Humminbird 408120-1 Fishfinder 597ci HD DI Combo

• Chartplotter/fishfinder with high-resolution, 5-inch, LED-backlit color display, DualBeam sonar with 4000Watts PTP power output
• Dual-beam Switchfire Sonar with precision 20-degree beam and wider 60-degree beam, Down Imaging for seeing below the boat
• Real-time Sonar always updates at the fastest rate possible, shows returns from the bottom, structure, and fish that are within the transducer beam
• Included UniMap covers the continental U.S. coastline, inland lakes, and rivers at 30 meters per pixel resolution

I did a lot of research before buying this unit, I couldnt decide between this and the almost identical Lowrance Elite5 chartplotter unit. After reading countless reviews I chose the Hummingbird. The Lowrance has more color palete choices but the hummingbird had the old style sonar ability otherwise they seem the same to me. I am soo glad I chose this one! The downscan is awesome, truly showing great detail of structure and bottom, but its really hard to see fish and baitfish on it. The old style (seems like an updated version)shows fish and baitfish great and will mark them on the screen. This unit allows you to split the screen and use both sonar types at the same time, and its freaking awesome. The chartplotter is nice for navigating the big lakes but the included mapping is bad on small lakes showing just a blank white screen with your boat in the middle. But you can mark a waypoint for the dock to help you get back and view your tracks as you go to help navigate blindly. The coolest part of having a chartplotter is being able to mark locations of structure or fish zones and be able to return to them later without wasting time having to troll over dead water trying to find "that spot" again later in the day. Sounds crazy but this thing truly has changed the way I fish and made me a better fisherman! I just cant imagine what they can come up with next.

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Overall I really like the unit, but not Humminbird.

I sound harsh, but I would just get a 2D, or move up to a larger screen unit.

I was very let down by the down imaging hype and pretty pictures that humminbird shows on their ads.

The unit is great, and I love it, but don't think for a second that you'll see what the ads show. You might if you are running on an indoor swimming pool with NO wind and crystal clear water. The best pictures I have seen so far after 4 weekends using it will not even tell you if you are above a tree or an old concrete slab down below. What a waste. Other than a worthless down imaging feature that you spend an extra $100 for, the unit is a great GPS and 2D sonar. I already wasted my money, too late. Do you really want to waste yours? Humminbird, you really need to improve your "trick them into believing we can do anything" ads.

Also, I was at 3 stars, but the included "charts" are nothing but an outline of the lake. My 6 year old cell phone gps shows that much!

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I wasn't certain how useful down-imaging would turn out to be for my style of fishing. After several months of use I've found down-imaging indispensable. It helps me precisely locate structure & fish that I previously would have missed.

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I received this in excellent condition. The assembly instructions are a large fold out with scenarios for two different transducers. They are fairly clear, but the illustrations could be better and should be larger. I got the transducer ready to install, spun on the 1/4-20 pivot bolt locknut finger tight, adjusted everything, went to tighten the lock nut, and after about 1/2 turn it galled and seized. The bolt had barely contacted the nylon on the locknut. Fortunately there was still enough bolt sticking out under the nut that I could saw it off. Off to the fastener store for another stainless steel bolt. I lightly greased the threads on the new bolt before use and everything went smooth. I could not get the transducer perfectly parallel with the boat bottom due to the limited number of click stops on the adjuster. I had to pick the "best fit", but it may work out ok. The unit comes with a six foot power cable, so I had to make up extension wiring from the back of the boat to tie it to my starting battery. The transducer cable is 20 feet long; it would not hurt Humminbird to supply about a 16 foot power cable, which would be about right for many installs. When doing final assembly on the viewing head, I found that the two 6-32 x 3/4" SS machine screws were missing from the parts bag. These are used to bolt the cable connector into the head. Fortunately, I had a few longer SS 6-32s that I cut off to length. When I powered up the unit, everything worked fine. The display is bright, crisp, and sharp. The transducer was recognized and the gps plotted perfectly with my position.

The Countour XD maps sre not included in this model. HB says they are only included with the 700 and higher series. Now to use it on the lake!

Follow up: After several uses, the unit still works well. My transducer placement turned out to be satisfactory and I have not had to alter it. There is a steep learning curve to interpret what is on the screens, especially the down imaging screen. A lot of fish have been displayed on my screen, but I have not yet learned how to interpret the likely species. I purchased the Navionics Hotmaps Premium South lake maps, and that package adds to the GPS functionality by aiding in finding lake bottom structure like humps and channels. A nice feature of this unit is the selectable large number screen, which allows me to easily see the depth and speed while I am running the motor in the back of the boat, since the unit is mounted closer to the front, where I usually sit while fishing. The voltage feature is nice too, as it shows when the alternator is charging the battery. So far I am satisfied with the HB 597ci DI. It has a lot of features I have not yet used, and may never need to. This is only my second fish finder after a half century of fishing without one.

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I just finished installing the fish finder and took it out on the lake for the first time.

Installation was pretty easy. I had to read and follow the instructions but I had no problems. I will say I found it very hard to drill holes in a perfectly good boat.

On the lake, the GPS was great. The fish finder was very good also. It put me on fish, just not the right ones.

The only complaint I have is the fish alarm won't go off unless I show the fish icon. Maybe I just haven't figured that out yet.

Overall, it is everything I wanted and I am very satisfied.