LiveScope PLUS Ice Fishing Bundle LI

[missoulafish]

BESIDES the cost, thoughts? Comments? Is this as good as it gets?

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/799105

[SLAYERFISH]

More crap to drag around, IMO.

[OldSailor]

A hell of a lot of money that could be put to better uses!!!! 

[Iceassin]

My buddy is pulling the trigger on one. Biggest reason? We fish a few lakes where the fish are suspended and are always moving. This will save a lot of time and effort in relocating them. Told him I already have a 30ah lithium that I can donate for the cause. 

[Rebelss]

BESIDES the cost, thoughts? Comments? Is this as good as it gets?

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/799105

For that price, it BETTER be.

What a way to blow money. Whatever works for ya. Maybe a helicopter to fly ya in to remote spots, too.

[Iceassin]

BESIDES the cost, thoughts? Comments? Is this as good as it gets?

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/799105

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JdbpZ5o_EFQ&feature=share

 Good look at it right here.

[greenbackhunter]

Guys are funny. I have a 93. Your far better off piecing it together. The garmin bag, pole and battery are not worth it imo. Piece it together. I debated upgrading my 32 to a 34 transducer, but imo it’s not worth it for me. There are better shuttles like arcfab makes, and better pole and mount designs like arcfab and summit. I’m not a fan of 3D printed shuttles, but if they are ok with you, you can look at them as well. 

[DQM]

I concur with a few here. The Li bundle is not worth it.  I like the Garmin bay and shuttle, but the pole is junk.

And the Li battery I believe is still a Li Ion battery, not a lithium LiFePO4 battery. So you won’t get as many cycles over time as well as not nearly the rates capacity.

If you take your time, although with summer over it might not be good to do now, and look for deals you can piece a LVS32 together cheap. 

Lots of LVS32s for sale as people upgrade to LVS34s.  For ice fishing, I am not sure the 34 upgrade is really worth it.  Used LVS32 and black box can be found for 700-800 easily.

Summit pole has been great for me. Highly recommended.

Bass Pro, Cabelas, Scheels all had Garmin 93 UHD heads super discounted for a while. Not sure if they still do. 

I found a great deal on Amazon a few months ago for the Garmin shuttle and bag and wiring harness.

Amped outdoors 30ah battery.

All done for well under $2k.

[Skywagon]

BESIDES the cost, thoughts? Comments? Is this as good as it gets?

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/799105

You said "BESIDES the cost, thoughts? Comments? Is this as good as it gets?"  My answer is that after 4 winters of use Livescope is as good as it gets.  Like others have said you can put a package yourself that is superior to the factory kit, a LifePO4 battery is much better than what is offered from Garmin, and a Summit pole is a must-have for convenience compared to the clumsy factory one.  I think there are Garmin dealers out there that do put packages like this together if you would rather not do it yourself.

[hnd]

the price of the bundle even on sale is a bit much imo

that said, the 2 years we've had panoptix has been an absolute game changer for us.   I contend that it might not be needed for some, but for the way we fish, it most definitely has been. 

we generally chase panfish over basin/reservoir lakes.  fish do not usually hold fast in one location.  drilling a few holes plopping down for a long day of sitting there is not the way we fish.   I'm a father of 5 and my partner is a father of 3 and we have many responsibilities and fishing time is at a premium.  for almost a decade prior, always on the search for better waters, better fish, we drill drill drill.  drilling thousands of holes over the winter in pursuit of fish.   

the first time i got my hands on a PS21 (the original panoptix) it changed everything.  we spent more time fishing, and less time looking for fish (drilling and dropping the flasher ducer)

I bought a echomap plus 73cv on sale for 450 bucks.  I paid $500 for the PS22 (ps21 was on loan from a open water fisherman) and built my own pole and carrier out of the bucket. 

I recently upgraded the ps22 to a the lvs32 and will likely purchase a shuttle.  even still, i'll be around $1200-1300 bucks for the whole package, finder, ducer, and shuttle.  Batterys were on sale and I snagged a few.

I think its a great tool that can be had reasonably on the used market. 

[theTUGistheDRUG]

I am piecing together a Livescope Plus combo right now.  This way I can spread the cost out over time.  Every year it gets harder to find time to get out ice fishing, and this piece of equipment will allow me to enjoy finding and catching fish more efficiently.  You also learn a lot about jig cadence and fish behavior from the feedback you get.  It is expensive for sure, but maximizing pleasure doing what i love is worth the expense. That was my conclusion at least....  

LVS32 would be a more economical way to get into the Livescope sphere without sacrificing much, but I have been around tech too long to know that product lifecycles are getting shorter and Garmin will stop supporting this much sooner than they should.  Its all about the money!

[Iceassin]

Heard from a buddy who heard/read that an 8" hole is required for the transducer with the ice package. Can anyone confirm or deny this? 

[DQM]

The LVS32 will barely fit, but will fit, down a 6 inch hole. 

The LBS34 required an 8 inch hole.

[hnd]

Heard from a buddy who heard/read that an 8" hole is required for the transducer with the ice package. Can anyone confirm or deny this? 

if it comes with the perspective mount, yes.  but you can buy the 0 deg compact mount for like 25 bucks off ebay.