1197c SI vs. 998c SI

I searched the posts below and didn’t find a discussion on this issue.

Wade’s post the other day that pointed out the strong likelihood of a GPS connection between MinnKota motors and the HB units has me strongly leaning HB. I’m making the purchase soon. Anyway, I was looking at the 1197 vs. the 998, and the 998 apparently has a few updates that the 1197 doesn’t have. If there were an 1198c SI the choice would be easy because I do want the bigger screen and am willing to pay the price difference. But I don’t want to drop $2,500+ on a model that is going to be replaced with a new model right away. Maybe it’s worth going with the smaller screen (8″ screen should be plenty big, right?) in order to have the latest features? I’d appreciate any thoughts or advice you guys might have. Thank you.

Hi,
I’m kind of in the same boat. The only thing I got out of Humminbird (Humminbird Greg – Yahoo Groups or Side Imaging Forum) is that there will be no 1198 in 2010, BUT their will be a 1197c w/ the (2010) ContourXD map set (in 2010).

There are LOTS of 1197c out there on the tundra! And they all have the SAME PART NUMBER’S!!! There are the 16 CH GPS (UNIMAP), the 50 CH GPS (UNIMAP), and the 50 CH GPS (ContourXD).

If you’re looking for an 1197c, tread very carefully! Find a vendor you can trust (they are required by Humminbird to sell their oldest stock first) and good luck!

Obviously, if you go w/ the 998c, all the latest bells and whistles are there.

You decide what you want to do!!!

Take Care,
Roger

Contour XD is nice if you plan on having a decent base map for fishing all over the country. There are 3000 lakes in Contour XD. Most, if not all, of us in this area will be running a map chip, like the Lakemaster for Humminbird chips, for our mapping needs.

I have yet to encounter an 1197c at a retailer that doesn’t come with the 50-channel GPS…..going back to last April.

The 1197 and the 998 both have video out ports, ethernet ports, and dual SD cards. They both run the same set of software with identical features.

If it were me, and the 1197c was in range financially….that’s what I’d be getting. I ran the 997 last season; great unit, wonderful technology. But after running an 1197, there’s simply no going back for me.

It looks like the 998 has contourXD instead of unimap, and also has the XMweather option. HB’s website doesn’t say it is lakemaster compatible, but I know that they can be with the right chip and/or software update.

I was thinking of getting the 1197 with the preloaded navionics charts, primarily because my current chip is a few years old and I figure it would be cheaper than buying a new one. Maybe that’s a waste of $$? At the same time, it seems like it would override any concerns about not having the countourXD maps.

I have the XM weather receiver for my 1197. Works fine!

998s carry the right software to be LM compatible, right out of the box. An older 1197 from a retailer (older than the past couple of months) would need to be updated to software version 4.750. Free and takes 5 minutes.

The NVB maps are 2006 maps, and cannot be updated. There are no plans to have more recent maps be part of the NVB bundle. An installed mapping chip overrides the NVB maps.

Good info. Thanks, Jason. No doubt I’ll buy through Jolly Ann Marine when I pull the trigger.