KC ... I have a HB low end df mounted in the dash/console, already ... so my E5DSI was put up front to replace a Lowrance Strata 128. Both of those units came with the boat, which I just purchased about 6mo ago ... so I really just jumped on the E5DSI deal, so I could have the "extras" (gps/map/color/temp/speed/DSI).
Can't help you on the GPS stuff, yet. Still learning, myself.
Hopefully we'll get some more members to chime in, and kick this thing around until everyone has a better idea of what its capabilities are ... & how they've got it working for them. I'm not likely to have a chance to start back using mine (on the water) until late March, but it will get put thru its paces, once I do start fishing again. In the meantime, I just wanted to get a discussion going about the unit, to maybe lessen the learning curve.
It's a different animal than the 2d units I've used all my life ... and it's going to take a little getting used to, especially being mounted on the TM & throwing out a different shaped cone. It was probably best suited for being transom mounted, & used for scouting & trolling ... but, I'm determined to make it work for me on the bow/TM, even if I have to tweak the way I fish to make it work Rofl
... cp