Topic: 998HD vs 999

[jimmythegreek]

hey guys.....sadly I sold my bigger boat and I let my 998c SI go with it as I didnt care for the screen, it was almost 2 yrs old and I got good $ for it.  I love the 958HD on my bow so I planned on upgrading anyway and selling it.  I am gonna order a replacement 99x and Im leaning towards the 998HD model.  Its over a 100 cheaper, and also comes w a GPS puck, I dont wanna use the internal gps even if I end up w a 999.  I prefer to have my puck above my ducer for accurate spot marking, and thought I could even upgrade to the heading sensor w the 998 w little cost vs almost $200 w the 999. 

My real question is on the 2D sonar quality.  On my 998ci I ran a year old version of software to avoid the really pixelated 2D sonar on newer software versions, the SI was still very good w that software.  I have installed some newer units for others but havent had them on the water, how is the 2D sonar in these new units?  I realize I could never run that old software because I cannot go back to previous versions older than unit shipped with.  I use SI only on reservoirs for locating schools of bait and wipers, otherwise its a dedicated chartplotter and sonar split unit for me.  I thought about going to a 119x unit but Im going to just add a 85x unit over winter to maximize screen layout and size, its just the sonar quality that bothers me.  Id really hate to go back to the pixelated hell of the current software on that older 998 unit.  I almost wanna goto lowrance for the console but cant bring myself to it, Id get a 1159 in a hearbeat if I didnt need the SI but I do once in a while.....thanks in advance

[rnvinc]

You can alleviate the 2d pixelation issue somewhat by using 200kHz only and slowing the chart speed down some ...

Or you can set the "Beam Select" setting to "Dual Beam" and use any of the 200kHz - 200kHz/83kHz -83kHz settings ...

Rickie

[Trytoofish]

This is just an observation, but it seem like the 999 never got the attention like the 998. it seem the 998's still sell better than the 999. Is this because Suggested retail was more to start with? Or are the 998's just a better unit! What do you think?

[Bob B]

hey guys.....sadly I sold my bigger boat and I let my 998c SI go with it as I didnt care for the screen, it was almost 2 yrs old and I got good $ for it.  I love the 958HD on my bow so I planned on upgrading anyway and selling it.  I am gonna order a replacement 99x and Im leaning towards the 998HD model.  Its over a 100 cheaper, and also comes w a GPS puck, I dont wanna use the internal gps even if I end up w a 999.  I prefer to have my puck above my ducer for accurate spot marking, and thought I could even upgrade to the heading sensor w the 998 w little cost vs almost $200 w the 999. 

My real question is on the 2D sonar quality.  On my 998ci I ran a year old version of software to avoid the really pixelated 2D sonar on newer software versions, the SI was still very good w that software.  I have installed some newer units for others but havent had them on the water, how is the 2D sonar in these new units?  I realize I could never run that old software because I cannot go back to previous versions older than unit shipped with.  I use SI only on reservoirs for locating schools of bait and wipers, otherwise its a dedicated chartplotter and sonar split unit for me.  I thought about going to a 119x unit but Im going to just add a 85x unit over winter to maximize screen layout and size, its just the sonar quality that bothers me.  Id really hate to go back to the pixelated hell of the current software on that older 998 unit.  I almost wanna goto lowrance for the console but cant bring myself to it, Id get a 1159 in a hearbeat if I didnt need the SI but I do once in a while.....thanks in advance

I completely understand your delimna....I don't think the new units are any better with the 2D than the 98 series......except the Onix if you want to pony up the $ for one.....The get arounds Rickie mentioned will help also.

There is also a problem with the 800Khz with the 99's.  It seems like they may be getting that under control, but don't know if the fix is as good as the 98 series.

As far as the cost of the 98's vs the 99's......I would guess there is still a big demand for the units that can run 6.49 software and that is keeping their price up.