New Electronics

[410th]

I am wanting to upgrade the Electronics on the boat with out hocking one of the Grandkids. I have been looking at Humminbirds over Lowrance. Wont get in to that debate. I would love to have the HB 1198C SI Combo or the 988, but I would have to hock a Grandchild for sure and the wife said NOWAY, so I am looking at the 788HD SI or DI but I am worried about the screen size. With a 5 inch screen can you get enough detail on that small of screen where Down Imaging or Side Imaging it would matter? If you had to pick one witch one would be the best, Side Imaging or Down Imaging. I Bass fish and Crappie fish. Just wanting your all's thoughts on this unit or any other unit in that price range.

Thanks
Billy

[floatman]

hey Billy, I have the 788ci, and after asking for advice on SI for the 798, I chose not to get it, said the screen was too small, and I can understand that opinion, their is no comparison between a 5in to a 7in screen, and DI came out just after I got mine (naturally) after all that I like my unit, the GPS is great, and the sonar works good, I have found myself wishing I had gotten the SI, some detail is better than no detail, JMO hope this helps

Gary

[Fishin is life]

Everything I've heard says if you're getting the SI don't even bother with the 5 inch screen....It's too small and makes it difficult to tell anything....Everybody has said if you're going to get the SI to get atleast the 7" screen

[lakebandit]

i have the 798. if you dont go fishing alot like me. i have had this unit for 2yrs and when i go out i find myself fishing and not working on understanding the unit. if you want anything 5 or bigger you will need to spend sometime to understand what you are looking at. i have watched youtube videos read posts. good luck with whatever you get.

[Carter1]

My partner had a unit with the side imaging and it worked great. Good luck in your choice.

[olgreenboat]

bigger screen by all means. I have a 596c HD DI and it is sweet but the screen is too small for my old eyes to see it in DI but the sonar screen is OK though.. If I could of afford it I would of gooten the side unit.. It burns me to spend the kind of money we do for this stuff and your dam cell phone has a better VGA (video graphics accelerator) then your 1K + fish finder and color lcd screens have been out for decades now so there is no big new tec thing going on there..

[Bass Addict 170]

I am wanting to upgrade the Electronics on the boat with out hocking one of the Grandkids. I have been looking at Humminbirds over Lowrance. Wont get in to that debate. I would love to have the HB 1198C SI Combo or the 988, but I would have to hock a Grandchild for sure and the wife said NOWAY, so I am looking at the 788HD SI or DI but I am worried about the screen size. With a 5 inch screen can you get enough detail on that small of screen where Down Imaging or Side Imaging it would matter? If you had to pick one witch one would be the best, Side Imaging or Down Imaging. I Bass fish and Crappie fish. Just wanting your all's thoughts on this unit or any other unit in that price range.

Thanks
Billy

Where to start...first of all, having SI provides a huge advantage when searching for structure whether fishing for crappie or bass. Also, an SI unit includes DI as well, so the two together plus regular sonar is phenomenal.
That being said, if you truly can't afford the 898c SI (7"), having SI in the 798ci HD DI will still help you, but it is much harder to read when screens are split (i.e.- Chart/SI).
Now if you are really in a crunch for funds and don't want to spend more than $800, the 597ci HD DI has the EXACT same features as the 788ci HD DI, except for three things: price ($649 vs $799), the 788 can be linked to the higher series, and the 788 accepts various add-on units for weather. If those features dont benefit you, I suggest saving the $150 from the 788.
Hope this helps. If you're still confused, pm me or come see me at BPS.
-Matt

[Embrey]

if you cant see spending that much, the 798 is still a good unit. yeah, i wish i had the 898 or bigger, but then again, they are double and more in price,and the 798 costs enough as it is.

[HawgHunter75]

I've had the 798 SI for a few years now, and I couldn't be happier with it. Sure, I'd like to have the widescreen model, but the 798 suits me just fine for the price. The SI feature will really help you in my opinion, especially on water you aren't overly familiar with.

Just my two cents

[JUSTINHALL]

Maybe a wise choice to go with Humingbird; I installed the Lowrance HDS-10 with structure scan on Friday afternoon and went out Friday night to test it out. Wow it is amazing what it shows and how clear it is, especially with the 10" screen. I put in at 7:30 and could not believe how cool it was, 9:30 rolled around and well, not so much it quit working. I knew I would have trouble but come on 2 hrs really??? I reset everything and still no go on the structure portion. Went out Saturday evening turned it on and cool it was working just a glich, well that lasted about 3 minutes of excitement down for the count again. The plus side is, I talked to Linda today and she had one in the UPS today, be here in two days no hassle no rudeness etc. that some complain about only good service, but when you pay $3,400.00 you expect it to work more than 2 hours.
Good thing I kept my Raymarine C120 mounted also.
Don’t want to start your thread in to what you didn’t want it to be just confirming you are making the right choice since you have not bought yet, regardless of size you get.

[410th]

I just had a thought and figured it dont hurt to ask, so I will ask. If any body that has a Humminbird DI or SI Unit and will be around Ceder Creek some time, I would love to see what I am thinking about spend $$$$$$ on. Just want to see what it really can do, and is it something I really need. I know I can go to a Fishin Store and see the demo, but real life info would be a lot better. i want to see the detail of the 5 inch screen or do I just need to wait till I get a second job and get the bigger unit. Them things cost way to much money. So if any body is going to be around Herrington or Cedar sometime and dont care to take someone out for little while please give me yell.

thanks

Billy

[sweetwater]

If you fish the same lake most of the time don't waste your money on either. A good quality regular fish finder will tell you everything you need to know in order to catch fish. You just have to learn how to interrupt what you are seeing. We have one on our Skeeter and you can tell what is wood or rock, how big it is and what it looks like. You can also tell hard bottom from soft bottom and the thermocline will stick out like a sore thumb. I know the pictures of sticks and old bridges look pretty in the ads but they are not really necessary to catch fish. If you fish a lot of tourneys it may be different but for everyday fishing the regular fishfinders will serve you just fine.