Humminbird Helix 5 SI Combo

Hi I’m looking to get my first fishing finder for my little tin boat and just wondering if the Humminbird Helix 5 SI Combo would be a good choice for my first one . I really want down and side imaging.injust run a trolling motor on it right now so I would be powering from the same deep cycle battery

I had one last summer before I sold the boat it was on. The side imaging was cool and worked great. The gps was way off when I needed it most and the depth readings on the side bar would sometimes show I was in 20 to 30 feet of water when I was actually in 1.5 to 2 feet of water. The down imaging showed the correct depth at all times. So if you can train yourself to watch the picture for depth and the gps isn’t very important to you then it will suit you fine.

Sounds like a lot of thing wrong with it anyone else have any problems with it too

I have read of a few others. There are a couple hb forums out there, maby check on there. I am not sure but I am leaning towards a Garmin this time. 7″ screen for the same price, just not sure if you can get different maps for it?

catnip wrote:

I had one last summer before I sold the boat it was on. The side imaging was cool and worked great. The gps was way off when I needed it most and the depth readings on the side bar would sometimes show I was in 20 to 30 feet of water when I was actually in 1.5 to 2 feet of water. The down imaging showed the correct depth at all times. So if you can train yourself to watch the picture for depth and the gps isn’t very important to you then it will suit you fine.

Remember the gps is only as good as the map card you have. If the map was not HD then it will not be all that accurate.

This is the perfect unit if you are new to the si di gps mapping units. Very user friendly and easy to use.

There are always some problems people are having with these new gadgets. However, I have seen very little with the helix 5. Humminbird has fixed any issue that I have had.

On of the the that’s needs to be done on new units it updating the software through the humminbird website. They install fixes for any problems quickly so even if it is brand new, you still should check for an update right away.

Does the helix 5 have a slower processor then the lx7?

Remember the gps is only as good as the map card you have. If the map was not HD then it will not be all that accurate.

I was using navionics hotmaps and it showed my tracks cutting across land on the river bends and at one point it had my track showing that I cut 90 degrees rite and went 1500 yards on shore half way through the trip. The navionics app on my phone was accurate. so I believe the gps in the helix unit was faulty.

catnip wrote:

Remember the gps is only as good as the map card you have. If the map was not HD then it will not be all that accurate.

I was using navionics hotmaps and it showed my tracks cutting across land on the river bends and at one point it had my track showing that I cut 90 degrees rite and went 1500 yards on shore half way through the trip. The navionics app on my phone was accurate. so I believe the gps in the helix unit was faulty.

Could definitely be the case. Humminbird will fix it. Get ahold of them asap if you think it’s the unit. It’s under warranty for a year.

I think I saw last week somewhere had a Bird 859 combo for $469, I think it was Cabelas, but not certain. I have 2 859’s and like them so far. That is also a good price.

Looking for a little more advice . I have been now looking at getting the helix 7si or the 9 si I no that is a big diff but I was just wondering if it is worth the extra and this would be my first fish finder or would the 9 be over kill for me

Just something to consider.. How much actual searching for fish can you do when your boat is powered by a trolling motor. I would save your money and invest in a motor first.

Am not really worried about a motor the boat I have is for now and planing on buying a bigger boat when something pops up I like