Do’s and do NOT’s when you buy your first Garmin and you are getting a Livescope

[Spotshooter]

like it says… new to Garmin.

any tips on

software loads to use ‘ avoid?

touch or buttons pref for head units?
what head unit to avoid because it’s harder to add things to later?
…

[fishin couillon]

Dont mix them cause you wont be able to network.....either get GPSmap units or Echomap. If you want to record your screen for fish catching then the only route is the GPSmap series......people will give you settings but those may not always be best for you.....its typically pretty good out the box but may have a few tweaks here and there....i like and used to Touchscreen so thats my choice. Right now the Echomap Plus and Ultra units are only touch screen, GPSmap series have both touch and button. The current button units do NOT have UHD built into unit but can use the GCV20 box to get UHD frequencies.

Transducers: before buying figure out how you plan on mounting the rear ducer which mean could be a different ducer setup.

Software: if you are getting new, more than likely it will have the newest or close to newest software, at that point, you can update.

[Spotshooter]

I didn’t realize that the black boxes had different freq’s..

thanks

[mtatua]

Agree with Couillon, besides general budget, the GPSMap line offers screen recording of livescope. The echomap UHD or Ultra units do not. This is a feature not easily found in Garmin information. I have echomaps and have to use a standalone camera, usually gopro or phone, to record and the screen glare is hard to work around. Didn't' realize this until I had the units.

IF you are going to have multiple head units, go either GPSMap or Echomap, don't mix and match as they don't network together. Echomaps network to echomaps only, GPSMap to GPSMap.

Current software versions seems to work pretty well for most folks.

[skeetzx225]

my tip would be to buy all of the parts individually vs buying a bundle...I saved a ton of $ buying the pieces individually on different websites.

[G4bama]

I started out with a 93sv plus w/ Livescope and used that setup for a year. Shortly after my purchase I was already wishing that I had other features. For me it was a larger screen and a unit that had the helm feature that allows you to record your screen views directly to a phone or tablet using Active Captain App. Based on those 2 features that put my choices in the GPSmap line. I recently purchased the GPSmap 1242XSV and it is great. The best advise that I can give is to buy what fits your budget and buy what you want to start. Bigger is better