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Posts: 41
| I did a quick search on here and didn't see any comparisons or updates on how the new Motor Guide Xi5/Pinpoint is working out when compared to the Terrova/Ipilot/Ilink. I'm planning on upgrading to one of these this year but would like to hear what people who already have them think.
I've heard nothing but good things about the Terrova/Ipilot, but I like Lowrance units so I'm leaning towards the motor guide but I'm hesitant because they're first generation and I haven't heard much from people who have them.
Any descriptions on how the MG Xi5 is working out would be great. |
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Posts: 437
| Pinpoint connect is not yet available for the Motorguide. So there hasnt been any real world feedback to compare against iLink.
Comparing the Pinpoint to Terrova I can share some comments on because I have the xi5 Pinpoint and used the Terrova with iPilot.
The Motorguide is far quieter and smoother. The Motorguide also turns much faster than a terrova. I havent used the foot pedal at all so no comments on that. Comparable features would be cruise control and heading lock (motorguide terms).
I used both of these exclusively while fishing the past week on LOW. If there was a sudden gust of wind, the motor would adjust the speed to achieve the desired set trolling speed.
How this works on motorguide is you hit the cruise control button. By default the speed is set to 1.0mph. You can use the + or - buttons to increase/decrease in .1 MPH increments to achieve your desired speed.
Much of the time I was running .4 to .8 trolling for walleyes. It seemed to work flawlessly if there was either no wind or consistent wind. In scenarios where it was gusty (calm one second then a big blow the next) there was a bit of a delay before the unit responded. By bit of delay I mean, a couple seconds. I am sure this is solely due to how frequent the GPS is refreshing. Perhaps this could be adjusted via an update? I was going to call motorguide and find out.
Further to this I firmly believe that if I was traveling at higher speeds it would not have been an issue, but since I was trolling so slow it was made more evident.
Comparing the anchor mode (motorguide) to the similar features from Terrova. I have seen pictures of a GPS log where a guy used on both the terrova and motorguide and you could clearly see the motorguide did a better job of holding closer to the spot. Nice features that the motorguide offers is the "jog" feature. When in anchor mode you can use the directional arrows to move 5 feet in any direction by pressing one of the buttons once. Pretty sweet. I have used it and it worked really well.
Recording a track. I only recorded one and it worked really well. I will continue to use this more in the future. |
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Posts: 1197
Location: Walker, MN | I upgraded from a Terrova 24v to an Xi5 36v with pinpoint this year and I love it. The anchor mode IS much tighter than spot lock. It is quiet, smooth, turns quicker and has rock solid stow/deploy mechanisms. I like the fact that the wireless foot pedal has a anchor mode button on it so you can anchor while figure 8ing or while fighting a fish without reaching around for the remote.
My three negatives are: There is no speed read out on the remote, heading lock has to be turned on with the remote (no button on foot pedal) and the heading lock is not quite as good as the autopilot on the Terrova imo.
I like it better than Terrova. |
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Posts: 437
| I agree on the speed readout on the remote. That would be nice. That being said I have my GPS mounted right there and speed displayed so I just watch that, but it would be nice to have feedback on the remote so I know WHAT it was actually set to since the speeds on my GPS can vary so much being the front of the boat. I should just display the speed from the GPS at the console on the bow. That rarely jumps around. |
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Posts: 1197
Location: Walker, MN | As long as they are integrating with sonar/gps, what about being able to mark a waypoint from the remote?....maybe the link does that already, I don't know?? |
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Posts: 296
| How do you guys like the Xi5 foot pedal compared to the Terrova? I use the remote for some things but while I am casting for muskies I use the foot pedal exclusively. I wasn't impressed with the design when I saw them at a shop. Seems like you get the captain morgan stance of the cable drive motors in a wireless pedal. |
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Posts: 437
| Both footpedals are rocker style. I am not a fan personally of this design and have not used it. |
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Posts: 1197
Location: Walker, MN | NickD - 6/25/2014 3:34 PM
How do you guys like the Xi5 foot pedal compared to the Terrova? I use the remote for some things but while I am casting for muskies I use the foot pedal exclusively. I wasn't impressed with the design when I saw them at a shop. Seems like you get the captain morgan stance of the cable drive motors in a wireless pedal. Good point, I guess it is a little thicker. I use my remote more...hung from a belt loop. When I do use the foot pedal (Xi5 or Terrova) I just reach over and toe tap it... not rest my foot on it.
