Just a heads up. HB899 cxi si free shipping with promo code at Cabelas. The X stands for internation unit. Same as the 899ci hd si. Just has extra setting for language. Free shipping code 5jolly good untill Friday

I can't confirm either way but in researching this model I found a review that stated the screen is difficult to see in sunny conditions.  This has been corrected on subsequent "HD" models.

 

Maybe someone can confirm or challenge that. 

You have to pay attention to the WHOLE MODEL NUMBER advertized.

 

Any 800, or 900 series with HD in their model name has the brighter LED backlighting.

 

Ones that do not have HD in their name have CCFL backlighting and are somewhat harder to see in bright sunlight.

 

One another note, CALL to see what they actually have. Retailers like that are noted to have screwed up advertising and some posting model names do it incorrectly also.

BTW, I just looked at the PICTURE of the unit on the website and the model name on the unit pictured is 899ci HD Sonar GPS  Side Imaging (on the memory card door).

 

That doesn't match what the sale title is, international or non-HD.

I bought the 899cxi si conbo from Cabelas. It is HD and it only has the CXI listed by the part number on back of unit. Box only has CXI by serial number on side of box. It works great for me here in florida.  No problem with it in bright sun.  My sons Helix 7 si is brighter, but in the right conditions his screen is hard to see at times. When I purchased it last week I asked if the had many. He said they have several in stock. 

Pics of box

Just checked at Cabelas. Price has gone up to $679.99. Sale only lasted 3 Days.

It's $649 now.  There's a lot of complaints in reviews about HB transducers being very flimsy. 

Can anyone comment on that versus the Lowrance or Garmin?

13 hours ago, cloleson said:

It's $649 now.  There's a lot of complaints in reviews about HB transducers being very flimsy. 

Can anyone comment on that versus the Lowrance or Garmin?

The Compact SI transducer like all the others with the prefix XNT have a plastic transom mount. Poor installation practices will cause the mount to break. Since it is plastic, treat it that way when tightening the mount screws. It ain't rocket science, just common sense. I use that mount for a couple of installations and the only time I have broken one is when getting hung up on a stump and it gets smashed after coming off the stump. If I am lucky, the mount will trip and all I have to do is reset it. I keep spares for that occurrence since I expect it to happen.

 

I have broken way more Lowrance transom transducers which have a single thin arm that attaches to the mount bracket. The last one was the factory installed Lowrance transducer and it lasted about 5 minutes. I expected that and had already installed a shoot-thru in anticipation of that happening. It is still usable for a trolling motor application using a Transducer Shield and Saver mount which doesn't require the mount arm.

On 12/19/2015 at 9:50 AM, Wayne P. said:

The Compact SI transducer like all the others with the prefix XNT have a plastic transom mount. Poor installation practices will cause the mount to break. Since it is plastic, treat it that way when tightening the mount screws. It ain't rocket science, just common sense.

Plastic? And it's supposed to live on boats that move 50-60mph?

 

Am I missing something?

12 minutes ago, Bass newb said:

Plastic? And it's supposed to live on boats that move 50-60mph?

 

Am I missing something?

That mount has been in use for 15+ years. It does its job if you do yours.

Yesterday is was 599 today its 649.

On 1/31/2016 at 11:46 AM, Wayne P. said:

That mount has been in use for 15+ years. It does its job if you do yours.

 

I'll do my job with vastly superior hardware :