# Garmin Livescope vs Hbird Mega Live



## NealXB2003 (Jun 8, 2020)

Anybody compared these two technologies? 

I know Garmin is the original and Hbid is a newcomer to the game. Just wondering how they stack up.


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## MAK (Dec 15, 2017)

I have no personal experience but there are numerous side-by-side comparisons on YouTube with LiveScope, MegaLive, and ActiveScope. Everyone has their favorites but looks to me like the Garmin still has a slight edge over the Lowrance. Garmin appears to be more fine tuneable, while Lowrance may have an an edge for those who don’t want to be fiddling with settings as much. From what I’ve seen the Hummingbird version came in third. I recently purchased the Lowrance ActiveScope. Only reason I went with it over the Garmin is that I have the FMT map chip that won’t work on Garmin, and I had jumped on the recent Carbon-9 sale…


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## NealXB2003 (Jun 8, 2020)

I want to like the humminbird mega live. I have hbird everything else on my boat and it would plug right into my existing network. But from the comparisons I've seen, I'm afraid I'll have buyers remorse.


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## C_Wheeler (Jan 14, 2014)

Bass Boat Central forums is probably the best place to find info/comparisons on these.


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## NealXB2003 (Jun 8, 2020)

C_Wheeler said:


> Bass Boat Central forums is probably the best place to find info/comparisons on these.



I'd rather buy one of each and figure it out myself than frequent the website of that canuck hack.


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## YnR (Feb 16, 2015)

Say what you will, but there’s a ton of good info in that forum.


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## C_Wheeler (Jan 14, 2014)

NealXB2003 said:


> I'd rather buy one of each and figure it out myself than frequent the website of that canuck hack.


Sorry, no idea who the Canuck in question is. I just know bass guys tend to spend way more money on electronics than skiff guys, and they love to justify why it’s worth it.


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## fishnpreacher (Jul 28, 2018)

'Birds are the electronics of choice in my area of the world, most bassers frown on anything but a 'bird. My nephew has a 22' bass boat, 250hp with 3 big 'bird screens on it, 2 at console and one at the bow. 2 out of 3 have the live imaging. I've never seen one operate, but it's way too rich for me.


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## NealXB2003 (Jun 8, 2020)

YnR said:


> Say what you will, but there’s a ton of good info in that forum.


Al Shields runs that site. 
First thing you see when you go to that site is a long list of paid advertisers. Anything unfavorable about any of those products gets deleted with quickness. Hardly an unbiased source.


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## jasonrl23 (Jul 27, 2009)

NealXB2003 said:


> Anybody compared these two technologies?
> 
> I know Garmin is the original and Hbid is a newcomer to the game. Just wondering how they stack up.


Love Livescope. Paired it was a 93SV UHD. My only complaint is that I can not record the screen via active captain. I believe it’s the echo maps that have that ability.

Found a nice crappie hole in my little HOA pond using this thing.


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## NealXB2003 (Jun 8, 2020)

I miss my old HOA lake, but drove thru the old neighborhood the other day and there is no way I could live there now. Lol. 

Re: livescope. I'm itching to get forward facing sonar on my boat. Everybody says it's a game changer. Still leaning towards trying mega live though, since it will work with my existing setup. Still on the fence about mounting it on the TM shaft vs on a separate turret (so it isn't spinning all over the place when spotlocked).


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## jasonrl23 (Jul 27, 2009)

NealXB2003 said:


> I miss my old HOA lake, but drove thru the old neighborhood the other day and there is no way I could live there now. Lol.
> 
> Re: livescope. I'm itching to get forward facing sonar on my boat. Everybody says it's a game changer. Still leaning towards trying mega live though, since it will work with my existing setup. Still on the fence about mounting it on the TM shaft vs on a separate turret (so it isn't spinning all over the place when spotlocked).


Separate turret all day! My TM is underpowered for my pontoon so the TM is always moving and not aiming where I want it. I’ve got the live scope transducer on a pvc setup. Not spending $400 on a professionally welded on.

There is a solid learning curve as to when to use spot lock (windy days) and when not to (flat calm days). And the conditions between.

I don’t think you can choose a wrong unit. Both are game changers. Just keep in mind the visibility in salt water is like 50 feet vs 200 in freshwater


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## NealXB2003 (Jun 8, 2020)

I'll mostly be using it in fresh water. Bass fishing on the TN river.


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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

NealXB2003 said:


> itching to get forward facing sonar


Me too...!


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## jasonrl23 (Jul 27, 2009)

mro said:


> Me too...!


Its awesome. If you have the money just do it. Wish I could post video. Its wild watching a bait school get blown apart in real time.


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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

Wanted a Hummingbird as it's supposed to work with Min Kota trolling motor.
Now I need to go see a Garmin and Lowrance on display to make up my mind.


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## NealXB2003 (Jun 8, 2020)

I fished with a garmin livescope this weekend. It doesn't have detail like side imaging or 360. Did take a little imagination to figure out what you were looking at. But I did spot a bass on a weed line and pitched a senko to it and watched it go after it.


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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

Forward looking...
I wonder if this will work for hunting schools of salmon along our coast.
Open water, 60 to 300 feet deep.


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## jasonrl23 (Jul 27, 2009)

mro said:


> Forward looking...
> I wonder if this will work for hunting schools of salmon along our coast.
> Open water, 60 to 300 feet deep.


You can spot schools of fish in open water no problem. Limit is 200 ft in freshwater. Saltwater I've seen 50 to 75 ft. There are a few decent saltwater livescope bridge fishing videos. Would be awesome for Snook fishing pylons.


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## jasonrl23 (Jul 27, 2009)

NealXB2003 said:


> I fished with a garmin livescope this weekend. It doesn't have detail like side imaging or 360. Did take a little imagination to figure out what you were looking at. But I did spot a bass on a weed line and pitched a senko to it and watched it go after it.


Huge learning curve to get it dialed in. Color pallet, color gain, TVG, and the definition on your unit are big factors. My 93sv UHD will not be able to produce some of the image's that the guys running 10+ inch screens.

Spotting bass schools on stumps in open water is really easy. Finding them along the shoreline stuck up in weeds is a little harder no doubt.


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