One more thing...being able to "jog" 5 feet in any direction while in anchor mode is really nice. If you want to move the boat 20' straight ahead you just hit the arrow four times and it will jog you ahead and re-anchor. Nice for working weed beds, rock piles etc. |
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Posts: 10
| Now the season has been over for some time. For those of you that have used the Xi5, Do you recommend it? I'm considering making the switch to link with my Lawrence system. Its tough finding reviews on these. |
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Posts: 437
| Highly recommended here. I absolutely love it. Spent a week in Canada on LOW with it and it performed flawlessly. It uses far less juice than a comparable Terrova (Max Amp draw 38 vs near 50 for a Terrova 80#).
The anchor feature is one that I found myself using a ton for fishing suspended crappies and walleyes. It was amazing with 25 MPH winds, boat full of wife and kids and we literally stayed on the spot without any other anchor for as long as I wanted. The other boats around us were dragging their anchors because the wind was so strong and they wouldnt hold, but I held position. It is so nice to be able to "anchor" and jog forward, back, left or right a few feet to fine tune your location. Not something you can do with the IPilot.
I have seen comparisons where a guy compared the anchor function side by side with a Terrova and the xi5 was far more precise and didnt roam at all compared to the Terrova. You could see all kinds of tracks on this GPS is how he was comparing the two.
Recording and playback of a track is seemless. I used it a couple times, but honestly I found myself just using heading lock and cruise control 95% of the time. I cannot get over how quiet it is and smooth and fast the head turns.
I highly recommend it. |
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Posts: 117
| Anyone have one of these rigged with a side-imaging transducer on the trolling motor? if so, how do you run the cable on this?
I had my terrova with the ducer cable run up the groove in the shaft and threaded through the motor-mount, as I don't find it an acceptable solution to leave the ducer cable loose along the shaft. Does Motorguide have a solution for this? |
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Posts: 1197
Location: Walker, MN | +2 on running the Xi5 in a big wind, it's a game changer. Being able to anchor and jog saved many outings for me this year. You just have to bring along extra batteries for the remote (AAA's) because you can kill them in a weekend of jog-jog-jog, your boat control will never be better though.
I'm still really sold on mine. My new boat came rigged with a Terrova and I gave that another shot but...i'm glad I held onto the Xi5. I predict that they will sell a pile of these this year. I had one malfunction in the GPS head (durring a tourney of course) but it's really my own fault as they sent out an update to owners who actually sent in their owners registration. A quick trip to Reed's and a 3 min. plug-in solved this issue.
I am a fan of Minn kota products but Motorguide had to hit a home run with the Xi5, and they did.
Edited by Masqui-ninja 1/8/2015 8:16 PM
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Posts: 10
| Thanks guys. This is exactly what I was looking for. It sounds like even though it can be linked up with Lawrence, it doesn't have the ability to follow contour lines, other than that it really sounds like a workhorse.
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Posts: 1197
Location: Walker, MN | NorthstarFitness - 1/10/2015 7:25 PM
Thanks guys. This is exactly what I was looking for. It sounds like even though it can be linked up with Lawrence, it doesn't have the ability to follow contour lines, other than that it really sounds like a workhorse.
Apparently it does not follow contours. It has been hard to find info on the Gateway Connect but it's finally available.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T26DadXCa70
Edited by Masqui-ninja 1/11/2015 8:02 AM
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Posts: 437
| The follow contour feature isnt available yet, but it is in the works.
One thing to look at is total cost here. The cost of this is FAR less than getting into an iPilot with iLink. Basically once you have the xi5 Pinpoint you download the latest lowrance SW update (must be Gen 2 or higher unit) and have the network backbone, thats it. The iPilot link is upwards of $700 on top of the terrova.
In theory the follow contour feature seems brilliant, but I think recording your own path and replaying it is far more useful. Both units do this. If youve ever noticed the map chips are really pretty good these days, but they are far from being 100% accurate. SOmething to consider. |
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Posts: 106
| A terrova with I-pilot link installed at the factory 80#, 24 volt, 60" shaft is $1820. including Ethernet cable to connect to Humminbird graph.
A Motorguide Xi5 pinpoint 80#, 24v, 60" shaft, is $1510. plus $250. for the gateway cable needed to connect to Lowrance graph, for a total of $1760. |
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Posts: 457
Location: Minneconia | I'm wondering about this as well, will be making the switch from cable drive this season. Has MG made any changes to the current Xi5 remote, such as adding a LCD screen? Also, any issues with the MG foot pedal? My fear with the MG is that they haven't quite worked the bugs out of it, but as a Lowrance user it's something I'm considering.
