997 verses 1197

ok i am about ready to make the plunge into side imaging is the 1197 worth the extra money also what are the major diffrences between the two
one more thing i have the navionics on a 787 and am not real impressed with it what other map program will work with these units.i ahve a hot spots map program that i used on my old garmin and i like it a lot more that the navionics at least it shows the river and creek channels on the lake that i fish but i don't think it will work any input will be appreciated thanks

I have a 997 and I would not spend the extra grand for the 1197 simple because the 997 is plenty large enough to address the screen size issue that the 797 guys sometimes complain about and it has the same basic features of the 1197 like the 2 map card slots for instance. If I had to deal with saltwater applications then i'd probably be alot more open to the 1197. Also, if your going to dive into an 1197 it is a beast as far as size on a typical freshwater bass boat or jon boat. To me the 997 is the ultimate freshwater fishing tool.

Here are the diffrences:

The 1197 has a 10.4 inch display verses the 997 8 inch display.
The 1997 has 600V X 800H display verses the 997 480V X 800H (Pixel Count).

The 1197 has video output capability.

Joby...while we are on the subject..could you clear up the 200hz vs 83 hz on my 787ci? I cannot figure out what im looking at in each mode. Then theres a third option of both 200/83. What mode should I be in if I just wanna look to see whats under me like a traditional graph? It seems the thing will light up with a big brush pile and the brush pile is like 10 yards away (i know because some of them are marked with a stake). Im just trying to figure out how to utilize all of these modes.

is the higher pixel count in the 1197 that much sharper than the 997

also lets here some comments on the navionics

Navionics is always going to be upgrading their maps so check out their site to see if the lakes you fish are included. In fact they might already have been.
As for the 1197 VS the 997. Size is always a big deal no matter what brand you get. Its nice to kick back further and still be able to see the screen.
WarrenMN

I would have to agree with Warren on the size of the screen. With the screen on the 1197 you can see it very well.

CarPoop,

I am using this as an example: 10 foot of water

If you are in 10ft of water and have the unit set on 200 khz that means that you are running the unit in single beam. The coverage you will get from this is 3 ft of coverage. If you are running 200khz/83khz you are running dual beam. The coverage you will get from dual beam would be 10 ft of water 10ft of coverage.

If you are running I would use only 200 khz.