Elite-4 or Mark-4

I might be coming into a couple extra dollars here soon and I'd like to replace my current FF.  These are the 2 that I'm looking at.  Is there much difference between the 2 besides the $100 price?  What would you get?

http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Products/Fishfinder-Chartplotter/Elite4-en-us.aspx

http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Products/Fishfinder-Chartplotter/Mark4-en-us.aspx

Thanks in advance.

I'm also interested: specs appears to be identical aside from the color display.

Depends on the Elite 4 you're interested in. I have the Elite 4 and love it. My version has the GPS as well. You can get the Elite 4 without the GPS as well and it's about 100 cheaper.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Definitely with gps

Definitely with gps

+1

The screen on the B&W mark 4 is hard to read at times, when it's raining or in bright sunlight. It would be nice to have the color screen, but whether it's worth 100....I'm not sure. I have the Mark 4 DSI and am not a fan. It picks up a ton of noise and when it marks a fish it shows it as a flat line. Which looks the same as kelp or other interference. I am never sure I am actually picking up fish or not. It has good detail in 25-40 feet of water but any shallower or deeper the DSI doesn't do much. I don't know if this has to do with the frequency or what but I prefer my super cheap hummingbird I had before. The GPS function is cool though. The non DSI version might be better though.     

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Boating/Boating-Electronics/Sonar-and-SonarGPS-Combos%7C/pc/104794380/c/104707080/sc/104588280/Lowrance-Mark-4-DSI-SonarGPS-Combo/1298539.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fboating-boating-electronics-sonar-and-sonar-gps-combos%2F_%2FN-1100517%2FNs-MIN_SALE_PRICE%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104794380%253Bcat104707080%26WTz_stype%3DGNU&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104794380%3Bcat104707080%3Bcat104588280

I've been thinking about picking up one of these. I think Ling Banger and Sinker have one and have said good things.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Boating/Boating-Electronics/Sonar-and-SonarGPS-Combos%7C/pc/104794380/c/104707080/sc/104588280/Humminbird-385ci-HD-DI-SonarGPS-Unit/1311111.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fboating-boating-electronics-sonar-and-sonar-gps-combos%2F_%2FN-1100517%2FNo-48%2FNs-MIN_SALE_PRICE%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104794380%253Bcat104707080%26WTz_st%3DGuidedNav%26WTz_stype%3DGNP%26recordsPerPage%3D48&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104794380%3Bcat104707080%3Bcat104588280
or this one....
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Boating/Boating-Electronics/Sonar-and-SonarGPS-Combos%7C/pc/104794380/c/104707080/sc/104588280/Humminbirdreg-385-i-Color-SonarGPS/701731.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fboating-boating-electronics-sonar-and-sonar-gps-combos%2F_%2FN-1100517%2FNs-MIN_SALE_PRICE%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104794380%253Bcat104707080%26WTz_stype%3DGNU&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104794380%3Bcat104707080%3Bcat104588280

Totally agree with Noah.  I had 2 Mark 4's and did not like them on several levels, sold them both after only a few months.  Small screen that was hard to read at any more then very short distances, hard to read in bright sun, semi hokey menu system, and the big one for me was its lack of detail in deep water 100ft +.   I replaced it with a Hummingbird and have not regretted it for a second.
Different price point than the Mark 4's but I could only be happier if it actually caught the fish for me.
http://store.humminbird.com/products/399341/597ci_HD_Combo

Totally agree with Noah.  I had 2 Mark 4's and did not like them on several levels, sold them both after only a few months.  Small screen that was hard to read at any more then very short distances, hard to read in bright sun, semi hokey menu system, and the big one for me was its lack of detail in deep water 100ft +.   I replaced it with a Hummingbird and have not regretted it for a second.
Different price point than the Mark 4's but I could only be happier if it actually caught the fish for me.
http://store.humminbird.com/products/399341/597ci_HD_Combo

+1 I am really happy with my 597 I added the navionics chip and it is a fantastic set up. I also have the 385 which is basically the same system on s smaller screen.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Beyond 70 to 80 ft, the Mark 4 DSI doesn't show anything except the depth.  I've noticed in 5 to 40 or so feet, it gives really nice detail.

Igorance is bliss - or I'm quite happy with my Mark 4.  But I also haven't tried to use it anything deeper than 70' yet.  It is the non-DSI version.

Great info...every time I'm about ready to pull the trigger I learn something that changes my mind.

Igorance is bliss - or I'm quite happy with my Mark 4.  But I also haven't tried to use it anything deeper than 70' yet.  It is the non-DSI version.

When you mark fish what type of symbol does it show you? It's certainly a solid unit for the money, but in hindsight I wish I had spent an extra 100 for the hummingbird.

The screen on the B&W mark 4 is hard to read at times, when it's raining or in bright sunlight. It would be nice to have the color screen, but whether it's worth 100....I'm not sure. I have the Mark 4 DSI and am not a fan. It picks up a ton of noise and when it marks a fish it shows it as a flat line. Which looks the same as kelp or other interference. I am never sure I am actually picking up fish or not. It has good detail in 25-40 feet of water but any shallower or deeper the DSI doesn't do much. I don't know if this has to do with the frequency or what but I prefer my super cheap hummingbird I had before. The GPS function is cool though. The non DSI version might be better though.     

Noah are you shooting thru the hull with the DSI?

I found a big loss of signal with thru the hull on my mark 5 DSI. I switched to in the water for the traducer and it woks great.

willbd

The screen on the B&W mark 4 is hard to read at times, when it's raining or in bright sunlight. It would be nice to have the color screen, but whether it's worth 100....I'm not sure. I have the Mark 4 DSI and am not a fan. It picks up a ton of noise and when it marks a fish it shows it as a flat line. Which looks the same as kelp or other interference. I am never sure I am actually picking up fish or not. It has good detail in 25-40 feet of water but any shallower or deeper the DSI doesn't do much. I don't know if this has to do with the frequency or what but I prefer my super cheap hummingbird I had before. The GPS function is cool though. The non DSI version might be better though.     

Noah are you shooting thru the hull with the DSI?

I found a big loss of signal with thru the hull on my mark 5 DSI. I switched to in the water for the traducer and it woks great.

willbd

Yes, however I've tried it directly in the water for short periods of time and didn't notice any difference. I've actually mounted and remounted the transducer 3-4 times in hopes of getting a better signal. The results for the most part were about the same. Maybe the Mark 5 is better?

While we're talking about the Mark 4 I should also mention that it is 100% necessary to goop the stupid little rubber flap that covers up the slot that the micro SD card slides into. It pops out at very unfortunate times, like when your boat is upside-down in the surf or when your cousin borrows your boat and then proceeds to jump out in 6 feet of water (flipping the boat in the process) because he didn't realize how deep it was......despite the fact he had a depth finder in front of him!!! Who does that? Lowrance was nice enough to replace it for free but I was without FF for 3 weeks.

I have the Mark 4 DSI, and I agree the DSI part is not as great as I hoped, but it works OK for me. My transducer is mounted externally, and I switch frequencies depending on the depth. I don't have any bitches about the screen - I can read mine in bright sunlight alright. I haven't seen a color FF, so I don't know what I'm missing - or not missing. The GPS feature is very useful - finding my crab trap is way easier with it. If you don't have another GPS, get a FF that has one.

I had the exact same experience as Noah with the SD card flap - it will get water in it if you huli in the surf. I glued mine shut and have had no problems since. (Also had the factory replace it under warranty.)