Dream boat electronics?

Well I'm close to retirement and after much research I've decided on a Vexus 1880 aluminum bass boat. Now I am out of the loop on available graphs, only reading about Garmins livescope. Vexus lets you choose any brand and model up until production day, so I have a little time.
I currently run Lowrance gen2 Hds touch units on my Tracker which have been pretty good, but there are a couple features I think that could be improved on. One is accurate depth maps and the other which may be a add on would be actual self mapping of a lake vs a map card. So I know I will get a lot of opinions but what and why are you all liking what you are running? I primarily fish crappie but do fish bass and walleye too

Hummingbird allows you to make your on maps.

Humminbird Helix or better. If your going with a Livescope get a 10 inch or bigger monitor. In fact I recommend the largest graph you can afford. I have 10 inch graphs which suit my eyes.

About a decade ago I did similar research. Which brand do I get and why?
I ended up going Humminbird, MinnKota, Lakemaster. All three companies are divisions of Johnson Outdoors. At the time I trusted Eureka brand tents and still do. One of the best tents for your average Joe. Since all three are owned by Johnson Outdoors, all three are designed to work as a Team. They call it the one boat network. With an ethernet port you can connect all your sonar units, transducers, trolling motor, down riggers, etc. together as a team. I can see any transducer on my boat from any sonar unit. I can control my trolling motor from any sonar unit. My sonar units can share way points, record it on one unit and it shows up on the other. Humminbird makes great lake maps while your on the water. It will record hard/soft bottom, weeds, etc. You can set your trolling motor to follow the hard/soft bottom transition, or follow a weed edge, or follow a contour line, even follow it x number of feet off the contour line. I'm sure there are more features, however I haven't learned them yet.

I bought two Helix 9 Gen4 Mega units, MDI (bow) and MSI (dash), Terrova 24v 80lbs thrust, 60" shaft TM with built in MDI transducer and I-Pilot Link. Mega-360, and connected them all with an ethernet port. I want to add a 3rd Helix unit for the pulling cranks out of the back of the boat, and maybe a 4th Helix for the bow when I buy the Mega-Live transducer. From my sonar units I can see the MDI in the Trolling motor, the MSI on the back of the boat, the Mega-360, and eventually the Mega-Live. From my sonar units I can control the trolling motor.

Can teh other brands integrate like the Johnson Outdoors products? Do you need that integration?

I would figue out what trolling motor you prefer then work from there for integration. Ultrex is cable steer and most of the rest are not. Livescope is still king but you can have a standalone setup. The side imaging quality has come a long way on all the brands. Budget for 10 inch screens if you can swing it.

I really like my Garmin for livescope . Still using Humminbirds for side imaging and maps .

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Originally Posted by BuckeyeCrappie

Humminbird Helix or better. If your going with a Livescope get a 10 inch or bigger monitor. In fact I recommend the largest graph you can afford. I have 10 inch graphs which suit my eyes.

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I agree, Ive been told there is a huge difference in screen clarity from the smaller screen to the 10" screen, I will check that box, thanks

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Originally Posted by thaDudeAbides

I would figue out what trolling motor you prefer then work from there for integration. Ultrex is cable steer and most of the rest are not. Livescope is still king but you can have a standalone setup. The side imaging quality has come a long way on all the brands. Budget for 10 inch screens if you can swing it.

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I agree with this. I'm currently all Garmin with Force trolling motor and Graphs. Before that it was a motorguide Xi5 that could nema network to Lowrance.

Pick your trolling motor match the graphs for that. As said you can add Livescope as a stand alone or go with one of the other live sonor systems. I've used 9 in screen for livescope, it is useable but the 10 and 12 inch are a big improvement. Currently have a 10 and 12 inch at the bow. Live scope get a full screen for viewing, I'll split the other screen depending on what I'm doing.

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Originally Posted by thaDudeAbides

I would figue out what trolling motor you prefer then work from there for integration. Ultrex is cable steer and most of the rest are not. Livescope is still king but you can have a standalone setup. The side imaging quality has come a long way on all the brands. Budget for 10 inch screens if you can swing it.

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I understand choosing the trolling motor first, the way I understand it is you can control the Tm with your graph with some brands. I currently have a Motoguide XI5 with pinpoint and even though I have a wireless foot control I have only used it a few times in the past 8 yrs of owning it, although a foot control works best in some situations.

My Lowrance units also talk to each other but not the TM. As I remember for another $200 they would and I could tell the TM to say follow a contour line. With the Birds can you set up different screens on the same page? like downscan and maps? I can set up as many as 4 on the Lowrance.