HD map chip for new HDS-7?

[Timmer92]

Hi guys,

My 4 year old Lowrance LMS-520c died so I took advantage of Lowrance's replacement discount program to get a HDS-7 Gen2. I am not a super hard core fisherman, but when I go fishing I do want to have solid tools at my disposal. I had a Lakemaster Pro chip in my LMS. I am struggling to find credible information on compatibility for the existing chip and benefits of a new chip. I fish mostly in MN and a little in WI. I do fish the big lakes such as Mille Lacs and Leech quite a bit, but also hit smaller ones such as those just north of the Twin Cities Metro and out of Alexandria. So, I have a few questions for you experts.

Am I correct that my old chip will work, but just won't have the detail of a HD chip?

And even if I do go with a new chip, the map quality will be the same for many lakes, as only a portion of them will be in HD? I understand I can look at a list of lakes and see if the ones I frequent might be on the HD list, I'm just trying to understand if the ones that aren't in HD will be the same quality as my existing chip?

And I'm not up to speed on what chips are now available for Lowrance and how they compare. I think Lakemaster won't work in Lowrance now? So there is Insight and Navionics, any others? Is one of those a clear favorite?

Thanks a ton for your help!

[Hawker]

Lowrance "IS" coming out with a "NEW" Insight Pro and Insight HD map card, in fact was supposed to come out by the end of May but still hasn't made it yet! I got to see a couple of screen shots of the new Insight and was impressed! I glanced at the list of lakes in HD etc a while back and the lakes I'm interested in fishing and do fish are indeed on that list, so it's a matter of waiting till it comes out! I am currently running a Gen-1 HDS, and in regards to LM cards, I had to re-load Version 4.0 on my unit in order for the LM card to work, as the Version 4.1 would read the card till I zoomed in the the 2 mile level and the unit would lock up and re-boot! I know the Gen-2 is a whole nuther ball game, so I don't know if you've tried using your existing LM card in your HDS-7 yet, but it won't hurt anything to try it! LM no longer supports Lowrance (but you already stated that), so really the only mapping options now are Insight by Lowrance or Navionics. I've not tried any of the newer Navionic cards in my unit, but the older 2006 LOW card I have runs great in it, just not as much detail as I'd like to see!

Unless your in a real hurry, I'd wait a tad longer before making a purchase and see if the new Insight card might not be your best option!

Tight Lines!!

[Justin Schneider]

The new Lowrance Chips have been out since May 16th...

[ShimanoElite]

The Pro chips have, however, the HD chip has not been released yet. Lowrance says they will start shipping end of June.

[Lund1993]

the new lowrance insght pro HD maps are in stock @ Cabelas in Rogers just picked one up today.

[geareng]

The HD chips did in fact start shipping last week.

Navionics Premium would also be a great choice, they have a list of lakes on their website and the HD lakes are designated as such. They are constantly updating the list of lakes, these updates are available for download to your chip free for the first year.

Navionics also has the Marine and Lakes, which is basically the State only version of the Gold. It's cost competitive if you only need one state and a few of the surrounding waters while still offering the full yearly update.

They did have a promotion going with it for a while where it was a buy one get one free - you essentially got two map cards and could chose two states to direct download from your home PC. It works pretty slick - they include the USB SD Card reader and card in the package.

Coverage for my area was very good, and it did have lakes that other chips didn't have. I wish Lakemaster was still making current chips for Lowrance products.

[fishur]

Timmer; I'm in a similar situation and have been doing quite a bit of research. I recently posted the following on another site:

"Last evening I had the chance to compare the most recent Minnesota Lakemaster (pre Johnson Otds) chip in a HDS 5 Gen 2 (yes, it opened fine!) right next to a Navionics chip in an HDS 8 Gen 2. I looked at about 30 small to mid-sized lakes (300-1000 acres) in my home area around Bemidji, MN. I would have to say that Navionics was slightly better in 9 out of 10 cases. This surprised me but made me feel somewhat better about purchasing Lowrance."

Some Gander Mountain stores still have some Lakemaster chips that will work in HDS Gen 2's.

Check out the discussion on this link as there is quite a bit of input.
http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum...DS#Post2869765

[fishur]

I just learned this morning that the way to really find out what lakes are on the Lowrance Insight Pro and HD chips is to go to the Fishing Hotspots website. They have a printable list there (unlike the Lowrance site) and it shows the high def and recently updated lakes.

Their customer service tells me that their info is all on the new Lowrance Insight chips so buying both (Lowrance and Hotspots) would be redundant. They told me they would probably be concentrating on the great lakes now that they have just released the new 2012 chips for inland lakes.

PM me if you want to talk about more specifics.