HB 898 worth it or not??

[crappiehnt]

I am thinking about purchasing a HB 898. Before I make the plunge I want other opinions on this unit. Is it really worth it. I am basically a weekend warrior fishermann with 2-3 lakes i fish regularly. Lakes are fairly shallow with a max depth of 30ft.

[fultondalecrappie]

I would try and find places that still hve the 997 and get it for the same price.

[luvin.fishin]

There aren't any out there in service to give an opinion on but for $1,295, it may be a bargain for a big screen Bird. It's an inch smaller screen than the 998c. You know it will have the latest electronic boards (PCB's) for future expansion and the latest software. Right now, the 997c is the only comparison to go by but it's not going to have the latest hardware like the 898c will have. For the moment, operation will be the same though.

[Cane Pole]

Buy it. If you don't like it, ill trade you my 997 for it. I just want the video out.

If HB would do a mainboard upgrade for my 997, I would almost kiss their tail feathers.

They could offer this if they wanted to.

I have use a for the video out.

[CrappieCrazed]

There aren't any out there in service to give an opinion on but for $1,295, it may be a bargain for a big screen Bird. It's an inch smaller screen than the 998c. You know it will have the latest electronic boards (PCB's) for future expansion and the latest software. Right now, the 997c is the only comparison to go by but it's not going to have the latest hardware like the 898c will have. For the moment, operation will be the same though.

$1,295???? Where did you find that??? Everywhere i look they are 1499. I was gonna wait for the 898 to come out but basspro said it would be mid march before they would be gettin any. Ordered a clearanced 997 for 1399 last week. Do the update free that hb provides and you still have side imaging and down imaging AND you have the larger screen with the 997 still. No brainer for me. I see cane pole said something about video out. Im not smart enough to even know what hes talking about so. I just want to be able to find structure and fish it!!! Myself I still think the better deal is the 997 when you think just fishing with it. After the download needed for the 997 to have down imaging it should be close to the same unit but still have a larger screen.

[luvin.fishin]

$1,295???? Where did you find that??? Everywhere i look they are 1499. I was gonna wait for the 898 to come out but basspro said it would be mid march before they would be gettin any. Ordered a clearanced 997 for 1399 last week. Do the update free that hb provides and you still have side imaging and down imaging AND you have the larger screen with the 997 still. No brainer for me. I see cane pole said something about video out. Im not smart enough to even know what hes talking about so. I just want to be able to find structure and fish it!!! Myself I still think the better deal is the 997 when you think just fishing with it. After the download needed for the 997 to have down imaging it should be close to the same unit but still have a larger screen.

That 1499 number is MSRP. I try to never pay that for anything! I don't know where you're looking but I find them in several places with Google for 1295. One place I'd recommend where you can get it at this price is jandhproducts.com It's where I go to. There are others, just gotta' look hard.

[luvin.fishin]

Dunno 'bout bass pro shop but the other sites are saying next week for the new 998 and 898 units. I'm sure most of the merchants out there will be eager to dump their stock of 997 units when the new 998's become available. (Right now, you can pre-order a 998 system for 1727 from j&h.) The video out port that CP mentioned is just one adder. There are also other improvements (upgraded/faster micro processor, contour XD maps, gr50 gps, etc...etc...) but the one big thing is future expandability with the unit. The ONLY difference (besides price) in the 898 vs 998 is 1" of diagonal screen size.

[CrappieCrazed]

I see I seee....... Im not an electronics gooroo so what does it mean to have a faster processor?

[Cane Pole]

I see I seee....... Im not an electronics gooroo so what does it mean to have a faster processor?

Bout the same as having a faster boat.

[Jason Halfen #511]

I see I seee....... Im not an electronics gooroo so what does it mean to have a faster processor?

One area where I see the influence of processor speed is the time it takes to write a screen capture. Faster processor = shorter write time.

Another area where processor speed may be a factor is the refresh rate for the new 3D charts....but I have yet to see that in person.

And remember....this all applies to the current software version. As the software gets more and more powerful, you can expect computing power to be connected strongly to that software.