# Electronics - 1 larger screen vs 2 smaller screens



## Mike S. 11 (Nov 10, 2009)

I am considering finally upgrading from my old 5" garmin unit and have been kicking around the idea of 2 - 9" units versus a single 12" unit. Haven't really decided on what brand yet so I'm not so much worried about which brand is better. I was just wanting to get some input from any of you guys that have used both setups or have gone from one to the other. I have plenty of space for either configuration. Thanks in advance.

Mike


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## Gofish2day (May 9, 2006)

Mike,

It depends on what you are doing. I have (1) Lowrance 12HDS gen 3 and (1) Lowrance 8HDS gen 2. I like to run the downscan and sonar on the 8 inch screen. I then run the sidescan and map on the 12" screen. The sidescan really needs the largest screen possible. I use the sonar to see colors. This tells me if the fish has scales and how large.
I mostly crappie fish but also WB and Hybrids.
I would go with the 2-9" screens and here is why. Again, depends on what you fish.
This is something the pros do with 2 screens.
Use the BOTTOM HALF of both units for this. 
Unit 1 - set to SIDESCAN but only look LEFT.
Unit 2 - Set to SIDESCAN but only Look RIGHT. Now you have this HUGE 18" screen showing side scan. You will be extremely impressed especially if you are WB or Hybrid fishing. Everything is now 2 times as large. Do whatever you then want with the top screen halves.

Hope this helps!


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## texasGG (Mar 12, 2007)

My opinion, the difference between a single 12 inch or two 9 inch units I would without a doubt go with two 9 or 10 inch units. There is just not that much difference between a 9 or 10 in unit and a 12 in. There is almost double screen size on the two and anything 12 inch or above or expensive.

That said, You will be happier with a single really good unit with side imaging, down imaging, sonar, GPS than two larger units without because of cost. I have had Lowrance, Humminbird and Ray Marine. I liked each for different reasons but finally settled on Hummingbird because of ease of operation and cost. Lowrance were pricey and very difficult to operate meaning you could not just guess what to push to get somewhere. ( It was like, push this button twice, then this one, now hit the left one followed by the down button then ok. Just to erase trails....) Ray Marine I like also it has excellent mapping. But I finally decided on Humminbird.

I had side imaging for a year an honestly did not use it much. Then I went with a good friend who is also a very good guide and he was using side imaging almost exclusively searching for individual larger fish and groups of fish. He convinced me then to start using it and since then I don't know how I would fish without it. That was a game changer for me, an ahhh haaaa moment. Kind of like the first time you used a microwave.

So what I'm trying to convey in all this is, get a larger unit, one is enough if you get the right kind. I would spend more for a really good unit then buying two lesser units. A 10 inch unit is about the same as a 12 inch and much cheaper.

Good luck


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## Gofish2day (May 9, 2006)

I think if I had to do it over, I would chose the hummbird as well.
Just for the reasons stated.


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## Mike S. 11 (Nov 10, 2009)

I guess I did leave out that key piece of info. I donâ€™t bass fish anymore and chase whites, hybrids, crappie and cats now. I have owned all of the major brands in the past. Price wise looking at the units the difference between say 2 - helix 9â€™s vs a helix 12 or 2 - 9â€ elite ti-2 vs a 12â€ elite ti-2 is within a couple hundred depending on brand and whether the have to be cabled or link wirelessly. What really got me thinking is I like the garmin units and the new 9â€ UHD unit has peaked my interest. I donâ€™t like the idea of a single 9â€ so the dual 9â€ vs single 12â€ debate started in my mind.


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## swglenn (Sep 20, 2009)

There will probably be another Black Friday sale this year on the Garmin Echomap Plus 93SV. A 9" touch screen with sonar, down view and side view, maps, CHIRP, the ability to make and save your own maps, and a transducer. You can choose depth ranges and color code them if you want to target certain depths. It is also compatible with Garmin's Panoptix. The Panoptix LV 32v is sold separately for GULP, $1400. Last year the 93SV+ sold for $600. Look on the Garmin page on the BBC forum. They are talking about it.


I bought one last year and am buying another one this year.


