Garmin Ultra or Humminbird for Side scanning for Console in 10-12'" -which to buy?
Has the 10-12" Garmin ultra caught up to the Hummingbird G3 Mega SI or is the side vu capability still way in the favor of the Hummingbird. I have a 10" Gamin for livescope up on the bow - but want a solid 10" or 12" side scanning graph at the console - go with the gamin or the hummingbird and why?
If the SI imaging is all your looking for the Humminbird Solix is still the best but Garmin isn’t that far behind
If it were me I would go with another Garmin for several reasons
First you can network the Garmin units and share waypoints and more
I spend little time at the console and the Garmin is plenty good enough to find fish and structure when you do go looking for fish
My biggest reason to use a Garmin at the console would be the GPS/Navigation system. Humminbird fails drastically in this area and if you make long runs or run rough water the Garmin will be better hands down
One Note:
Rumors are that Humminbird is going to make an announcement in October and retailers can’t get any current models right now other than what’s in stock so odds are they are coming out with new units by January
Currently I have 2 Solix’s and plan to upgrade next spring to Garmin units I may keep one Solix but the new units will be Garmin for the livescope and navigation
Unless you plan to upgrade today I would wait and see what new units both companies come out with this winter
"The handicapped angler"
I have all Garmin and I’m happy with it but if SI was the primary consideration I’d probably get a G3 Helix or whatever new is coming down the pipe.
Try sidescan on the water and see what it actually does before you buy. I have a Lowrance Elite 9 and am very disappointed with it. I expected it to perform much better, if I had seen how little one of these shows I would have saved my money. Check it out first on the water.
As someone that owns Garmin 7600 units with UHD imaging I would definitely recommend Humminbird Mega for imaging quality.
All imaging and mapping- New Birds
Live- Garmin
i doubt HB will nail it the first time out. There’s a lot of patent specific requirements that force HB & Lowrance to use other technology to produce live imaging. Maybe they hit a home run the first time, but Lowrance sure didn’t
Lowrance licensed the first gen Panoptix tech from Garmin. That's why it looks like poop compared to LiveScope.Originally Posted by stevebrownfnr
I suspect Humminbird, if they go that route, will need to do the same. Garmin isn't going to let LiveScope tech be used without a legal battle. Especially by Humminbird who sued Garmin over their transducers.
TTT
I'm running both currently and the birds are better in every category except livescope and it's not even close. I expected more out of garmin.
If you’re just discussing imaging Yes HB is #1 except for the livescope
But if you need a good navigation system HB is the worst
If you make long runs or run a channel/course you need to follow precisely or run rough water or have a ton of waypoints you should look at having another brand for this
Their Navigation system has the following issues based on the Solix but has many of these issues on other models
Says it will hold 10,000 waypoints but if you put more than 500 in it the chart slows down and zoom acts up
You cannot search the list of waypoints you can only scroll through all of them (Real slow)
Charts don’t zoom in as close as other brands
You can’t save your tracks (known Bug)
The customize depth colors option doesn’t allow you to pick the colors and is difficult to understand unlike other brands
When you create a route it adds tons of waypoints you don’t need/want slowing down the chart
The track system cuts the corners/turns off your track making it impossible to track back correctly
“GOTO” navigation shuts off when running rough water - videos here on BBC and YouTube prove it’s done this ever since the 900 series
If all you use is the base map it will not default to it – you have to select it every time you start the unit or you see a blank screen
Solix waypoint icons are unique to Solix only and will show up as the default icon when imported or networked to another unit – They are a joke!
Depth offset only works with HB charts even though Navionics has this feature in their charts
Last but no least HB has no software designed to manage the new file format of waypoints and nav data
If you need any of this you might want to budget the cost of having another brand unit as well
Last edited by MichAngler; 09-25-2020 at 10:18 AM.
"The handicapped angler"
Are you fishing or plan on submitting the side images pics to a beauty pageant contest???
YOU are not entitled to what I have earned!!!!!
2014 Phoenix 619 Pro / 2014 Mercury 200 Pro XS
Can't speak for the solix, but the Mega Helix has no problem with gps while running. I have over 2k waypoints in mine and don't have issues with it freezing up. Around here Lakemaster charts are #1. Tracks also show up till you erase them.
This should tell you everything you need to know.
Not to get too off track here. Does anyone offer a quad core processor like Raymarine? Though I haven’t used one, their units are supposed to be very fast with hardly any lag
Lowrance sued Garmin over the Down Imaging and Garmin changed from DownVu to ClearVu.
Wayne Purdum
Charlottesville, Va.
Helix 12 CHIRP MEGA+ SI G3N/G4N, Helix 15 CHIRP MEGA SI+ GPS G4N
SOLIX 12 SI/G3, Helix 8 CHIRP MEGA SI+ G4N, Ultrex 80/LINK, MEGA360,
MEGA LIVE, LIVE TL
Next time your out do a circle around a waypoint and after powering it off/on go back and look at that circle – it will no longer look like it did most times it’s just a spike or line off the main track and sometimes it’s gone altogether and is just a straight line
Sometimes you don't even need to power down it will change within an hour of laying down the track
Using a Garmin I will do a quick run around a weed bed or rock pile/ridge and save it to show me the layout but with HB it looks like some polygon box and doesn’t help at all
Look at this post
http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread.php?t=1083426
Last edited by MichAngler; 09-25-2020 at 11:40 AM.
"The handicapped angler"
So guys that have both Garmin and hummingbird you’re saying the Garmin side imaging is a night and day difference compared to the Hummingbird? I have seen some posts were guys are saying it’s getting close (side imaging) is that really the case or no?
Depends on the Garmin unit you purchase
If you buy one of older units you will see a clear difference in the quality
If you buy one of the new UHD units especially the larger screens the differences are much less but the HB Solix or helix still wins out
If you decide to go with HB get a Helix they are cheaper, easier to use and have fewer issues
But as mentioned if imaging isn’t your only deciding factor a Garmin is most likely your best choice
"The handicapped angler"
Ultras are very good they will do everything one needs
TTT ...................
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