For a boat unit it's not bad, seems a few years behind Humminbird on the technology. They still need to make it more user friendly. Their units are way to complicated for the average user.
For ice fishing though you can not beat the Panoptix. I haven't popped for one personally but I have a friend who is very into the newest gadgets and jumped on this. It took him quite a while to learn it, but now that he has it dialed in it is pretty slick. It isn't for everyone, most don't want to drop 1,300.
In case that $3000 was burning a hole in your pocket, he's an easy way to spend it. Lowrance HDS live
Panoptix's only competition as of now. Looks like an awesome unit that I could never justify buying...
"Is the 1200 necessay"
Depends on how much you fish. I'm perfectly fine in below 0 weather with a Mr Heater Buddy and making sure my shack is sealed off around the bottom. I have an old Fishtrap Voyager.
I get it, the thermal shacks are nice and toasty. One thing I absolutely hate is being warm/hot when I ice fish.
If weight is not a problem for you then the 1200 is worth the extra weight. The 600 isn't bad, my brother has one that we use for walk in lakes that don't allow any type of motor vehicle and it does it's job. But if you want to be completely comfortable in -50 wind chills and not have the canvas whacking the poles all day long then 1200 is the way to go. It is significantly heavier though. Either one is a good option but all things equal the 1200 is the choice.
Just an update on the ice show. I got an email from the Regional Sales Manager for the group that puts it on. Mark is correct they are not coming to Milwaukee this year. Really unfortunate was something I looked forward to every year. Guess I’ll have to drive to St. Paul again.
You may be right Mark. I get conflicting info on the web
https://www.travelwisconsin.com/events/fishing/ice-fishing-and-winter-sports-show-78525
This shows the correct dates from what I saw earlier in the year, but the actual events site doesn't have anything listed for 2018.
I hope they didn't move it, that was really nice to go and see and feel a lot of products that you can't find at the box stores. Some of my favorite walleye spoons were purchased there in the last couple years.
If weight and price don't matter then definitely get the Resort. The extra room is great to have especially with two bigger guys. I'm just under 6'5 270 and my brother is about the same. You guys sound about the same size, we went to the St. Paul ice show and got to try them on to see which would fit better. So if you can wait that long the Ice show comes to Milwaukee every year now as well. It is the first weekend in December I think. The luxury of added space was the decider. Whichever way you go, you can't beat an Otter flipover.
+1 to the otter lineup of flip overs. Hands down the best on the market if cost isn't a factor. They're new x-over series for this year are awesome. If you're only fishing two people you'd be fine with the cabin or lodge but the resort would be nice for the extra room.
You're going to want doors on the side rather than front and back if you're planning on bringing your kid along, it's a pain for kids to step into the sled in the back or to try to step around equipment through the front.