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## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

swglenn said:


> There will probably be another Black Friday sale this year on the Garmin Echomap Plus 93SV. A 9" touch screen with sonar, down view and side view, maps, CHIRP, the ability to make and save your own maps, and a transducer. You can choose depth ranges and color code them if you want to target certain depths. It is also compatible with Garmin's Panoptix. The Panoptix LV 32v is sold separately for GULP, $1400. Last year the 93SV+ sold for $600.QUOTE......â€¦â€¦...You're right on, they do have their sale, on Black Friday. Lowrance 9" $599 , Garmin 93sv $599, Humminbird 10.1" $ 1099.00. Having said all that, the Humminbird, doesn't appear to be touch screen, which is a complete deal killer for me. The Lowrance is a touch screen, and the Garmin is a button assisted touchscreen. All good deals, as pertaining, to your application. I would say advantage Garmin, with the possibility of Panoptics, compatability, in the future...What say ye???


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## tmd11111 (Mar 25, 2019)

If you;re not worried about networking your graphs then look at Academy's Black Friday sale. Their advertising the Lowrance Hook2 12" with tripleshot transducer for only $699. Way cheaper then just about any 9" screen out there.


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## photofishin (Aug 7, 2009)

tmd11111 said:


> If you;re not worried about networking your graphs then look at Academy's Black Friday sale. Their advertising the Lowrance Hook2 12" with tripleshot transducer for only $699. Way cheaper then just about any 9" screen out there.


Most reviews of the Hook graph are crappy.


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## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

photofishin said:


> Most reviews of the Hook graph are crappy.


â€¦â€¦.Yep, worse than sheit!!


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Seems like you have to top that 1,500.00 mark to get close, the real stuff is 2800.00.


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## Daniel-J (Nov 15, 2019)

My buddy's on a new level, he's using augmented reality glasses and sonar. When he finds what he needs, he lowers the drone to the bottom and looks at what he needs online. Expensive and strange equipment, but I wonder what is there and so.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Daniel-J said:


> My buddy's on a new level, he's using augmented reality glasses and sonar. When he finds what he needs, he lowers the drone to the bottom and looks at what he needs online. Expensive and strange equipment, but I wonder what is there and so.


Jeepers!


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## photofishin (Aug 7, 2009)

Keep in mind Black Friday is this Friday...there are deals out there. Bass Pro and Cabelas for example have the Hummingbird Helix 10 for $999. West Marine has $400 off on many Garmin products


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## Gofish2day (May 9, 2006)

WOW Daniel J
Never even thought of that.
I used the Garmin Panoptics once and we were glued to the screen the whole time. I can imagine with googles. Strange indeed.
Pretty soon they will be banning certain electronics. I can say 100% the panoptics does give you a 100% advantage.


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## Gofish2day (May 9, 2006)

One bit of advice on Garmin, they don't bundle the finder with the same transducer. They bundle the finder with a cheap transducer a lot. Make sure it comes with the Hi-Def transducer.

Forget the thumper. That is just a head ach in a box.
See the Garmin livescope Panoptix in this vid.


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## Mike S. 11 (Nov 10, 2009)

i have a buddy that has a hook and I wasn't super impressed with it. If i end up going with 2 I am going to want to network them. Been looking at the humminbird helix 10 G2N's. Might make a run to BPS friday morning to see if they actually have any.


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## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

Mike S. 11 said:


> i have a buddy that has a hook and I wasn't super impressed with it. If i end up going with 2 I am going to want to network them. Been looking at the humminbird helix 10 G2N's. Might make a run to BPS friday morning to see if they actually have any.


 Mike, they had some...17 @ the Katy Mills Store, and no limit on quanities... they went QUICK!!!


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## texasGG (Mar 12, 2007)

*Humminbird Helix 10*

They had 5 at the Cabelas in Buda were all gone within 5 minutes... My friend got number 4 and lady in line behind us got number 5 that was it...


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## Mike S. 11 (Nov 10, 2009)

I ended up not making it anyhow, but sounds like some people got a good deal on them. I'm still not completely decided yet as those new Garmin UHD units have peaked my interest, but from what I understand they are still a month or two away.


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## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

Wow, Bass Pro Katy Mills Mall...picked up the Humminbird 10.1", and a Garmin 93sv, 9" for future Panoptic application. This give me two 10" units, side by side, for searching structure and brush piles...twice the coverage. It was misting fairly hard, that morning, and was glad I got there early(30 people in line, when I arrived 4:10am). by 5:00am, when they opened the doors, roughly 125 folks, lined all the way around the building...as I stated before, they only had 17 , of the Humminbird units, a few more, each, of the Lowrance and Garmin!


