To the guys that move into an HDS unit

Since these units are a little different with the controls, do you still feel the same “ease of use” as you did with your last Lowrance?

Not much ease of use with it in the shop for the last 2 months But to answer the question, no, I figured that it would be easy to figure out, not the case,I like the old format better but they are AWSOME units when working

BK,

The user interface is different and takes a little getting used to… Once you get it figured out it is very easy to navigate.

I had a bad HDS 7 that I was lucky enough to have promptly replaced by the retailer.. ( Marine General is the sh**!!!) Once that was resolved my experience with the HDS units has been great…

They are a bit different than the LCX units. A few days
on the water and you’ll have it dialed in.

They eliminated the use of icons so now you will have
to delete those temporary waypoints.

Doc covers the
HDS units in his classes.

Quote:

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They eliminated the use of icons so now you will have
to delete those temporary waypoints.

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How did they eliminate icons? When you transfer your data from your old LCX to a new unit what happens to your icons? I use almost all icons. It keeps my maps way cleaner. I only use waypoints to call out certain areas and then use icons for specific spots in that area. I’d be lost without icons

What do they do instead of icons?

Hey Joe,

I tried to mark some bridges and cracks with icons on my
HDS-7 to no avail. I actually broke out the manual and
couldn’t find anything on icons as we know them.

Had to call to confirm and they told me they weren’t there
anymore.

Now you will have to use waypoints instead of icons.

I’d like to know why they eliminated them.

Not sure on the transfer question. I think I deleted mine
off my LCX before I transferred waypoints to the HDS.
I’ll look the next time I use it.

Not a huge deal on the icons but I too liked to use them.

It was differant than the LCXS but it didn’t take to long to get used to the buttons. What I’ve done is have an extra power cable and a jump battery pack sit in the chair and play with it while having a few. I do like all the differant things that can be done with the sonar.

Steve

Steve

Quote:

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Hey Joe,

I tried to mark some bridges and cracks with icons on my
HDS-7 to no avail. I actually broke out the manual and
couldn’t find anything on icons as we know them.

Had to call to confirm and they told me they weren’t there
anymore.

Now you will have to use waypoints instead of icons.

I’d like to know why they eliminated them.

Not sure on the transfer question. I think I deleted mine
off my LCX before I transferred waypoints to the HDS.
I’ll look the next time I use it.

Not a huge deal on the icons but I too liked to use them.

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Thanks dandorn. I can’t believe they got rid of Icons I really don’t know what I’d do without them. I bet I have close to 3,000 icons. I have weeds, rocks, deadheads, and many many other things marked. I think I’m staying with the LCX units until they correct this. I love Lowrance products but they are almost pushing me away with decisions like this.

Joe-

I did find a couple of waypoints on my HDS-7 that were
labeled “Icon”. These made it onto the HDS from my H2Oc
and are now considered waypoints on the HDS.

I know these were just icons on my H2Oc because during the
transfer they were assigned a random date and not an actual
date of creation like the waypoints were.

So it looks as though you will be able to transfer your
existing icons onto an HDS but they will become waypoints
in doing so.

I got a HDS-8 on the console. from various LCX models. really like it. the fast keys on the bottom are a time saver. I think the biggest thing to get used to is the features. man, this thing is loaded. you can go crazy out there. still works in auto too! my biggest problem with it is time… when I do get a day on the water, do I play with the sonar or fish… I fish… my last hour on the water last fall before winterizing we drifted over some deep stuff… we just drank beer and watched the screen… it was showing fish in places I never thought about… set in deep water mode and zooming in did the trick…
I still got my LCX-15 on the trolling motor with US2… still a great sonar up front… was gonna go with a HDS-7 up there but gonna try LSS instead…

I have been finding the menus to be simple and easy to figure out. With actually a little reading before I played with it, really not that bad.