I need some advice on which one to get the 797 or the 997. Is the bigger screen really worth another grand???

yep

I had the 797 on a Bass tracker and it worked gread for that boat. When I got my Center Console the 797 was too small and hard to read. For me on the center console the $1000 extra was well worth it.

Thats what i have is a bass tracker....why was it better on that just simply because you were closer to the screen?

Humminbird thinks so.

I guess I do too. I got the 997. Not having worked with the 797 I'm not for sure, but it would depend on how far of range you want to work from.

On the 997, I like about 100 feet (left and right) and can pick up fish pretty well. Looking for cover (Crappie stuff to fish) you can go bigger (more like 150 feet) at least for me.

My understadning the 797 you proabbly want to cut that down to like 50 feet and 75 feet.

The pictures I've seen from the 797 are not as good (sharp) as the 997 at whatever range.

You can go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sideimaging/
register and review the pictures from the different units (797, 987, 997, 1197).

Also a good place to ask this question.

And a good source for all Side Image users or potential users.

I didn't know there was a difference in power between the two??? I thought it was just a difference in the size of the unit

how does going from one boat to another make a difference in performance in a depth finder unless its mounted wrong on one of them??? did the unit shrink it got smaller????

I can say without a doubt that the 997 is worth every penny I paid. It is a real treat, learning experience, and tool for all types of applications in fishing. You can take it from boat to boat and get the same quality performance but you will either have to use transducer as a portable unit and the power as well. Then you will have to be creative in the mounting of the gps antenna and unit. I have a permanent installation on my center console and a portable setup for using on other boats. I have used it successfully on 4 different boats and all waypoints and shots of structures have been consistent to the point that you cannot see any difference in the shots from the permanent application or portable.

j

I was talking about a previous post. must have had something wrong with way he had it mounted on 2nd boat

I have the 997. I thinks it's well worth the extra k.

To me the 797 would be okay if you only wanted to see one side of the boat at a time. But when you view both sides at one time the 997 is the way to go because of the screen size.

what are yall talking about extra grand HOW MUCH ARE THOSE THINGS

the smaller 797 is 1000 and the larger 997 is 2000.