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## Chase4556 (Aug 26, 2008)

Man I need to look into that Panoptix stuff. I watch a lot of Scott Martin youtube videos and he swears by it, but I never get a good look at what he sees on his screen. That was crazy how they can see the fish down there and even watch them come up once hooked.


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## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

I'm hoping either Humminbird, introduces a version (you just know they must have one, in the works) or Garmin, introduces, an updated version (cheaper than the $1499.00). Maybe, even Lowrance comes out with a version worth buying! (By far, worst of the lot) We'll see...


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Iâ€™m going lobby against live sonar fishing.
Itâ€™s cheating.
And yâ€™all are going cheat yourselves right out of fish.
Donâ€™t matter though the environment is going down fast and those endangered alligator gar are going to eat everything.
Letâ€™s all stop right at the line of tech that my current HDâ€™s 10 gen 2 is at.
That should do.


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## Mike S. 11 (Nov 10, 2009)

I'm with you Loy, but anything more than what you have is overkill for you anyhow judging by your reports and how highly everyone speaks of your knowledge and skill. That new live stuff is amazing. Nothing I'll ever own as it"s just too pricey for my budget. I'm still running 10 year old stuff. I can catch fish using it,would just like a bigger screen to make it easier to read what I'm seeing. I grew up using nothing but a lowrance flasher and an old black and white Eagle unit that my dad and papaw taught me on. Amazing how far the technology has come.

Mike


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Mike I love my 10â€ screen these old eyes need it!
I bought my unit many years ago, the first or second year they came out.
Before it I used a monochrome â€œCudaâ€ $75 at Walmart. 
I donâ€™t catch any more fish than I did before I upgraded, just spend much less time finding them.



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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

Loy I think it could be cheating also. Looks like people want to watch their electronics more than actual fishing. Maybe stay home and play video games ? Now on the other hand it does not matter what kind of electronics some people have they still could not catch a fish if it was in the boat with them.

Mike I also remember the days of the flasher. Remember when we would leave out of a marina and go about a mile, look for a fence line to show up cross it with another point and then we were on our fishing hole.

I am going to update my stuff this summer with hummingbird but none of this live stuff.


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## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

Electronics are an aid to finding structure, topographic differences, fish attractants, and eventually schools and individual fish. Logic and even common sense tells one, that if you can side scan for 40',60', or even 80' with side by side 10" units you will see more fish. No denying that. Finding more fish, usually relates to catching more, biting fish. Enough, said...â€¦. Oh, except that some of us have 2nd place trophies, in the World Famous 2 Cool White Bass Tournament. That was lots, of fun!


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## Mike S. 11 (Nov 10, 2009)

I do remember those days vividly Matt. I can remember running wide open across Rayburn with my dad and all of the sudden that flasher would run up and down in a certain pattern and dad would spin around saying we're here. I also remember when we used to white bass fish Conroe on the humps down by the dam. We'd always line up in the intersection of the line between where Lakeview Marina is across to the flag pole at at the point to the south of Ayer's island, and the 4th gate opening on the dam itself and start our search grid from there. Never took us more than a couple minutes to get on it. Finding his brushpiles off of landmarks is another gift my dad has. It was simple fishing I grew up on like I'm sure most of us have. I don't believe I personally catch any more fish now than then either minus those hard days of fishing where your're running to 30 spots and then it will help me narrow down what looks productive.

Mike


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## whsalum (Mar 4, 2013)

*Depthfinder*

I gotta give props to the 12. I run a Lowrance Elite ti 12 on the console and a 9 on the bow . You can customize your screen on the 12 with a touchscreen and see sonar /Di/sinand chart all at the same time or each function separate with just a touch .stay away from the hook. The guy next to Beacon Bay is unbeatable on price


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

Mike S 11 Did you get your electronics? On sale today hummingbird 12 inch mega SI, DI G2N for $1350 Free shipping. For that price you could go with 12,s.


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## whsalum (Mar 4, 2013)

​where were these at Matt


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

Bass Pro shop. $1499 sale price . 10 % off for card holders. $1350, free shipping and 2% back in points. Plus tax but now everyone collects tax now. For a 12 inch Helix with mega I went ahead and purchased one. Never had a 12 inch screen. They are now out of stock but the day I posted they had them and the next day.


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

Academy has a Lowrance hook 2 , 12 inch for $699 was $1499. I don't know anything about the Hook system but this might make a good extra one .


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## Gofish2day (May 9, 2006)

You will be very happy with that, Matt
Great deal


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