Expect a new Livescope 2.0 Announcement Soon…

With Humminbird lifting the curtain on MegaLive 2, it starts the clock for Garmin and Lowrance to announce their Gen2/3 systems…I think Humminbird’s new Megalive2 requirements also give hints at what Garmin/Lowrance will be doing as well.

* Expect new Hardware models that will be required for Livescope 2.0, these units will have alot more CPU horsepower needed for the image processing (see final bullet about still requiring a black box) Older units will not be compatible, that’s why you’re seeing them currently being closed out…
* Extended range and improved image clarity and stabilization will be the key improvements, I also suspect there will be increased beam width to make it easier to see your lure in the water column…
* I suspect Garmin/Lowrance will also introduce a new pole turning accessory that works directly with the new Transducer beam to allow target locking (FFS’s biggest complaint)

I also expect big price increases…

The biggest wildcard imo is if Garmin/Lowrance will do away with the GLS10 or similar separate processing box requirement, this is the one area Humminbird has a clear advantage and where Garmin/Lowrance need to figure out how to eliminate it form their setups….

Stay tuned for more info….

If it wasn’t at this last years Icast I can’t imagine it will be released before next years icast in July. Pretty easy to get rid of the black box. It will just make head units more expensive and not backwards compatible.

The Bassmaster’s Classic is late March, that’s when alot of unofficial new product releases happen when the Pro’s give boat/setup tours to the media. I’m just saying the announcement will be coming soon…GPSMap86xx units still require the blackbox for current Livescope and those have the most powerful processors Garmin has. Humminbird broke the mold by putting some image processing in the transducer itself, obviously that tradeoff then requires a larger footprint and more cords involved…

I’m anxious to see if/how Garmin & Lowrance solves it (or do they still require a separate box) eliminating 5 lbs off Ice Shuttles is huge…

Watching videos on mega 2 and eagle 9, I dont think garmin needs to release anything anytime soon. Still a better product. Even looking at mega 2, The cost alone is nuts, and half their customer base that already runs mega 1 will have to start from scratch. Yeah the black box is a pain and heavy, but you can get into Garmin livescope for sub 2k for a used unit, or sub 3k for brand new. If pricing is correct on Mega 2 (going off a few youtube videos and their comment section) it looked like 2K just for the screen.

ekruger01 wrote:

Watching videos on mega 2 and eagle 9, I dont think garmin needs to release anything anytime soon. Still a better product. Even looking at mega 2, The cost alone is nuts, and half their customer base that already runs mega 1 will have to start from scratch. Yeah the black box is a pain and heavy, but you can get into Garmin livescope for sub 2k for a used unit, or sub 3k for brand new. If pricing is correct on Mega 2 (going off a few youtube videos and their comment section) it looked like 2K just for the screen.

They can’t hold out forever though, it becomes increasingly difficult to find older chipsets, parts, etc…The sales this holiday season are telling (Garmin has done mail-in rebates in the past) not instant $200 savings at the retailer…the whole upgrade the head unit requirement is likely going to be done by all 3 brands, it allows them to push higher margins and built out new product lines, new price tiers, etc…The LVS34 was just a stopgap product release to keep people interested, its identical to the LVS32 other than larger crystals that needed a larger form factor housing…

It sounds like increased range and image stability and clarity are the core improvements for MegaLive2, I think the “Targeting” feature is where the brands will differ…wasn’t MegaLive 1.0 originally $1,500?