Thread: 998 or hds 8

I faced that same decision back in the spring. I decided on the HDS8 and have no regrets.
I bought it from Brian at BBG Marine. If you have questions give him a call.

on the gps part i believe the internal on the hds does just as good as the 50 external on the birds i use to own,and i bought my hds7 bundled with lss-1 with insight ,u can find them cheaper together instead of buying them seperate.lowrance is suppose to start selling hds 8 and 10 in bundles this year.for the lakes i fish the insite maps are all i need and are better than the navionics premium 07 card i had,just my 2 cents

Originally Posted by DoubleGobble00

Here is my two cents for what it is worth.... I own a 898. I love the unit. Recently I decided to upgrade to a bigger screen. I was either going to switch to Lowrance and get the HDS 10 or the Humminbird 1198. I did alot of research. From what I saw... the Lowrance had the better Down Image and the Side Imaging actually looked better. Now I don't have any real world experience with the SI and DI of lowrance but from the pictures I saw, it looked like it had the upper hand. I believe this is due to the fact that the Lowrance has a dedicated DI crystal and SI crystals. The Humminbird has two SI crystals and they are used to get the DI image. Now... Lowrance is more expensive and has more wires to hook up. You have to buy the HDS 10 with 200/83 2d transducer ($2050) plus the LSS-1 Structure Scan ($575). Also if you want to have an external GPS that has a 5x refresh speed you need to buy the LGC 4000 and Nema 2000 kit for $270. That puts the Lowrance at $2895 plus what ever maps you want (Insight, Navionics, etc).

The 1198 Humminbird is $2350 total and includes one transducer that has SI and 2D built into it, a 50 channel 4x refresh rate external GPS puck, and stand and cover. All that is left to get are your maps (Navionics, LakeMaster, etc.). The SI on the Humminbird is real real good. I actually think (not sure since I have not use the HDS Lowrance) that the "Enhanced" features like "Sharpness" give it an advantage since it makes the fish much easier to see. If you can't see the fish then it is pointless. I have not been able to compare that though. That is just an assumption. Whether it is easier to navigate is up to the user.. It matters what you are use to.

I decided to go with the 1198 because I was already familiar with it, the wires were already ran, it was easier for me to use, and the Humminbird service, support, and internet help has been tremendous. The guys are so so helpful and have taught me a huge amount of info. I also didn't have a place to mount the LSS-1 and didn't want all the extra wires running all over my boat.

Bottom line, I believe both units are GREAT!!!! You will be happy with either...

DoubleG