are reacting to my plug that I run behind it. The down scan and side scan aren’t very useful to me when I’m targeting trout in open water but I can see schools of bait on the side scan. You can then mark that exact spot, even though it might be 180ft off to the side and go right over it. Okanagan lake is pretty featureless but it picks up dock pilings and stuff like that pretty clear. I don’t have radar so I can’t comment on that. I am debating on getting another transducer as the airmars are getting a lot of love lately. Both those unit will probably do what you want them to do, it’s just a matter of whether you want a Honda, or it’s upgraded brother, the Acura. I did a lot of research when it came to buying mine and I will admit, it will probably never be used to its full potential but I had the money and the means so why not.

 

[EZZ70]

I haven’t had a chance to run mine in salt so my opinion might not be very helpful. I bought the HDS12 live as it was a good deal at the boat show. I was also getting the autopilot to go with it so I wanted a screen big enough that I could run everything and have no problem seeing what I needed to see. The processor in the 12/16 is faster than the smaller units. I run mine on medium chirp so I can see my ball down to 120ft to see how the fish are reacting to my plug that I run behind it. The down scan and side scan aren’t very useful to me when I’m targeting trout in open water but I can see schools of bait on the side scan. You can then mark that exact spot, even though it might be 180ft off to the side and go right over it. Okanagan lake is pretty featureless but it picks up dock pilings and stuff like that pretty clear. I don’t have radar so I can’t comment on that. I am debating on getting another transducer as the airmars are getting a lot of love lately. Both those unit will probably do what you want them to do, it’s just a matter of whether you want a Honda, or it’s upgraded brother, the Acura. I did a lot of research when it came to buying mine and I will admit, it will probably never be used to its full potential but I had the money and the means so why not.

Well sir, I just got the junior and juniors's son. lol I went with two Live units, a HDS Live9 and the HDS Live7. If i find the 7 too difficult to see I can always add an iPad. Regardless, same as you I will never use these units to their full potential but the screen quality is amazing compared to the Elite FS series. My wife and I just went to BassPro to compare the FS vs Live, she told me to get Live's, or did she say "a life", no matter its done!

For now I will just be using a P66 and C-Map with intentions to add another transducer and radar next year or after the next big budget project.

 

[Dwaynec83]

Well sir, I just got the junior and juniors's son. lol I went with two Live units, a HDS Live9 and the HDS Live7. If i find the 7 too difficult to see I can always add an iPad. Regardless, same as you I will never use these units to their full potential but the screen quality is amazing compared to the Elite FS series. My wife and I just went to BassPro to compare the FS vs Live, she told me to get Live's, or did she say "a life", no matter its done!

For now I will just be using a P66 and C-Map with intentions to add another transducer and radar next year or after the next big budget project.

Where did you get the lives from? I can’t make up my mind between the elite fs 9 or live 7

 

[EZZ70]

Where did you get the lives from? I can’t make up my mind between the elite fs 9 or live 7

I feel your pain, I was the same way, I think my wife just got fed-up seeing me on the computer night after night researching... Honestly when you see them side by side the picture quality is so much better on the HDS Live. 1200nits 1024x600 vs 1200nits 800x480, my wife said the FS looked blurry and out of focus so I agreed Honestly all I think I needed was a single unit 9" but the 7" would give me a bit of redundancy and peace of mind. It only hurts for a second, or two, or three... haha

Edit: O and plus you get one extra port with the HDS Live9 vs the Elite FS9 I will expand on it down the road but for right now its more than I need and will have software updates for at least 5yrs until it becomes obsolete. I think the Gen3's only have another 2-3 years of updates before they are no longer supported, Lowrance traditionally only supports a product line for 5 years.

 

[Dwaynec83]

I feel your pain, I was the same way, I think my wife just got fed-up seeing me on the computer night after night researching... Honestly when you see them side by side the picture quality is so much better on the HDS Live. 1200nits 1024x600 vs 1200nits 800x480, my wife said the FS looked blurry and out of focus so I agreed Honestly all I think I needed was a single unit 9" but the 7" would give me a bit of redundancy and peace of mind. It only hurts for a second, or two, or three... haha

Edit: O and plus you get one extra port with the HDS Live9 vs the Elite FS9 I will expand on it down the road but for right now its more than I need and will have updates for at least 5yrs until it becomes obsolete. I think the Gen3's only have another 2-3 years of updates before they are no longer supported, Lowrance traditionally only supports product line for 5 years.

I just cant stomach the price difference from a live 7 to 9, could have 2 7’s for that price! Plus I’m limited on space, it will be going in my 17’ firefish. Where did you end up getting them? Decent prices?

 

[EZZ70]

I just cant stomach the price difference from a live 7 to 9, could have 2 7’s for that price! Plus I’m limited on space, it will be going in my 17’ firefish. Where did you end up getting them? Decent prices?

Personally I would get the 9" unless you are a guy with young eyes Lowrance sets pricing for all retailers so everyone is equally priced (so I am told), except BassPro they were the most expensive. Buy from someone local where you will get good service and possible a warranty retailer. I called everywhere and pricing was the same, went to Port Alberni...