More and more I am thinking about going with some sort of Livescope. How much is the full cost of that, and what all is needed. Just ballpark estimates are what I’m looking for. If I can’t get good info on cost, I can’t sell the idea to the wife. She loves to CATCH fish, and the more we catch the happier she will be.

For Lowrance, pick the "HDS Live" product series unit you want (screen size), price that with whatever you're wanting for transducers (2D, down/side scan), then add $1000 for the LiveSight transducer. I don't know what boat setup you have, or what you already have for 2D, down/side scan transducers. If fiberglass, most want a 2D shooting thru the hull and a 2-in1 outside for down/side scan. With a 9 inch screen, a Lowrance solution will run you $3000, $2700 if all you intend to do with that unit is LiveSight. It's expensive. While my gear is Lowrance, their's doesn't look the best if the measure is livescope fishing only.

Good info. Thanks. Next question is whose livescope is best? If I’m going to spend the money, I want to spend it right.

Garmin by a long shot with current systems. Lowrance Livesight is closer to the 1st Gen of Garmin’s version. I’m sure it will get better.

Your question is akin to: I want to buy a car, and want to know how much...... I'll assume you want to get a basic system, that's what I have (you can see that's all I use on my videos). I'd go with Garmin 93SV head unit ($600) and the Livescope transducer ($1300). There ya go, about $2000 gets you going. You can upgrade to larger screens and more definition, but to me, it's simply not worth it.
Good luck.
Tim

i bought mine in January, as a bundle for 2200 shipped to my door. took all of 10min to install on the boat same day. cheapest i found was GPSstore.com located in flordia.

The most popular dedicated Livescope display is a 1022 / 1222 with livescope $2700 and $3400

If you want to run a traditional side image setup pairing the GT54 with a livescope ; Ultra is what you want - 102sv (No Maps), 106sv (Maps), 122sv (No Maps) or 126sv (Maps) would be your best options.

Thanks for the info. It’s hard to ask the right questions when I don’t know enough to do so. That $2000ish setup that Skunked mentioned sounds like what I need., as long as I won’t find my self under-equipped in 6 months. I’ll look into the 93V

To me, the livescope by itself is such a step function improvement over anything in the market that the display becomes the smaller part of it. Yes, you can spend a lot more for larger screens but not necessary. I’ve had mine over a yr and won’t fish on a boat without it.
Good luck
Tim

I just ordered mine from Jones Trolling Motor Repair. Im getting rid of my current Lawrence units and going Garmin all the way. From what I was told by a Garmin technical rep that one of the above posters is correct that the Lowrance offering is Garmins first generation unit. Garmin is currently on their 3rd generation.

Talk to Brian a bbg marine was way better than anyone else

If you are going to be fishing along side your wife, a larger screen is better though good bit pricier. Also, something like the transducer pole is better than mounting on the trolling motor. And if you two are fishing together, a double seat setup so both of you can see the screen. Bought mine from David at Shut up and Fish. Drove to pick it up so I could see what I needed to do. It is not especially difficult to set up especially if you already have wiring separate from your trolling motor wiring. I didn't find pricing to be much different between vendors.