Thoughts and opinions on the helix series if anyone has them? I have an 898hd now, are there significant differences?

I have a Helix 9 and I like it, but I cannot compare it to the earlier bird because I never had one of those. If your 898 has side imaging I wouldn't think it is much of an upgrade unless you are going larger.

Wait on a Helix the new Helix G2 with mega imaging is going to blow the others away. I would talk to David at Shut Up and Fish before you Decide.

The Helix series are much better than the antique (in the electronics world) 898c HD SI Combo.

Much brighter displays, more processing power and more functions.

The Helix model that replaced the 800 series unit is the Helix 9. Two inches more screen size.

The current 898c HD SI Combo direct Helix replacement is the Helix 9 SI GPS and there will be a Helix 9 CHIRP MEGA SI GPS G2N soon.

I'm not real happy with the Helix 7- not HD, no 800 KHz, no presets, one micro card slot, screen looks pixalated, mapping is SLOW.
Get the 9 or better.

Man this really sucks. I had planned to get one as a Christmas gift for myself. That bad huh?

I'll sell you mine for $500. I had an 859 HD Di - had everything but Si so I got used to HD and presets and faster mapping and 2 card slots.

Si?

Yes

I may just take you up on that offer. I'll be in touch.

The HD only means brighter screen in which the Helix has. HD has nothing to do with imaging

I just had to send a Helix back to Humminbird for water damage. I run a 898 SI on my dash and the Helix DI on the bow. First time I've ever seen a unit get water in it. Glad it was still under warranty and the service was good and fast. They sent me another head unit and it was about a week trun around. I would wait on the new technology as well.

I dunno then -- my 859 had better, cleaner picture in both 2D and Di........

Appreciate the comments everyone. I'm wanting to upgrade larger, now I have to decide on now or wait for the g2.

The Di coming from a dedicated Di unit such as the 859 will have better Di due to the fact that it has a dedicated down imaging crystal. Where as the Humminbird SI units have what is called a blended Di. Which means that the Di is computer generated from the two SI pulses overlapping beneath the transducer so you are not getting a true Di view just computer generated. The new gen2 mega units will be the first core units to.offer the all in one transducer which will be dedicated SI,Di and 2d elements. Up till now only the Onix had the all in one transducer in the Humminbird line

On my last boat I had an 898 si. I purchased a helix 5 si for my aluminum boat not long after they came out. About 9 months after purchase it would not lock gps position and would go off every time you hit the smallest wave. Humminbird made it right and fixed the unit. They told me it had internal moisture damage. I have had my unit for 2 years now with no further issues.

Compared to the 898 it is obviously smaller but I find that the side imaging is much clearer. Not sure if that is due to screen resolution or advances in technology. I will purchase a new unit this next year. I will probably buy one of the larger helix units. For the price they are really hard to beat.

I have the Helix 9 on my new boat. Slade set it up for me and it is amazing.

I am running a Helix 12 on the dash beside my 1199 all networked into my 360 imaging transom mount and my Terrova iPilot. The Helix is a much brighter screen, I like the new colors on the down and side imaging plus the auto chart live is a game changer! I also have the zero line chart to remap lake's I fish. I have already found a few things that no map, Lake Master Plus or the Navionics platinum chip have.

I have the Helix 10 with upgraded transducer. Would think menus would be easier to move through but picture quality and settings options are pretty remarkable.

I had 3 of Humminbird Helix 10s on my 2016 boat, 4-1199s on my 2015 and I really like the Helix version better than the 1199s that I had. Still have the same simplicity of use, but to me it is a better picture with more options. I ran mine with Navionics Platinum cards in 2 and a Nav+ in the other and could not of been happier with the units.

Over the last couple of days, I had a chance to compare my Helix 12 CHIRP to the 1199 on the water. The picture is so much better on the Helix, I had my buddy going through all of the settings on the 1199 because I thought there was something wrong with the 1199 and the screen just didn't look right. The screen image is just that good. I can't imagine what the Mega -Image is going to look like, but I may need to get some plastic paid off.

The one thing that drives me crazy with the Helix 9 is the GPS speed jumps around a lot when I am drifting. It seems to be in tune with every rock of the boat. The lowrance smoothed it out. The only problem is I don't think a Lowrance SI transducer would have ever worked on my boat since I don't have a jackplate. That thing is about 8" long.

I bought a Helix 7 about a month ago, I had to move the transducer to the other side of the boat from my Garmin trand=sducer because of the bleedover.
The Garmin was fine, The Helix sonars were really distorted. Now I have a transducer on each side of the engine, two feet or so from the engine.
The Garmin SV9 runs circles around the Helix...faster, clearer, and the Di and SI pictures are much much better. I use the Helix for full time GPS with the Lakemaster chip, because the Garmin won't take Lakemasters,...

is there a difference between a helix 9 si/gps and a helix 9 si/gps chartplotter ?

No, the same unit.

Good !!! Humminbird is letting me upgrade the transducer to the HD model for 85 dollars so i'm waiting on it. THen just need to get it installed and set up. Its sure a nice looking unit.. I'm impressed and I havent even turned it on yet.