I just picked up an Elite 4 Chirp just for the logging capability. I could spend money on Insight Genesis or Reefmaster. Why get Reefmaster?

With Insight Genesis I can see my new chart on my Lowrance units. Can I view Reefmaster charts on Lowrance units? All I can tell from the Reefmaster page is that I can view the charts on "compatable units", not much help, there is no link to compatable units.

I want to see my charts when on the boat on the Lowrance chart page. Can that be done?

Thank you

Insight is for plotting routes and way point management, Reefmaster is for generating your own custom charts from log files which you can use in your Lowrance units and also provides waypoint management. Two completely different tasks. So:

Get Insight if you want to plan trips.
Get Reefmaster if you want to create charts.

Dan.

Insight genesis is Lowrance's online mapping solution, which can create maps in the same way as ReefMaster for display on Lowrance units.

In answer to the first question, pretty much any Lowrance unit will be able to display RM and IG generated maps, and the Elite 4 is compatible.

The main difference between RM & IG is that IG is very much a "one click" solution. You simply upload your sonar logs and receive a map in return. It's very easy to use, but as a result is less flexible than RM. RM can generate exactly the same sort of maps as IG, but a lot more user input is required; for example, you will need to supply your own lake shorelines, decide on contour intervals and interpolation limits, choose palettes etc. More work, but more flexibility as to the finished product. RM also enables you to export data in formats other than maps for Navico units - e.g. Shapefiles for use in other GIS applications - and has an optional sidescan mosaic module that can be used to view and export sidescan mosaic imagery. Which is right for you depends really on what you want to get out and how much effort you want to put it. A lot of people enjoy getting involved in the finer details of creating maps and it's also true to say that many people don't! Since you can trial both for free, I'd suggest giving both a go to see what works for you.

Apologies I got my programs confused and was thinking of the Insight Planner software. I have used Genesis and as Matt said it is a one click solution. I noticed it filtered out a lot of data too, not sure why but it limited the ability to get much useable information from it. The results left me unwilling to commit to a purchase and I spent a looong time looking for a better solution until I finally discovered Reefmaster.

And I have had a lot more success using Reefmaster, from the very first map i created. A notable point of difference is that you can't easily explore the map you create in Genesis (at least in the older version), if you want to do this (which is the point afterall) you will need to upload it to your sounder or to Insight Planner. Reefmaster lets you explore and adjust right there, create shorelines and add other marks & points of interest on the fly. Plus you can explore all your sounding log files and find the structure and the fish.

I would recommend running with the trial and see how you go. The learning curve is a little steep so make sure you can put a few hours aside over the course of several days to get used to the work flow and by the end of the trial you should be able to answer your question of which to buy.

I combine the free-version of IG (Social Map) with Reefmaster. It is a great combo. I also have Premium on IG, but usually just use the maps from Social Map unless looking for vegetation.

I had no idea that was possible. Can you import the at5 into Reefmaster?

No, the at5-files are "dead" ie not something you can change or draw info from apart from in your chartplotter.

But I use IG Social Map when going to lakes I have not been to myself, and since I have several HDS-units in my boat I usually run Navionics on one, IG on one and RM on one.