So are you getting unit for free hickory or just heavily discounted?
Helix 9 mega is 1299...
build you own maps with a zero line card ($100) retail.
Best SI by a ton from any images I've seen.
Ray marine may be awesome, but no real world shots out yet. Lot to spend on speculation.
just because new units come out doesn't mean you have to buy.
HB seems to support and update their products for around 5 years
No free units here or discounted at all!!!!Originally Posted by Boondock
I have had the others and got tired of the ole send in another check and well upgrade you.
Raymarine has the same basic deal, 100 bucks and you get Navionics with build your own, community edits etc. You can look at their website for details.
Raymarine offers 3 years warranty. 10 years support form the last production date. 10 day max turn around. I have sent a unit out on Friday and had it back the next friday with the OS updated!!!
How is the Onyx support going!!!!
Look at the guys making a living fishing, not the bass guys being sponsored but the guys on the coast. How many are running birds and Lawrence on the charter boats.
Yes there are others beside Raymarine but not the freshwater guys!!!
I run Honda and Raymarine. neither has ever let me down!!! There built to last!!!!
Last edited by Hickory Legend; 04-26-2017 at 09:40 PM.
So is Onyyx already listed as a legacy product??
That hurts for the guys that just bought into those!!!!
That and guys buying G2 and then the next week G3 coming out and then the Carbon. Most guys can't keep up with the changes!!!
All units fully network with each other just like raymarine. The current helix fully networks with 6 year old 1100 series units. The new solix fully netoworks with 3 year old onix units. The hds3 fully networks with older hds units. You don't have to keep up with the changes. You should also know enough about the company to know the update cycle. Same as any company. If you buy an iPhone in September it's your own fault when the entire world knows the new one comes out in October.
Garmin is the only one to offer built in highly accurate mapping for free but coverage is limited. Humminbird offers very accurate maps as well with lakemaster but coverage is also limited. Humminbird will also use navionics. Raymarine and lowrance have options but most use navionics. I personally skip right over units that only use navionics due to the innacuracy of the product and the lack of features like lake level offset and depth highlight. Navionics does have the best coverage but who cares when the maps aren't accurate. Unless you just like looking at a bunch of lines that don't mean anything.
They all offer use mapping products but there are some major differences. Garmin records on the unit to a regular sd card. No uploading, no sharing your data unless you want and no pc software required. Humminbird requires the purchase of a zero line card for $100 to store more than 8 hours of data. Lowrance requires you to upload to the cloud and wait. They also require a paid membership to keep your data private.
They all make great products and you really can't make a bad decision but they all have strengths and weaknesses. one is head and shoulders above the rest with side imaging. Others have better down or offer better mapping options or have world class forward imaging or excellent 2d. Some have terrible customer service, etc. that's why I run a combination of units to get the best of both worlds. You simply need to decide which of those techs is the most important to you before you start you search. There is no right or wrong choice only what works best for YOU
Last edited by TroyBoy30; 04-27-2017 at 06:11 AM.
With my Raymarine unit and Navionics + card I can create my own real time maps using sonar chart live. I don't have to upload anything. I can upload stuff to Navionics if I want to update the Navionics chart everyone gets but my logs display the updated chart in real time. It has been this way on my Raymarine unit since the LH17 software update last year. Sounds like Hickory uploads all of his logs - which I do not do.
A Raymarine unit with a Navionics chart does allow depth shading but it is different from what I have seen on other brands. The fishing range shading allows you to set a min and max depth and it works for me. The shading is blues and not multi-colored. It will not do depth offset on the unit only on the Navionics app. What I do in situations where the water depth is at winter pool is to use the shallow water feature. If the lake is down 5 ft I just go in and set the shallow water depth to 5ft. This puts a red hatch pattern in water less that 5 ft.
I think mapping is one thing to consider when looking at which brand to go with. I am no mapping expert but I don't think all mapping software is best for all lakes. Some lakes are better on Navionics and some lakes are better on lakemaster etc.
One of the best things someone can do is to talk to guys that they fish with and see what they use. For me, electronics represent a big chunk of money. Any of the guys in my club would be happy to take me out on the lake to show me how their stuff works - as I would do and have done for them. These are questions I asked myself when I swapped from Lowrance to Raymarine; what kinda support can I expect, how easy will it be to use, will it show me what I want to see, how many years will I be able to use it before I have to replace it. Everyone's fishing style is different so everyone's electronic needs are different. I think that there are pluses to each brand in certain situations.
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