HB 898ci SI Combo OR a Lowrance GEN2 HDS7 with LSS ?

Going back and forth between a HD898ci Si Combo with the side/down imaging and the new Lowrance GEN2 HDS7 with the LSS option - I know from reading, the customer service at HB is reviewed well as opposed to Lowrance. But unit for unit, what provides a better experience? I know that hard bottom mapping
can be accomplished via software from DrDepth - Sea bottom mapping software - BUT it cannot be imported into the 898 according to HB. I am not certain with the Lowrance as I have not gotten that far.

Any insight you can provide is a help. I know the screen sizes are slightly different as is the resolution which is an issue. The combi of SI/DI is important as I fish a fair amount of shallow water say 5 or 6' to 15' or so in search of bass on Lake Talquin and Lake Seminole.

HB xx98 SI advantage....less hardware...(1 head unit, 1 GPS antenna, 1 xducer)...
Lowrance SI advantage... True DI from dedicated DI crystals in their SS xducer...

Rickie

Thank you... I'd love to get feedback for those who have actually used the units. Much appreciated.

http://www.hightechfishing.com/drdepth-1.html

I have owned the HB's and Lowrance.

I bought the HB-1198 & HB-898 which was very user friendly. The 3 buttons that take you right to a given screen. Loved this. I believe that the GPS is more accurate than Lowrance. Everything else is pretty much equal except SI Images.

Then I bought the HDS-10 and HDS-7. More menu's to get from place to place (Less User Friendly). But once I learned my way around, it was not a problem. The main reason for me selling the HB Units and going to Lowrance is better images on the SI & DI. Lowrance put a better image on the screen than HB. I was more interested in the SI & DI.

Both are fine units and can't go wrong either way.



keith

Thanks Keith, that's the kind of input I need.

I have a HB 1198 and HB 858c di. Im not really impressed with the di unit .... but the 1198 is one bad unit!!!!! Si is very clear once i got it tuned in....