Supertrampbassin Posted February 9, 2021 Posted February 9, 2021 I’m dropping some serious money on a new z21 nitro. I’m going all out on electronics and technology but there are so many options and so much to know about compatibility etc. I want to make sure I build the best possible set up since I’m spending a lot of money. I know I definitely want the latest and greatest technology. I definitely want live scope and or MDI (are they the same? Or two different features?) I also want to make sure the trolling motor and graphs are all networked and compatible for chart plotting and sharing etc. I want FI,SI,DI,gps, all of it. But I have done hours of reading and still am not confident of the best compatibility set up with all the latest technology. I know I prefer minn Kota trolling motors but I don’t see that hummingbird has livescope? also I’m hoping for some experienced opinions on what features/graphs are going to be best to have at the bow and which best at the console. I’m very excited to spend months non stop learning everything about what I buy when I get it but I am growing weary of learning about all the brands only to still lack confidence in what the best combos will be lol. Please any advice to help my decisions will be so greatly appreciate. Thank you all in advance. Quote
Shimano_1 Posted February 10, 2021 Posted February 10, 2021 Garmin has the livescope. Humminbird has came out with their version tho I have no clue about it. If I were in ur position I'd want Humminbird helix mega si units, ultrex trolling motor with all the goodies built in. The helix units gen 3 or newer are compatible with their version of livescope and 360. Id take the 360 over livescope myself but ideally having both would be nice. I just sold my garmins and replaced them with Humminbird helix 12's and am very satisfied so far. Basspro is fixing to have the helix 10's on sale I got the flyer yesterday. Don't get too caught up in having to have everything. Ull spend a fortune and 5 years from now it'll all be out dated. I've ran lowrance, garmin, and birds. The garmins are nice but the Humminbird mega offers detail on side imaging thats better than anything I've ever seen. Good luck I'm sure it will be quite the adventure! 1 Quote
InfantryMP Posted February 10, 2021 Posted February 10, 2021 I would check out Jacob Wheeler's youtube channel where he discusses why he uses all 3 major brands for units. It may seem silly once you see it, but once he did that, about 5 other pro's went out and did the same thing. He has livescope mounted with a Garmin UHD unit, but still uses Lowrance for I believe SI and mapping. The principle is, there was not one solution that was the best. He mentioned that some things are better on Lowrance than Garmin etc, so he has all of them. Quote
Bassattackr Posted February 17, 2021 Posted February 17, 2021 By April or so - Garmin, Lowrance and HBird (All 3) will all have their own version of Livescope on the market. All 3 have DI, SI, mapping and sonar. All 3 have their own trolling motor. HBird has M360. If your trolling motor preference is Minn Kota, I would recommend Humminbird graphs. Although you can mix and match as others have mentioned with no networking. Quote
soccplayer07 Posted February 17, 2021 Posted February 17, 2021 On 2/10/2021 at 9:42 AM, InfantryMP said: I would check out Jacob Wheeler's youtube channel where he discusses why he uses all 3 major brands for units. It may seem silly once you see it, but once he did that, about 5 other pro's went out and did the same thing. He has livescope mounted with a Garmin UHD unit, but still uses Lowrance for I believe SI and mapping. The principle is, there was not one solution that was the best. He mentioned that some things are better on Lowrance than Garmin etc, so he has all of them. I saw that video last night and it was awesome. Tons of great info! Quote
Super User Jig Man Posted February 17, 2021 Super User Posted February 17, 2021 As far as I know Humminbird has not officially announced their version of live, though Russell Marine Products is taking pre orders. My electronics guys have my name on a list and are supposed to call me when they have some. I am running a MK Ulterra with Ipilot link, 3 Solix G2 units, and 360, just waiting on live. Quote
Super User GaryH Posted February 18, 2021 Super User Posted February 18, 2021 On 2/9/2021 at 7:08 PM, Shimano_1 said: Garmin has the livescope. Humminbird has came out with their version tho I have no clue about it. If I were in ur position I'd want Humminbird helix mega si units, ultrex trolling motor with all the goodies built in. The helix units gen 3 or newer are compatible with their version of livescope and 360. Id take the 360 over livescope myself but ideally having both would be nice. I just sold my garmins and replaced them with Humminbird helix 12's and am very satisfied so far. Basspro is fixing to have the helix 10's on sale I got the flyer yesterday. Don't get too caught up in having to have everything. Ull spend a fortune and 5 years from now it'll all be out dated. I've ran lowrance, garmin, and birds. The garmins are nice but the Humminbird mega offers detail on side imaging thats better than anything I've ever seen. Good luck I'm sure it will be quite the adventure! That’s the way I would go. As a matter of fact I did. Quote
Dirtyeggroll Posted February 18, 2021 Posted February 18, 2021 2 Humminbird helix G4N 15’s (one SI+ and one CHO) at the console, 1 Humminbird helix G4N 15 and 1 Humminbird helix G4N 12 (one SI+ and one CHO) at the bow and a MEGA 360. Add the MEGA Live when it becomes available. Ultrex 112 IPilot link trolling motor. You can network it all and even configure the graphs to show the engine data with NMEA with the G4N units. 1 Quote
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