I live up at lake kiowa. That lake is pretty silted in, so fishing is mostly shallow. No doubt I might spot a few brush piles or other man made structure that I might otherwise miss, but unless there is a tangible benefit like actually being able to spot fish in the shallows I don't think it would be worth it. There are some conflicting views on this. Am I thinking correctly on this? I would get one of these units if it would really help...thanks for the input

"mostly shallow" is why the side looking imaging technology is better than regular 2D sonar or down looking imaging.
You see what is away from under the boat.
It's all about the coverage.

Figure that the new unit will likely fail at least once under warranty and if it is a Lowrance where they refuse to do repairs on your actual unit for you, they will instead send you a refurb used unit so you will be owning only a used unit that you paid full retail 'new' price.

At the end of the 2 year warranty, it will likely not be updated any more with needed software updates to fix any bugs or slow response times added by the many regular software upgrades that you installed yourself that were attempts to get you through the two year under warranty period.

When you complain, they will be unable to repair and instead offer to send you a newly introduced model (just refurbed) costing you again almost full retail as yours is out of warranty and neither the hardware or the software is being supported anymore.

If all this is fine with you, you will be a happy satisfied Lowrance customer, an you will find the shallow water images marginally helpful.

Depending on what you consider to be shallow water, it could be a pretty valuable tool.

Mostly one to six feet..

I use side imaging a lot of the time that I am fishing around docks or in treed areas. It is also a valuable tool in lakes that don't have much cover as you can use it to find drainage areas or any irregularities in the bottom contour towards the area you want to fish. Works very well on bridge pilings and road beds also. JMO but I really like it.

I imagine that you'll find it useful at times. But if you're usually fishing in a couple of feet of water it'll be of very limited value.

It's a good idea to turn your electronics off in the shallows.

I use my side imaging in shallow water. I find it to be very effective. I have literally cast to and caught fish I spot on it in water as shallow as two feet.

in shallow water I go to full screen side scan...love it...I am new to this stuff as well....in 5 months...I have decided I don't know how I ever lived without it. If I only had to have one type sonar...it would be sidescan...you can see everything.

Get it, you won't regret it, just get a 797, cheaper model

If you're looking for good quality but less expensive, look at the Dragonfly from Raymarine.

humminbirds will scan out twice the distance as the depth the boat is in, if your in 10' of water you can scan out to 20'.
this would be my main formula to decide if it will work for your application.

are the areas you fish steep dropoffs with some good shallows so you can sit in 15-20' and scan 30-40' out? or are they long gently sloping banks that leave you in 5-6' of water and you will not be able to scan more than the width of the boat.

I have had 3 sidescan units and now have the 998 (had an 898 on the bow but it was just too big for my boat, will get a 798 when I can), and it does make a huge difference for me but I fish lakes with a fairly gentle slope for a few yds then steep drops so I can sit in deeper water and scan out.

go to this link and read up on what all can do then decide.
http://www.humminbird.com/leading_innovation/humminbird-sonar.aspx

one other thing, you could just get the quad beam from bird, it is a poor mans side image.. I have one back on the bow for now till I can get another 798

I have a 798 on my bow. PM me if you would like to look at a possible trade.

I say yes. I use mine in shallow and deep water to see logs, stumps and contour changes. Brush piles under docks,rocks and sometimes lost rods/reels. You can just cut back your distance and see all kinds of things. Go for it and get you a side scan. You will enjoy seeing all the things you are missing. I like the humminbirds myself very easy to use. IMO