411350-1 Helix 8 Chirp MEGA SI+ GPS G4N Fish Finder

I have two boats and decided to get this unit to move back and forth between the two boats. It was a big upgrade from my previous 10 year old depth finder that I could easily move between the three hummingbird docks on my two boats. (Two on the bass boat). I spent at top of budget to have the best unit for moving around from mounting station to mounting station, knowing that I would have to buy an extra transducer and docking points.Once I received the unit I was blown away by the quality and versatility over my old unit. So five stars for quality of what I can see now. I little disappointed in speed at which signal quality drops out, but may get better with tuning and experience. Right now start losing autochart returns around 8mph and SIde imaging around 6. Poor quality on a plane, which was true for my old one too, and from what I understand from the dealer, all units. Certain frequencies may do better, but I haven’t played with all of them yet.So why three stars? Because the electronics and quality seem to be amazing, but I have to spend a lot to get all the features out of it. I have to get proprietary Zeroline SD card to save more than a couple hours of data. To use the zeroline card, I need to get autochart. If I want to see 3D aspects of map I need autochart pro. So basically another $80, $150 or $200 to use the autochart functions.The base Maps on unit are pretty generic, so autochart would help eventually once I log a bunch of time,convert it and reupload it to unit. (Software doesn’t work on a Mac, so would have to get a PC. Seems ridiculous that $200 software isn’t Mac compatible)Since I go to Lake Powell, Lee’s Ferry and local small fishing holes, autochart solves small lake mapping, but it would be impossible to autochart Lake Powell. The solution. Smart strike Western States, or Lakemaster SD cards. Another $200 SD card. Now I’m up to $400 extra. Well if I’m going to spend that much I better get the right ones. Lots of different versions out there. I call hummingbird and get tired of waiting on hold so I do online chat. Let me save you some time. Autochart v 2.3 is the latest. And western states v3.0 is the latest. Out of stock on hummingbirds website.... why? Because they don’t sell direct to consumer. And can you update once new versions come out? Nope. $400 worth of non-updatable software cards. And this is software just to use the features the machine already has.Sooo frustrating that you get nickel and dimed and $200 a pop. Then at my own lack of research I didn’t realize transducers for this thing are $379. Plus power cables and mounts.3 stars because the cost of any accessories is an arm and a leg, and seem very overpriced and unsupported. I thought I eventually would like to get an ipilot compatible trolling motor to take advantage of the autopilot and contour following features this can handle, or even the 360 views. But I would be well into the $1000’s for that. I guess hummingbird thinks all fishermen are rich, but on a paramedic budget it would just be cheaper to cast $100 bills on my hook.Updated review after much use. 4.5 stars now. The buy once cry once term has diminished, and have been very happy with performance. Able to get great detail at depths deeper than expected. Have used it to recover lost fishing poles, lost paddles from Kayak, find great structures and see fish clearly now that I am more used to side scan and down view modes. The gps integration and split customized views have made this a great tool for both fishing boating navigating and hazard avoidance. Setting actual water depths for the changing water levels is awesome. Way less guessing with easy color coded depth contours.