Humminbird 958c

[walleyvoyager]

Im looking to purchase a new hummingbird 958c or an HDS8. I was talking to the guys at cabelas, they were saying that hummingbird will be coming out with an update that will allow the user to eliminate the 1 inch of space with your depth and water temp is on the left side of the screen. With that change, adding an inch of screen and their purchase of lake masters, they might be hard to beat.

on the other hand the HDS8 is a great unit and is on sale now for $1,300 after mail in rebate. Also lowrance will should be coming out with their own chips this spring.

Any thoughts on the two units?

Thanks

[Nick Kuhn]

My personal opinion is that unless you find a good deal, the 958 as a product really doesn't make sense. It is at the same price point as an 898, and you get so much more with the 898. Sure, you lose an inch of display size, but you still get the same display resolution, the same networking capabilities, same transducer power, but you also gain SI/DI which is huge. Unless you have very poor vision, the 898 will always find you more fish and structure.

[ClownColor]

totally agree. Down imagine is nice but traditional sonar basically does the same thing...just not in a "picture" like form. SI is were it is at. I would even get a 700 series with SI before a 1100 series without.

Lowrance has some nice features with the HDS's but the best thing is that you can purchase your unit in peices...meaning you can add SI/DI at a later time.

If me though...898 all the way (and I finally have the funds this years )

[walleyvoyager]

I've never seen the si or di in action. I do a lot of vertical walleye fishing, are either of th bennificial in deep water?

[PerchJerker]

I'm using downscan more and more all the time, especially when fishing vertical in deep water. Downscan will show you things you can't see on conventional sonar ..... it does a better job of seperating out and marking individual fish, baitfish, fish holding tight to structure, identifying objects on the bottom, etc. I tend to agree with Nick .... with the money you're looking to spend on a 958c, you're giving up a lot by not getting a unit that does side scanning and down scanning, either HB or Low.

[Mike Stark]

Humminbird has great customer service.

Talk to Dave at Pro Fishing Supply. His prices are hard to beat.

[walleyvoyager]

Sounds like I might have to get with the times and go with si and di.

Does anyone have a preference on structure scan compared to the DI from HB?

[BartmanMN]

Hummingbirds customer service coupled with their affiliation with LakeMaster and MinneKota makes it hard to pass up if you ask me. Things relating to how these products integrate are only going to get better and better.

[Nick Kuhn]

Sounds like I might have to get with the times and go with si and di.

Does anyone have a preference on structure scan compared to the DI from HB?

I think most people would say structure scan is a little more detailed. The result is irrelevant though; a tree will look like a tree, a fish crib a fish crib, etc on both units.You really do not need to be able to count the branches on the tree. If there is something out there, both units will pick it up.

[walleyvoyager]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm going to go with the 858c DI combo. I was on the fence between HB and Lowrance, but at a price point of 1000, I can get down imaging and a 7 inch screen. Lowrance is 300 more for the HDS7 with structurescan.

Good luck this year

[JohnMickish]

Congrats on the purchase, you will be happier with it than you could ever have imagined. It WILL change the way you think about fishing.

[mfreeman451]

I just bought the 898 and love it. It was a tough decision with the rebates from Lowrance but you still can't beat HB pricing/value. Here were a few other compelling reasons I choose HB:

They own Minn-Kota, it is probably reasonable to speculate that they will be coming out with a new version of i-Pilot that will be married to their HB graphs. Imagine using your finger on screen to drag a route and then tell your trolling motor to follow it, or even using the arrow keys..Much better than having to pre-record your tracks out on the lake with the ipilot and then follow them.

Lakemaster - obvious reasons here, they have good coverage in Minnesota..navionics is great too, most of the places I fish use the same public mapping data and theres not much of a difference.