RAM Mounts

Ward, I hope my reasoning will help you out in your decision,so here it is. Here are the reasons I prefer a 997c SI over the exsisting 522. Humminibird gives you the ability to use full screen on each chosen view,the lawarnce doesnt. You will aways have to share the screen with at least two images settings. The 997c SI has 4 “favorite view” keys. Lowrance doesnt. In my opinion,just my opinion the humminbird is by far more user friendly. The menus that you have to go through to achieve desired settings is somewhat time consuming. And you have to go through those settings each time to view on screen. When using the 522 I have found myself moving in different directions to look at the screen when the sun light is on it. Never had to do that with the Humminibrd.Humminbird 997c SI,you dont. Side imaging of course is nice but not a deciding factor. Obtaining waypoints,setting waypoints,deleting waypoints,deleting routes taken,all of these and other stuff in my opinion,and remember this is just my opinion are much easier to do. Navionics platnium package is unreal with humminbird. Not offered with the 522. I am not saying the Lowrance 522 is not a good system I just think the 997c SI does more and does it alittle better. I think that about covers this and the way I look at it. Remember I am not saying that Lowrance is not a good product,I know it is. I just prefer the Humminbird and I hope this helps others when it comes to a possible electronics decisions. I saw where the arrow was and its location on the boat. I did actually consider that area for the RAM mount. I will go back and look at it again. Gell coat issues,I never had issues drilling in the coat but then again I never started with big bits either. Always started with very small bits and worked my way up in size until I was able to drill the sesired hole. This is a great forum and the information that is shared here is excellent. I hope that one day I can do the same,say after I have install the 997c SI. Pictures will be offered. Thanks agian guys for the help z8pp3r

I had a 997C SI so I know exactly what it can do,its impressive no doubt about it. Your 2200$ cost though is way out of line though. You can purchase those units all day long for 1400$ range if ya look around. And sometimes you can call humminbird direct and get a REALLY good deal from them,if ya call at the right time of the year. I surely hope model year would not dictate what kind of electronics you would run on your boat and also you should not worry about model year because there is such a HIGH DEMAND for good used boats,whatever you invest in your boat you surely can get it back out without issues. I know cause I acheived exactly what I wanted for my boat. People will crawl all over one another for a well kept boat with quality equipment on it. Regardless of the model. My last boat was a 1998 SPRINT DC286 and I ran humminbird 997 from the drivers console,that is where the ram mount location was,matrix 3D off the front,lowrance in the center of the concole. Locker bars for security over the front and rear storage compartments. I also installed livewell timers for reciculate and also for water being pumped in and pumped out. Ran Trojan batteries for maximum potential from each component on the boat. Boat had alot of extras on it also other than what is listed. I bought this 07 PUMA and in three weeks my other boat was sold. I had that boat sense 2000. Boat sellers will never have to worry about selling their boats for a good average price because there are no longer any moderately priced boat manufactures out there anymore. Welp,hope this helps some and once again thanks for the input from everyone in this matter. Z8pp3r