Deals on humminbird FF and mega live?

[casts_by_fly]

Hi all,

 

providing my bonus comes through as i think, I am probably upgrading to mega live which means a head unit upgrade also. I’m looking at a helix 9 G4n msi and mega live. All of the spring sales have been on lowrance and garmin. Anyone know of humminbird sales?

 

rick

[Jig Man]

You might find something at Russell Marine Products in El Dorado, Kansas.  I got a good deal on a 360 there.

[Dirtyeggroll]

Why are you wanting to go with Mega Live vs Livescope?

[casts_by_fly]

1 hour ago, Dirtyeggroll said:

Why are you wanting to go with Mega Live vs Livescope?

 

Because I like HBird for side and down imaging and am only running 1 unit on my kayak.  I considered keeping my current helix 7, moving it back towards the seat permanently for side imaging and mapping (I currently adjust its position by tilting it backwards towards the seat or completely vertical when I'm standing fishing.  Its on a long arm), and putting a second LS only unit on the front of the rails.  then I'd have a cluttered right rail with fishfinders and transducer, a cluttered left side with horizontal rods, and less space in the boat to work with.  So I decided to go with a 9" unit that should be big enough to use like I'm using the current one and stick to a single unit.  And my preference is HBird.

4 hours ago, Jig Man said:

You might find something at Russell Marine Products in El Dorado, Kansas.  I got a good deal on a 360 there.

thanks.  I'll check in with them.

 

The best I'm seeing so far is Amazon actually (and the various marine dealers listed there). $1390 and $1480 for live and Helix 9 MSI+ respectively.  

[Dirtyeggroll]

3 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

 

Because I like HBird for side and down imaging and am only running 1 unit on my kayak.  I considered keeping my current helix 7, moving it back towards the seat permanently for side imaging and mapping (I currently adjust its position by tilting it backwards towards the seat or completely vertical when I'm standing fishing.  Its on a long arm), and putting a second LS only unit on the front of the rails.  then I'd have a cluttered right rail with fishfinders and transducer, a cluttered left side with horizontal rods, and less space in the boat to work with.  So I decided to go with a 9" unit that should be big enough to use like I'm using the current one and stick to a single unit.  And my preference is HBird.

thanks.  I'll check in with them.

That makes sense if you just want one unit in your kayak.

 

if you were ADDING a standalone unit for live imaging, I do think Garmin is quite a bit ahead with their offering. 
 

I run Mega Live and have been satisfied with it as I have all Humminbird / Minn Kota products. As far as a stand-alone system is concerned, I actually don’t think it’s all that important to have the other graphs integrate with the live imaging system. I already had a Humminbird unit that was capable of running Mega Live so I only needed the transducer. IF I had not already had a unit capable of such, knowing what I know now I would go with Garmin for live imaging as a standalone system and keep my others for Mega 360 and Side imaging.

 

As far as deals are concerned you missed out on about the best deal of the  Spring with Bass Pro Marine sale. You can get up to 5x bonus points back (example: $750 back with $3,000 purchase).

 

If you are interested in a USED Mega Live, I see them floating around the $1,000-$1,200 range and see the Helix 9 for about $1,000 on other fishing sites with buy/trade/sell avenues.

[casts_by_fly]

27 minutes ago, Dirtyeggroll said:

That makes sense if you just want one unit in your kayak.

 

if you were ADDING a standalone unit for live imaging, I do think Garmin is quite a bit ahead with their offering. 
 

I run Mega Live and have been satisfied with it as I have all Humminbird / Minn Kota products. As far as a stand-alone system is concerned, I actually don’t think it’s all that important to have the other graphs integrate with the live imaging system. I already had a Humminbird unit that was capable of running Mega Live so I only needed the transducer. IF I had not already had a unit capable of such, knowing what I know now I would go with Garmin for live imaging as a standalone system and keep my others for Mega 360 and Side imaging.

 

As far as deals are concerned you missed out on about the best deal of the  Spring with Bass Pro Marine sale. You can get up to 5x bonus points back (example: $750 back with $3,000 purchase).

 

If you are interested in a USED Mega Live, I see them floating around the $1,000-$1,200 range and see the Helix 9 for about $1,000 on other fishing sites with buy/trade/sell avenues.

 

A garmin was my second choice and I very much considered it for the imaging quality.  I suspect mega live will get some more refinement through software updates to close the gap some.  Also, I'm coming from a 7" MSI unit and going to a 9" MSI+ with live imaging.  That's going to be a pretty big jump in itself.

[casts_by_fly]

For anyone who isn’t on the email list, humminbird just released a rebate if you buy live and a helix at the same time. $500 for up to a 10” unit and $1000 if you go 12” or bigger. Has to be from the same retailer (be careful to get both from the same sold by if you use Amazon) and on the same invoice. Glad I waited until now, but I pulled the trigger today on a 9” msi+ and live. Should be here next week and will get installed basically immediately. 
 

my helix 7 msi g3 will probably be in the classifieds next weekend. 

[casts_by_fly]

It was the fastest shipping ever.  It was supposed to be a week and it took a day, but I am now the proud owner of a helix 9 and mega live.  Not enough time to get it hooked up before going out today, so that will be a sunday project.  Couple things for anyone else considering this upgrade:

 

- if you're planning to hook the mega live directly to the head unit, you need an additional cable adapter.  The transducer cable is a round networking cable made for the HBird network hub.  Its another $30 so don't forget to order it.  I didn't see that in any of the literature before ordering.

- The cable cradle is included with bigger Helix units.  I also did not know this and ordered one separately (which I will return)

- a 9" unit is a big chunk of gear.  I'm coming from a 7" helix and the difference is more than just 2" of screen.  Its much thicker, taller, and wider.  its a lot heavier.  Plan accordingly.