Planning to install a new unit at my trolling motor. I have already added a Helix 12 with Mega at the stern end and want to add a newer unit at the front. Is it a waste of money to purchase a unit with the mega for the front as 2d Sonar and mapping are the more used features when running the trolling motor? Was considering just adding a HELIX 10 with out the bells and whistles, and looking for opinions.

depends on what kind of fishing you are doing,..and what you want to see on your front unit,..
I only use mapping and sonar off my front..

In my mind I think its a waste, I am learning how to use the technology and as I learn it seams sonar and mapping is all I would need, but as things progress just trying to figure if I would need more than that in the future.

The original helix 12 has chirp 2d and you can usually get it for around the price of a 10 and definitely cheaper than a mega unit, at universalmania.com Look for the KVD model on sale.

Thank you Bobby!

I would atleast get the di model.

I am running a Helix 12 SI Gen 2 Mega up front and love it. I had the Helix 12 SI with chirp up there, which I do use the SI and DI features a pretty decent amount while fishing deep in scattered brush, so in my opinion, for the way I fish I think it is well worth paying for the Mega unit. With that being said, if your style of fishing you would never us SI or DI then I would just save the money and go with the lesser unit as you mentioned. This is one of those deals to where everyone has a different fishing style, so what might be a waste of money for one because he fishes shallow all year 90% of the time might not be a waste of money to someone that fishes primarily off shore. I actually have use for SI on my trolling motor both shallow and deep, deep when moving around scattered brush or if looking for bait on deep cover that may of moved a little, I can kick the trolling motor up some and scan for bait or activity without cranking my big motor. Same thing when fishing submerged grass edges in shallower water, I can bounce around looking at the grass edges from a distance on my trolling motor vs having to idle those same areas when the grass is a little more scattered. JMO

As long as you have good side imaging on console< I think it is overkill to have it on front. I usually run down scan/2D sonar most of the time on front, and lately I have been using the mapping a lot. Lakemaster/Humminbird combos are second to none.

All good information, thank you very much!