Anyone have any experience with the Hummingbird 596c hd di? Opinions, please...thanks.

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I have the 597ci hd di. Not the same but right there with it. Overall, I love it. The down images are really helpfull to see what the structure looks like and the gps setup is perfect. I have yet to get any down images anywhere near as good as the ads and box show. I think the water would have to be crystal clear and as smooth as glass to get the images that HB shows in the ads. Even when just using the trolling motor on a calm day, I get really grainy, shakey images. That bug aside, the other features work really well. The "switchfire" was a pain at first but as you use it and get the settings dialed in, it does help when I am sitting still fishing below the boat. Also the lake charts it says that are included are worthless. (at least for lake fork) My 5 year old cell phone gps shows just as much detail. Pretty much just an outline of the lake and nothing more.
I totally love the quick relaese mount since I store my boat at my parents house and take my sonar home with me. Get the plastic cover to protect it and put a couple of rubber bands over the cover so that it does not blow off on the highway.
Overall all, for the price range, I would buy another one in a second. Just don't expect the images that the ads show.

Thanks Xanadu...

good information..thanks

Just replaced my front unit with one of these. Tried it for the first time Saturday. So far looks like a HUGE upgrade from the prior Lowrance unit,

What was the prior Lowrance unit?

I just picked up the 597ci HD DI last week and Im happy with the until. The down imaging really shines in 20+ feet of water and took a half of a day playing with the settings to get everything dialed in. I agree that the mapping included in the unit is pretty worthless...need to purchase a chip for that. The only thing I would purchase differently now would be the side imaging instead of the down imaging. You could cover water more efficiently.

that's the only regret i have as well. shortly after i got mine i figured out just how much si would help, as for the pic's on the di there great mine look just like the ad's shown by hb

Especially for the price difference. I picked up a closeout 2010 non-HD model 597 for $400 and didn't feel too bad about that. But if I'm spending anywhere near $700, I would probably just upgrade to SI.

As for the 596, what is the difference between the 597 and 596? Looks like the 596 doesn't have GPS, is that the only difference? That's a huge deal-breaker for me in a fishfinder that costs $550. Personally, I'd just spend $100 on the cheap little units if I wasn't going to get SI or GPS. I'm sure DI is helpful, but is it alone worth $400 extra over a cheaper 2D-sonar-only unit? For another $400, you could get SI and GPS.