Lowrance Introduces Elite Fishfinder/Chartplotter and Fishfinder Series

New Single- and Dual-Function Models Provide Value-Packed Features Including Brilliant 5-inch Color High-Resolution Displays

Lowrance, a world-leading brand in marine electronics since 1957 and GPS navigational systems since 1992, announced today its new Elite series of color fishfinder and GPS-chartplotter units. Comprised of three models and scheduled for March 2010 availability, the Elite-5x fishfinder, Elite-5m chartplotter and Elite-5 fishfinder/chartplotter deliver a new standard of feature-rich, high-performance, easy-to-use electronics with affordable pricing.

All models are designed with a true 5-inch, 480x480-pixel SolarMAX™ 256-color display with best-in-class brightness for superior viewing of chart detail and sonar graphs – even in the brightest sunlight conditions and from wider viewing angles.

Offering greater coverage for a variety of fishing and boating conditions, the Elite series of dual-frequency fishfinders provide the Lowrance standard for superior clarity, performance and target separation, while the chartplotters provide out-of-the-box, plug-and-play navigational functionality. The Elite-5x and Elite-5 fishfinder models feature a transom-mount 83/200 KHz Skimmer transducer with up to 120-degrees of fishfinding coverage, as well as built-in temperature sensor. The Elite-5x and Elite-5 reach depths as great as 1,000 feet with 500 watts RMS power/4,000 watts of peak-to-peak power. To help anglers avoid missing a productive area of fish-holding structure, both Elite fishfinder models feature a unique TrackBack™ function that allows the user to scroll back and review multiple pages of fishfinder display history.

For ease of installation, the Elite-5 and Elite-5m chartplotter models feature a built-in 16-channel GPS+WAAS precision antenna, along with an external antenna option. The built-in U.S. basemap provides more than 3,000 enhanced lake maps with detailed shorelines and depth contours as well as coastal depth soundings and contours as great as 1,000 feet. Ensuring boaters have the maximum flexibility to use their choice of charts, the Elite-5 and Elite-5m also house a waterproof micro SD memory card slot for multiple mapcard options, including Lowrance LakeMaster® ProMaps, Fishing Hot Spots® PRO, and Navionics® Gold (scheduled for February 2010 availability on micro SD card format). In addition, owners can store up to 3,000 waypoints, 100 routes with 100 waypoints per route, 100 retraceable plot trails and up to 10,000 points per trail.

”The Elite series was designed to provide stunning chartplotter and fishfinder options for the cost-conscious fisherman and boater,” said Louis Chemi, chief operating officer for Navico Americas. "Our best-in-class 5-inch color displays combined with our award-winning GPS and fishfinder technology mark a fresh, high-quality option to a wider range of boaters and anglers.”

Additional features include a new mounting design with an easy-to-install, quick-release, tilt-and-swivel bracket that offers convenient removal for storage and remounting. The backlit, enhanced keypad is configured for simplified single-thumb control of easy-to-use menus and an Advanced User Mode for expanded feature selections. The Elite-5x, Elite-5m, and Elite-5 are fully waterproof to IPx7 standards and are protected by a one-year limited warranty.

About Lowrance:
The Lowrance® brand is wholly owned by Navico, Inc., a privately held, international marine electronics company. Navico is currently the world’s largest marine electronics company, and is the parent company to five well-established marine electronics brands: B&G®, Eagle®, Lowrance, Northstar and Simrad®.