Question for the Garmin Livescope owners out there.

 

I am considering buying a new Garmin 12" unit and Livescope. Debating between touchscreen and manual units. Have heard some say they prefer the manual units because it is easier to adjust sensitiity and gain by turning a knob, vs hitting arrows on the touchscreen.

 

Interested to hear people's opinions. I can get a pretty good deal on a touchscreen right now, but want to get some feedback on if the manual units have their advantages.

I use the touch, but also only use a 9" screen. The extra $1000-1500 difference isn't worth it unless you're going to run a complete garmin network as the 10" and 12" have 2 network inputs on the back.  As for adjustments the touch isn't as easy but not difficult.   

This would be one unit used for Livescope only since I already have all my Birds and Ultrex networked. The more I read, the more I see balanced responses, with the slight edge going to buttons, saying they are more controllable in waves and not as many misclicks, and no smudged screens.

 

Cost is not a huge deal if I move now because local shop said they would extend a 20% off deal on the 12" touch to me until tomorrow. Means I could get the touch for about the same price as the new 1242 button unit.

 

If I go manual, then no sale price to worry about and no rush. If going touch, I would need to commit today and go get it.

 

Leaning towards non-touch in either the 1222 or 1242 models. He said there was a couple hundred $ difference between those models.

FWIW, I run touch screens but one day I was at Cabelas tinkering with the GPSMAP screens (non-touch) and I found them intuitive for controlling the Livescope demo on the unit.  I honestly have no preference now that I have tried both, you can’t go wrong with either but you might want to compare screen resolution, unit to unit before making your final decision.

I have the touch screen and I find it works well for me. Very easy to go from page to page.

May be to late for my advice, if you passed on the deal today. I love the touchscreens and don't have a problem with prints or false touches. But something that hasn't been mentioned is the footprint. When you get to 12" screens and beyond, they start to take up more space and the button ones even more. If you could see both units in your space, you would see it is considerable.

1 hour ago, GPtimes2 said:

May be to late for my advice, if you passed on the deal today. I love the touchscreens and don't have a problem with prints or false touches. But something that hasn't been mentioned is the footprint. When you get to 12" screens and beyond, they start to take up more space and the button ones even more. If you could see both units in your space, you would see it is considerable.

Thanks.... Something to take into account for sure. Passed on the sale price, but I will try to go compare both and see the size difference. Not in a huge rush, but if I'm going to do it, I want it in before our Ontario smallie trip in June.