Humminbird 597ci HD DI

I have been saving for months to buy this unit, sometime this spring.. I am using all my amazon gift cards for over a year from various holidays..
one are there any drawbacks with this unit?
two does it come “ready to use” with all functions or do you need to pay for more add ons like temp or speed?

three, it says an internal GPS .. can you use an exterior antenna , do you need an exterior antenna.. I am going to be using this unit almost exclusively on the Mississippi river.. I want to mark trips.. waypoints.. and I need it to show wingdams..

lastly I have a lakemaster chip.. for my hand held gps.. can I use this in this unit or do I have to purchase another chip.. I hope not, cuz for me and my house , I am stretching the budget to do this.. that’s why I haven’t spent any of my personal gifts on my self for over a year.. Fathers day, Christmas, birthday etc.. and asked for gift cards instead..
and lastly.. is it worth it to buy the color,, or can you do the same with a lower black and white version?

I do need the down imaging and mostly the GPS..that’s the giant reason I am finally pulling the plug and getting one of these.. any comments , opinions , questions.. what not..

lastly did I hear that there is a problem setting up the transducers on these units? thanks for your time.. smokegrub..

Had mine now for about half year, and I too use it almost exclusively on the river. Awesome unit and yes everything is setup as far as speed, temp. I have lake master chip as well and the thing is fantastic. I don’t believe your Gps chip will work they made some stuff exclusive with the birds and the chips were one. The DI works extremely well for what it is intended to do, and that is pretty much below the boat. Never fished a wing dam don’t have any up where I am, but I know side imaging would do a much better job of giving you a good view of those. But that is lots more $$. The sonar is spot on as well as the ease of use of the unit. Got to make sure the transducer is mounted at the right spot on boat or you will get the squiggly on the screen at higher speeds. Speed sensor does jump annoyingly but not a big deal for me. External GPS not sure on that, the internal one works great. All in all its the best unit in that price range and I recommend it. If you want to check mine out on the river I will be out 1st open water doing some scouting for the opener welcome to come along.

H/Bird specs
Good unit. It has the contour X maps pre-installed. i don’t know if they show the wingdams or not. Easy unit to set up, no extra costs unless buy a different mapping chip.

Great unit ive been running it for 2 years down fall ive noticed is with internal gps for trolling it jumps around alot ive read that the external gps fixes this problem. You will like the unit for shure

Nice unit, my fishing partner has one of these in his boat. The only annoying thing he found was the speed jumping around (his was internal antenna as well)so he sent it to HB and they sent him a “free” external antenna which completely cured the problem.

I like mine. The screen is a little slow to update at high speeds. I do most of my fishing on the Mississippi River and if had to do it all over again I would get the side image in lieu of down image. Down image does not do me much good in the shallow water. I had the internal antenna go bad last summer. HB customer service is GREAT.Sent it on Monday had it back on Thursday.

I have the 788ci HD.

My father runs the 788ci HD DI on his boat, which is basically the same as the 597ci HD DI minus a couple small features (ethernet, second SD card slot).

1.) Major drawback for me is that the DI units are NOT compatible with Humminbirds’ Ice Transducer, or Minnkota’s Universal Sonar. I wanted to use mine ice fishing a bunch, so that steered me towards the 788 without DI.

2.) It comes “ready to use” with transducer with temperature, and speed readings come from the internal GPS. Like others have mentioned, some people have problems with the accuracy of the speed readings. The transducer cord is 20 feet, so depending where you’re mounting the unit on your boat, and how you’re routing the wire, you may need a 10′ extension. Most people do not though.

3.) It has internal GPS. You can use an external puck by plugging it into the accessory port on the base. You can mark point, tracks, and everything you need without the external GPS puck.

4.) You will not be able to use the lakemaster chip from your handheld GPS unit. You’ll need a new one specifically made compatible with humminbird units. I’d recommend looking at the lakes/rivers put on the different versions of the lakemaster chip for your state, and see if an older version has the lakes/rivers you need. You could pick up a used one cheaper than buying new.

5.) Some people do run into issues getting the transducers set up with no interference from trolling motor, or other sources. Every situation is different on this, and multiple causes/solutions.

As for buying the unit, you’ll pay a bunch more on amazon than you could pick up a new/used one for on ebay. I just bought a 597ci HD for a friend on ebay, brand new in box, for $335 after shipping. It would have cost $500 on amazon. You would be throwing away $165 in amazon giftcards just to get it down to even with the ebay cost.

External GPS only works on 700 series on up…FYI

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Nice unit, my fishing partner has one of these in his boat. The only annoying thing he found was the speed jumping around (his was internal antenna as well)so he sent it to HB and they sent him a “free” external antenna which completely cured the problem.

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Ok so “John 3:16” between the two of you I’m confused as the “OP” would be.

Whom has the truth.

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Nice unit, my fishing partner has one of these in his boat. The only annoying thing he found was the speed jumping around (his was internal antenna as well)so he sent it to HB and they sent him a “free” external antenna which completely cured the problem.

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Ok so “John 3:16” between the two of you I’m confused as the “OP” would be.

Whom has the truth.

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Ok, I am right….

The 500 series from ‘bird will not accept the external antenna, you need a 700 series or higher to run the external.

I have both a 597ciHD and 788ciHD.