I was up at Lake ST Clair watching MLF this weekend and they was all using some sort of forward facing sonar? Looked like Michael Neal was running a hummingbird (KVD) also. Wanna purchase something this winter just looking to see what you experts know so far? Currently have Hummingbird helix's G4N ON boat now. Seems the favorite is Garmin Livescope.
Last edited by rjdog32; 09-17-2021 at 08:10 PM.
You would have to ask KVD and Michael Neal or any of the Humminbird sponsored pros about that since none are available to the public.
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
Trying to be as unbiased as possible I have seen multiple mega live videos and still shots. It is not as good as garmin. (Garmin is still king even over lowrance.)
Mercury 250 proxs 2B115089
If I were buying right now it would be Garmin hands down!
I bought garmin with livescope and a perspective mount. Everything else I run is humminbird. I don’t regret it at all, I still think it (garmin livescope) looks better than the other offerings out there but it’s not a landslide imo.
I have Garmin Livescope with my three HB units and I’m happy with my set up. I’ve seen the Lowrance Live Target multiple times and it’s comparable but not better than Garmin Livescope. As for HB Mega Live, I’m afraid it’s too little too late. I will have used my Garmin product for over two years by the time it would be available to me.
Id agree from what I’ve seen so far. The humminbird seems to lack detail, and the lowrance seems to have weird interference and strange flashes in the screen from what I’ve seen so far. The lowrance seemed closer though, to the point where if I had lowrance graphs I’d probably go active target vs a stand alone garmin setup.Originally Posted by Fishysam
2020 Nitro Z20 Pro Package
I'd get mega live if I was you since you already have the units for it. If money isn't a problem then I'd probably get a Garmin. Anybody who thought HB's first generation of Live was gonna be better than Garmin that has had it out for a few years now was kidding themselves.
2007 Bass Cat Puma
2007 Mercury Pro XS 250
I have both Lowrance and Garmin forward sonar on my boat. All my other units are Lowrance. I’d take Garmin LiveScope, hands down. It’s so much better and the ability to adjust it to conditions is unmatched.
2022 Ranger Z520R, 2022 Mercury 250 ProXS 4s
Dual 16” Lowrance Live’s at console, 12” Live with Active Target, Garmin 8612 and Livescope, and Humminbird 12” Mega 360 at the bow
Lowrance Ghost TM
I would wait till the last minute before you plan to start fishing next season to see if there are any new versions available
However having owned plenty of Garmin and Humminbird graphs I would lean towards buying the Garmin LiveScope for several reasons
First is as many have mentioned the LiveScope system is better than MegaLive
Next is the fact that MegaLive is HB’s first venture into forward looking sonar and HB’s first generation products always needs tons of updates and fixes
They also don’t have a very good track record on their announcements for release dates (Misleading people some would say) so there is no guarantee the system will be available to the public any time soon
Last but not least in the past few years HB has been taking liberty on their products capabilities.
A perfect example is your G4 Helix
the difference between the G3 and G4 is two things
they added Wi-Fi and a direct connection for NMEA2000
The Wi-Fi might be there but you can’t use it and as I’m told it is for "future applications" This is the same thing as the Solix they have had Wi-Fi since their introduction (5 years) yet it’s never worked
But you can bet every advertisement and Spec Sheet lists the fact that it has Wi-Fi for product comparison trying to improve sales
So you can't believe everything they tell you about the system
You add all that up and it makes me feel you would have a better experience with the Garmin system
"The handicapped angler"
My opinion is it was shady to introduce it more than a year before it would be available.
I'm not impressed by any videos I have seen. I like my humminbird units for side imaging but I believe garmin has the best looking live system available.
Same. I’m a huge fan of the mega 360 and humminbirds side/down scan tech though. HB is my favorite in everything but live (so far)
Coming from lowrance and having a stand alone garmin, I feel like the user interface/waypoint management is trickier on birds vs the other brands, as well as the 2d. I don’t want to chuck my units, and the side imaging is great with it. But if it was starting fresh, I’d likely either go full garmins or maybe half garmins half birds.
2020 Nitro Z20 Pro Package
Lowrance is the best for storing and saving waypoints and imo the best 2d sonar. Their side scan is certainly more than good enough to find and catch fish, but until someone can replace 360 or make a competitor I will have to stick with HB for all things non live. That’s just me though, I’m sure some could care less about 360 but after having it I definitely want it on every boat I fish out of from now on. Put it and a live transducer together and you have a great way to find fish even if you can’t spend 200 days a year on the water lol
I'm 79. I fish club tournaments and hate getting beat. Some of the other guys have T V studios mounted on the front of their boats, sometimes I get the Bear, sometimes the Bear gets me.
I'm Garmin all the way, but have no forward vision unit. What would I need ( if money wasn't too much of an issue) and how much does it cost to look under logs, and next to rocks, and in the weeds for bass?
Its around $1500.00 for the livescope transducer and black box. Then you will have to buy a unit that is compatible with livescope, and there are many different options for that. There was a time you could get a low end livescope compatible unit for $600 (which was on sale at various retailers.). That deal might be over. Some places sell a "livescope bundle" and you might could save some money going that route.
Also doing an update on a HB graph is a major pain
You have to restore defaults and do each graph one at a time the with solix you have to sync the network and input all your menu settings
With Garmin you turn on all your units on that network and put the update in one graph and it automatically updates everything on that network
No restoring or syncing
"The handicapped angler"
Well you'd have to....well that or Lowrance. Humminbird still can't deliver on theirs.
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