Humminbird 797 or 798?

[DJL66]

I have a chance to pick up a 797si at a very reasonable price but was wondering if there is alot of difference compared to the 798. I see that DI can now be added to the 797 but are there any significant differences that would convince me to go with the 798?

[Jason Halfen]

The 797s are legacy products. They haven't been manufactured for at least one year. The 798 is the current run of that small-screen SI unit.

The screens on the two units are different. The 798 is a square 640 x 640, while the 797 is rectangular 640 x 480.

They are shipped with different GPS receivers. The 798 comes with the 50 channel receiver, while the 797 uses an older, 16 channel receiver.

I believe each carries a different amount of on-board memory, with the 797 having less. This is the reason the HB engineers had to re-write the Down Imaging code to allow it to be supported by the 797.

[RichZ]

I have a chance to pick up a 797si at a very reasonable price but was wondering if there is alot of difference compared to the 798. I see that DI can now be added to the 797 but are there any significant differences that would convince me to go with the 798?

In addition to what Jason said, one of the biggest practical differences is that the 798 has two SD slots, so you can have a detailed map chip (eg Navionics) and a writeable chip to record screenshots, etc., in the unit at the same time.

[TomP.]

I have the 797csi and it has been a great unit never a tick of a problem. That being said I would opt for the 798 with the higher pixel count your going to get just a much better image, and it will support any new updates where the 797 may not. Got lucky with the DI update that HB went out of it`s way to make it available on the 797`s May not happen again..

[colt100]

I have the 797csi and it has been a great unit never a tick of a problem. That being said I would opt for the 798 with the higher pixel count your going to get just a much better image, and it will support any new updates where the 797 may not. Got lucky with the DI update that HB went out of it`s way to make it available on the 797`s May not happen again..

I also have a 797 bought in 07. I really like this unit but wish I could have a bigger screen to make the SI easier to see when on the water. If I were to buy another right now, barring a really great deal, I would just save my money and get a 997 or 1197. Had I known the 797 was going to be discontinued, I would have saved for another year and got the 997.

[BCLII]

Take a look at the new 898si. They should be out in march.

[DJL66]

Thanks for the replies, looks like I've now settled on the 898 when they become available. I would hate to buy the 798 now and regret it in a years time. The 898 is a little more $ now but I think I'll be much happier.

[Jason Halfen]

That's a good decision, from my perspective. Larger screen sizes will save you from doing a ton of squinting to see fine details in Side Imaging.

[Johnnie Candle]

You have to remember with SI that it is the horizontal pixels that become important.

For years we worried about Vert pixel count, now you need to be concerned with both.

Humminbird does a great job providing enough of each so you get a great picture either way.

[Dave in Walker]

Jason, I am only interested in gps chartplotter only, you can get a good deal on a 955C, Hummingbird says they will service legacy units for 6 years after the warranty period. Wouldn't that be the way to go?

[dabirdsman]

Dave, PM me if you know of any reasonably priced 955's left. Had three places last month, but didn't pull the trigger. Saw a 917C for $635 on Friday and played 917 and 635 in the Illinois lottery on Friday night....didn't come, but the number Saturday night WAS 635!