I am looking at buying a new fishing boat in the very near future. I have only owned ski boats so this purchase is taking on more research than I expected. At the same time, I have been looking at the trolling motors and fish finders/locators.
Minn Kota only works with Humminbird because they are owned by the same company. MotorGuide only works with Lowrance. You have to make sure your locator is compatible with your specific motor.
The only MotorGuide that you can control with the features you mention is the XI5. At first impression it will look like the XI5 is about $5-600 cheaper than the Minn Kota Terrova I-Pilot Link. With MotorGuide you have to add an NMEA cable for $250 and then you have to pay something for some pinpoint software or something. After that, the MotorGuide is only about $150 less in price.
Minn Kota's come with I-Pilot or I-Pilot Link. Obviously, the I-Pilot is cheaper than the Link. Minn Kota, you get the I-Pilot or I-Pilot link with the Terrova (cheapest), Ulterra, and the Ultrex. You can get the PoweDrive with just I-Pilot and not the Link. This one does not come with a foot pedal control, just a hand remote.
The link lets you control your motor from your fish finder/locator instead of just the foot pedal or hand remote. It also comes with a remote to control your trolling motor whether your get I-Pilot or Link. The MotorGuide XI5 comes with a wireless foot pedal so you can put it anywhere on the boat. Its remote is a basic remote where the Minn Kota has an LCD Screen remote.
The Lowrance/XI5 you can use a touchscreen on the actual fishfinder to control your motor. The Humminbird/I-Pilot is not a touch screen unless you go up to a 12'' screen which runs in the $2K-$3K range. So you have to use the buttons.
That is everything I can think of off the top of my head. There are more features and differences between them.
MotorGuide is made by Mercury which is owned by Brunswick. Minn Kota is owned by Johnson Outdoors which also owns Humminbird fish finders, Lund, and Crestliner boats. For me, I am leaning towards Minn Kota because they are located here in Minnesota and they have service centers all around where I live. MotorGuide is a little tougher to get serviced but not impossible, just have to drive about 40-50 miles to a service dealer.
There is a website with forums
www.walleyecentral.com You can go on the forums and go to the electronics page and read about other people's experiences. FYI, the people that buy them swear by the brand they bought.
If you go with Minn Kota make sure you get the latest model/2017. It will be a
Bluetooth model. There have been many complaints about the previous I-Pilot version that could not keep a spot lock/anchor position at all. There were/are a lot of very angry owners. The newest version is night and day compared to last year's version.
EDIT: LCD Screen on the I-Pilot remote not and LED remote.
