# i-pilot vs pronav angler



## TheLachmans (Aug 28, 2016)

Thinking about purchasing one of these. I know the i-pilot has been around for a while and a lot of people use it, but does anyone out there have any real world experience with the pronav? I already have a brand new trolling motor that is compatible with both, and I have no interest in spending 2k+ more for a new motor and finder. So far I have come up with a few pros and cons from my research. Feel free to pro and con me also.

Both have the anchor feature (which is my main reason for wanting one so I can help my wife and kid fish without dropping the anchor or blowing into the bank)
I like that I can keep my foot pedal with the pronav while I would lose it with the i-pilot.
I also like that I can program and save routes and waypoints with the pronav, 
I am not sure if I would utilize all of the features that pronav offers, but I feel like I would miss the options if I went with the i-pilot.
The biggest con for pronav is the price. $699 vs $449 for the i-pilot. I'm not a pro fisherman, just my kid and my wife. Money is always an object! I don't do tournaments, just like to get out and catch some fish. Do I really need either of them? No, but do we really need any of this stuff? Again, anyone with experience or thoughts on either one would be great.


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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

If you intend to troll on Lake Erie and use the TM to steer your boat, the ipilot offers both compass based heading hold and gps based (vector in the ProNav). My Motorguide xi5 only has gps heading hold. The difference is hard to describe but when you get a little crosswind, the TM will attempt to keep you on an exact course line and you can end up with your boat ‘crabbing’ with gps steering. The end result is the boat ends up traveling at an angle which is not good if you’re attempting to troll. Yes you’ll travel in a straight line, but your boat will not necessarily point in the direction you’re traveling. The ipilot users will know the point I’m trying to make and may chime in that ‘yeah the compass mode works better for trolling’. Hopefully someone will chime in to confirm that. I wish I had the minnkota for this reason.


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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

And the point of my post is that ipilot offers both compass based heading hold and gps based heading hold while the ProNav appears to be gps only based on a quick view of their webpage


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## TheLachmans (Aug 28, 2016)

dgfidler said:


> And the point of my post is that ipilot offers both compass based heading hold and gps based heading hold while the ProNav appears to be gps only based on a quick view of their webpage


Thanks for the reply. Thanks for taking the time to explain the differences in the two heading systems. While I don't plan on using my outboard to troll, I can see how that would cause problems if I did. Do you think I would notice a difference if I wasn't trolling with the outboard? I am mostly on electric only or 9.9 / no wake lakes, we usually just travel the shoreline and stop if we find something. That is where the anchor lock would be very handy. I have a feeling that the anchor is going to be the main thing I use no matter which one I end up going with. I just can't decide if the extras on the pronav, that I may or may not use, are worth the extra $250. I know that they are apples and oranges when trying to compare them. I haven't really seen a lot of feedback (good or bad) on the pronav, but I haven't seen much negative about the i-pilot. Thanks again for the help.


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## fishing_Jake (May 4, 2018)

My personal experience with the ProNav has been great! They do have compass heading locks it's just not advertised as heavily. I just press and hold my vector and options come up to follow Compass headings or my own vector heading. I really like the ability to create and save my own routes while I'm at home so once I'm out on the water I can just run the route and not worry about it. With regards to your anchor points on fish, pronav lets me save unlimited waypoints as well as anchor while I'm on a route so when I get on the fish I just mark it and anchor. I personally don't have a chartplotter/fishfinder so the cheap subscription to Navionics was great for me and it integrated right into my app. This helped a lot for my trolling because I could make routes along contours I wanted. I personally think its well worth the extra cost because of how easy it is to use. Rumor has it they are coming out with a remote here soon as well which will really kick it up a notch. I think their app is free as well so you can download it and try it before you purchase.


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## ProNav_Marine (May 4, 2018)

fishing_Jake said:


> My personal experience with the ProNav has been great! They do have compass heading locks it's just not advertised as heavily. I just press and hold my vector and options come up to follow Compass headings or my own vector heading. I really like the ability to create and save my own routes while I'm at home so once I'm out on the water I can just run the route and not worry about it. With regards to your anchor points on fish, pronav lets me save unlimited waypoints as well as anchor while I'm on a route so when I get on the fish I just mark it and anchor. I personally don't have a chartplotter/fishfinder so the cheap subscription to Navionics was great for me and it integrated right into my app. This helped a lot for my trolling because I could make routes along contours I wanted. I personally think its well worth the extra cost because of how easy it is to use. Rumor has it they are coming out with a remote here soon as well which will really kick it up a notch. I think their app is free as well so you can download it and try it before you purchase.


Thanks for the review fishing_Jake, we are glad you like it!

ProNav was made with the average angler in mind so that they do not have to spend a ton of money on expensive chart-plotters and fish-finders. Jake is correct that ProNav does offer Compass heading locks as wells GPS vector headings. If you would like to check out ProNav we have videos on our website and YouTube page as well as some articles. One specific article that you may be interested in is the "Fishing with Kids" article discussing how ProNav changes the way you fish with kids. 

Keep in mind that ProNav offers a one year satisfaction guarantee, so if you buy our product and try it out and don't like it, we will buy it back in full. This makes ProNav a risk free purchase for you. 

We would love to get in contact with you if you have any questions about our product. Feel free to give us a call!!


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