Hummingbird 898c Si ?

[bigfish5]

I see looking on hummingbird .com that all the side imaging units except the 898c show having the nvb bundle package? is the nvb package alot better detail or info on the maps? is it worth the extra money? does anyone know if hummingbird expects to add the nvb package to the 898c si ? getting ready to order my new boat. was thinking about getting the 898c si but if the nvb package is much better i may wait or go with the 998c si. just trying to make the right choice. i was hoping to get 2- 898c si units. if the nvb package is a lot better then i may go with 1-998c si? any info anyone has on this would be great. thanks phillip

[Humminbird_Greg]

I don’t think that the NVB package is available for the 898c Si unit. Nothing in the catalog about it and I don’t remember seeing any model numbers, part numbers or other paperwork on them.

In my opinion: If you fish a large number of lakes than the NVB could be worth the extra expense but these lakes would have to include lakes from more than one region, as Navionics defines them, and they would have to be in the HD format in the NVB data. Otherwise I would just buy the more updated Premium HotMap card for the region(s) that you need.

[bigfish5]

so the premium hot maps card has more detail of each lake than the maps in the nvb package? the nvb package just has more lakes? so if i just fish in alabama the hotmaps card would give me greater detail of the lakes contour lines etc.?

[rnvinc]

I think the nvb package maps are 2006 models...

Buying the card seperate you can get up to 2010 model cards...

[Humminbird_Greg]

rnvinc is right. I would just buy the non-NVB unit and the HotMaps Premium South region mapping card.

[Kellog]

From my understanding from the Humminbird web-site the NVB includes all 4 of the Hotmaps Navionics cards. I am getting ready to purchase either the 898 or the 998. I am going to just purchase the map of my region. I think it includes up to 21 states and I only fish in 3 of the states it covers. If you aren't going to fish nationwide I would suggest just buying the Navionics Hotmap Card that you need. IMO