Bought 1 for new boat. Used finders forever. Never one with this technology. Micro sd card. Just starting to do research.
What's your thoughts on using a lakemaps card or naviontics. Minnesota verson.

Mainly gonna use around Ely and West metro area. Buddy has place on Minnetonka I'm going to start to explore during the week

I run a Helix 10 and I bought a Mn Lakemaster chip, v7 I believe. For the lakes I fish the majority of the time, Lakemaster chip is not needed. Lakes like Basswood for example, Lakemaster has a very basic depth map of the lake. HB comes with a set of base maps, contour XD? At this time, contour XD/Lakemaster have similar maps for those "off the beaten path" lakes. Now if you're fishing the great 8 or a more well known body of water, I really like my lakemaster chip. One thing I would recommend as a MUST is a zero lines card. With that and autochart, you can create your own maps. It's amazing.

My vote is to get the Navionics plus chip. With this chip you will have most lakes in the USA and Canada. I have had this chip for 9 months and I love it.

So if I get the naviontics card I would be covered in Illinois , Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Plus most in bwca.