Navionics+ vs Navionics Hotmaps Platinum

[410001661]

Hi guys,

I am in the market for a new nav card for my new boat/plotter.  In my old boat I had a Hummingbird Helix 5 Si GPS with the Lake Master chip and it worked well for my needs.  My new boat has the Lowrance HDS-7 Gen 2 and the Insight card.  The Insight card is not the greatest for the lakes I fish up north so I will be upgrading it.  I dominantly fish Ontario, Erie, St.Clair, Detroit River, and several smaller lakes in northern Ontario. 

 

My choices are between the Navionics + card (Canada & Alaska) $149.00USD, or the Navionics Hotmaps Platinum (Canada) $199.00USD.  Both cards qualify for a $50USD rebate until Dec 31. 

 

My question is...........is the Hotmaps Premium worth it?  The difference between the cards is:

- Satellite overlay (not available in Ontario)

- Relief shading - ?? Usable ??

- Sonar chart relief - ?? usable ??

- 3D view - useless feature IMHO

- Panamera photo's - useless feature IMHO 

[AKRISONER]

you need to speak to Dave Chong about this. He was showing off  the shading relief this summer. If its something you are interested in it may be worth the money.

[David Chong]

On 12/3/2020 at 9:57 AM, 410001661 said:

Hi guys,

I am in the market for a new nav card for my new boat/plotter.  In my old boat I had a Hummingbird Helix 5 Si GPS with the Lake Master chip and it worked well for my needs.  My new boat has the Lowrance HDS-7 Gen 2 and the Insight card.  The Insight card is not the greatest for the lakes I fish up north so I will be upgrading it.  I dominantly fish Ontario, Erie, St.Clair, Detroit River, and several smaller lakes in northern Ontario. 

 

My choices are between the Navionics + card (Canada & Alaska) $149.00USD, or the Navionics Hotmaps Platinum (Canada) $199.00USD.  Both cards qualify for a $50USD rebate until Dec 31. 

 

My question is...........is the Hotmaps Premium worth it?  The difference between the cards is:

- Satellite overlay (not available in Ontario)

- Relief shading - ?? Usable ??

- Sonar chart relief - ?? usable ??

- 3D view - useless feature IMHO

- Panamera photo's - useless feature IMHO 

Well, you identified the differences, only you can say whether those features are useful to you! The relief shading is really only currently available for the St. Lawrence River and the a bit into Lake Ontario. The Sonar Chart Relief gives you a different look at lake contours but are only available on the Great Lakes, Trent-Severn, Rideau waterways and a few lakes in NW Ontario. I don't use the 3D view or the panoramic photo's. The Navionics+ Regions card (Canada & Alaska) was just on sale at BPS, not sure if it still is! Honestly for most people the Navionics+ Regions card is plenty!!!!

[410001661]

19 hours ago, David Chong said:

Well, you identified the differences, only you can say whether those features are useful to you! The relief shading is really only currently available for the St. Lawrence River and the a bit into Lake Ontario. The Sonar Chart Relief gives you a different look at lake contours but are only available on the Great Lakes, Trent-Severn, Rideau waterways and a few lakes in NW Ontario. I don't use the 3D view or the panoramic photo's. The Navionics+ Regions card (Canada & Alaska) was just on sale at BPS, not sure if it still is! Honestly for most people the Navionics+ Regions card is plenty!!!!

David,

Thanks for the information but I decided on the Nav + card.  I bought directly from Navionics as they have a $50USD rebate going on until the end of the year. 

Not to be that guy..........but I do not shop at Bass Pro unless it is a last resort.  

[David Chong]

2 minutes ago, 410001661 said:

David,

Thanks for the information but I decided on the Nav + card.  I bought directly from Navionics as they have a $50USD rebate going on until the end of the year. 

Not to be that guy..........but I do not shop at Bass Pro unless it is a last resort.  

Great to hear but just FYI for anyone else who is buying a card, the $50 USD REBATE is available as a mail-in if you purchase it from Navionics dealer!

[410001661]

5 minutes ago, David Chong said:

Great to hear but just FYI for anyone else who is buying a card, the $50 USD REBATE is available as a mail-in if you purchase it from Navionics dealer!

Hi David,

No, you will get the rebate if you order directly from Navionics as well.  I submitted my claim as soon as I received my invoice from them and within the hour received this confirmation (see below).  I had a buddy that also bought the Nav Platinum directly from Navionics and he received the rebate as well.  

 

Hi,

Thank you for submitting this rebate claim, it is currently being processed.

The rebate payment should arrive within 45 days from when we received the submission.

 

Have a great day,

 

Garmin Rebate Team 1200 E. 151st Street | Olathe, KS 66062 Email: [email protected]

[Hack_Fisherman]

Not sure how detailed the stuff is you are looking at but I found the Helix7 Navionics was nowhere as good as the free trial i put on my iphone. I was disappointed to find the Helix wasn't able to do the same thing (super fine contour etc)

[BillM]

8 hours ago, Hack_Fisherman said:

Not sure how detailed the stuff is you are looking at but I found the Helix7 Navionics was nowhere as good as the free trial i put on my iphone. I was disappointed to find the Helix wasn't able to do the same thing (super fine contour etc)

They're the exact same maps.   You sure you haven't messed up the settings on the Helix?    My Navionics app and the maps on my Helix 12 are identical no matter where I go. 

Almost sounds like you've got basemaps selected and not the Navionics card.

Edited December 29, 2020 by BillM

[David Chong]

11 hours ago, Hack_Fisherman said:

Not sure how detailed the stuff is you are looking at but I found the Helix7 Navionics was nowhere as good as the free trial i put on my iphone. I was disappointed to find the Helix wasn't able to do the same thing (super fine contour etc)

You have to select the SonarCharts under your mapping options! Or it used to Fish N Chip under the old Humminbird menus!

[David Chong]

Humminbird – press the Menu button twice, go to the Chart tab, press the down arrow to Chart Select and choose SonarChart (FishN’Chip on older models).

[misfish]

10 hours ago, David Chong said:

(FishN’Chip on older models).

FishNChips then and now,still good.