Does anyone know the difference between these units?

From what I can gather the older unit is not HD and only has SI and not DI, nor is it ethernet compatible. Is this correct??

Thanks,

Alan (bassnajr)

Answered on Bass Boat Cental

if you take your unit to a basspro and talk to the marine guys they will upgrade your unit and put the DI on it.  This is what i did, the guy put a chip in the unit and it uploaded the DI sofware into the unit.

Answered on Bass Boat Cental

Wayne...being told by another member that the transducers are different between the two. The older does not have an "HD" transducer so the picture quality is not as good????

They use the same transducer as the older 798 and 797 with the single 455 khz frequency for SI/DI.  The only difference is the ethernet port on the HD models.

Bassnair, acar555 is correct. The "other member" is wrong.

The HDSI transducer is the standard for the 800, 900, and 1100 series Side Imaging units. It is NOT the one that is shipped with any 700 series Side Imaging units. The larger units use 455 and 800 khz for SI and DI.

The HDSI transducer can be used with the 700 series SI units, BUT it will only use the 455 khz frequency that the HDSI is capable of. It will not use the 800 khz SI frequency which is the HD designation for that transducer.

The 700 series SI units have a dedicated standard SI transducer called the "Compact SI transducer" It has 455 khz for SI/DI and 83/200 khz for 2D sonar. That Compact SI transducer is available in two styles. One is the XNT 9 SI 180 T which is a transom mount and the other is the XTM 9 SI 180 T which is the trolling motor puck type. In neither case is there a H or D in the part number of the Compact SI transducer.

I have used the Compact SI transducer (transom and TM puck types) and the HDSI transducer with my 798ci SI. The HDSI transducer is longer which means it has longer crystals. The longer crystals will produce a narrower beam which gives a sharper image (some notice the difference and some don't, I do notice it). You will have to pay extra to get that transducer to use with the 798 no matter what year issue it is.

Some just can't get it that the HD in the model number means absolutely NOTHING other than it is the 2011 edition with an ethernet port.

Humminbird added the HD in the 2011 model numbers with the 640 vertical pixel screens to tout that feature as opposed to the Lowrance advertizing their HDS units which actually have a lower resolution screen. It is for marketing only. There is no new feature (other than the ethernet port), higher performance upgrade, or anything else someone can make up as a meaning for the HD in the model number.