Edited by Dirt Esox 1/12/2015 10:38 PM
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Posts: 437
| ranger618 - 1/12/2015 4:27 PM
A terrova with I-pilot link installed at the factory 80#, 24 volt, 60" shaft is $1820. including Ethernet cable to connect to Humminbird graph.
A Motorguide Xi5 pinpoint 80#, 24v, 60" shaft, is $1510. plus $250. for the gateway cable needed to connect to Lowrance graph, for a total of $1760. I was referring to if you add iPilot link which is what many guys do since they already have a Terrova.
Glad to hear they have their wits about them and dropped the price if factory rigged though. |
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Posts: 106
| Captain - 1/13/2015 2:43 PM
ranger618 - 1/12/2015 4:27 PM
A terrova with I-pilot link installed at the factory 80#, 24 volt, 60" shaft is $1820. including Ethernet cable to connect to Humminbird graph.
A Motorguide Xi5 pinpoint 80#, 24v, 60" shaft, is $1510. plus $250. for the gateway cable needed to connect to Lowrance graph, for a total of $1760. I was referring to if you add iPilot link which is what many guys do since they already have a Terrova.
Glad to hear they have their wits about them and dropped the price if factory rigged though.
I was happy to see LOW/MG competing with HB/MK. The competition will push both of them to up quality and control prices.
I can't say which is better. I bought a Terrova I-pilot link and Humminbird 898s. I'm happy with it so far. But I have read good things about the MG as well. |
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Posts: 1638
Location: Minnesota | like Ranger said competition is a good thing. Both companies come up with better and better units I went with hummingbird and Minn Kota because the x5 was not available at the time |
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Posts: 437
| muskyhunter47 - 1/13/2015 8:41 PM
like Ranger said competition is a good thing. Both companies come up with better and better units I went with hummingbird and Minn Kota because the x5 was not available at the time Yes! This is a great thing. |
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Posts: 457
Location: Minneconia | Ninja, how often do you have to replace the foot pedal batteries in your Xi5? |
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Posts: 1197
Location: Walker, MN | Dirt Esox - 1/17/2015 9:36 AM
Ninja, how often do you have to replace the foot pedal batteries in your Xi5?
I'm probably in the minority for Muskie guys as I mostly use my remote. I have only changed the battery in the wireless foot pedal a couple of times in 80+ outings.
Edited by Masqui-ninja 1/17/2015 8:30 PM
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Posts: 337
Location: Watersmeet, Michigan | Glad to see Motorguide using a composite shaft. Does anyone know whether it's strong enough to do away with the necessity of securing the unit when moving the boat?
Fr. K |
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Posts: 437
| I have never secured my trolling motor when stowed. All I have ever done is slid the collar down to the motor housing. That way if it were to somehow bounce out it isn't going into the water. I did this with my minn kota and now the xi5.
Its probably not a terrible idea to secure it otherwise, but I have never had an issue. |
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Posts: 158
| Great topic. I dont mean to change the course of the thread but it was brought up about how quite the MG is so i thought I'd ask. I got an 80 terrova with the link last summer. When casting I like to run the auto pilot down a weedline and if its on its lowest speed setting I cant hear the motor but as soon as I hit 1.0 and higher the terrova to me sounds like its down right loud! When the guy in the back of the boat can hear the TM running I cant think thats a good thing. What are your thoughts on the terrova noise? Any fixes? Does it spook fish? How can something that costs that much be that loud when my last V2 was perfectly quiet? Thx. |
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Posts: 555
Location: Tennessee | Not sure how the noise we perceive applies to the fish but a good question I'd like to know as well. I have had plenty of fish seem to ignore it when running though unless they followed on spotlock or something and it kicked in and the propwash spooked them. |
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Posts: 437
| I have had muskies hit the prop on my outboard on multiple occasions so I don't know that it affects them too much. Other species I would imagine it would. |
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Posts: 1023
| Just saw the Xi5 today at the Toronto Fishing Show.
Wow! It is totally silent and better than the Terrova IMO.
Not sure about reliability obviously.
May go back and buy it tomorrow?? |
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Posts: 38
Location: WI | Nice topic here and all good information going. I am also interested in the xi5, also going from a cable steer. Anyone running humminbirds and using the xi5. I personally like the feature of the pinpoint over the terrova spot loc. Do not plan on getting rid of the birds and would just use the pinpoint and sonar. I know they have a adaptor cable for the sonar hookup, has anyone used this yet? And.... is the foot pedal or remote response quicker with the xi5 or the terrova.
Edited by HunterDM 2/21/2015 7:29 AM
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