I am thinking about getting a Humminbird 598 CI HD SI Sonar/GPS combo. I fish out of a 14 ft lund with a 9.9 HP motor. I fish mostly for walleyes, smallmouth bass and catfish. I will pull planer boards, pitch and drag jigs, rig and pitch cranks. I would appreciate the pro’s and con’s of this unit. Thanks
Did they fix the low speed display for the 598’s? I have a 597 and the speed jumps pretty bad, might just be the 7’s though. Smaller screen will be a lil tougher to watch the SI, but if you squint well and no vision issues I’ve heard its priceless. I have a 14′ as well and the 5″ screen don’t bother me none. Buy what you can afford, BC in 2 years it will be already outdated anyways.
All internal gps HBs have issues with speed under .5 mph.
As far as I know they’ve discontinued the model. I just picked up a 899 and its replacing the 597 DI I used to have.
The screen size alone is worth the upgrade from the old 500 series and it has a newer processor so map access and loading speed is much much quicker. Honestly not sure how you would see enough detail on the 5xx screen to make SI worthwhile.
Just my .02c
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As far as I know they’ve discontinued the model. I just picked up a 899 and its replacing the 597 DI I used to have.
The screen size alone is worth the upgrade from the old 500 series and it has a newer processor so map access and loading speed is much much quicker. Honestly not sure how you would see enough detail on the 5xx screen to make SI worthwhile.
Just my .02c
598 —>$550
899 —>$1000
Give or take a hundred either way some guys including myself don’t have that money to spend on a locator. Not to fair comparing a $1000 machine to a $600 one. The 598 if the same as the 597 will jump around at slow speeds, no biggie since it does give you an idea of where you are at and can split the difference, last time i checked minnows don’t have cruise control. 2nd the maps do load quite slow. Zooming in and out can take up to a few seconds but again, is that a lot of time overall, not really, profeesional fisherman who cant waste time yes, but you willing to drop a couple hundred extra BC of your ADHD?
Overall I’m extremely happy with my 597, and from lil research I have done the 598 is pretty much the same except you have the SI, which is huge. If you can’t squeeze out anymore cash, go with it. Its nice having DI for myself, but SI would be sweet it was just didn’t have the money to spend on it couple years ago.
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As far as I know they’ve discontinued the model. I just picked up a 899 and its replacing the 597 DI I used to have.
The screen size alone is worth the upgrade from the old 500 series and it has a newer processor so map access and loading speed is much much quicker. Honestly not sure how you would see enough detail on the 5xx screen to make SI worthwhile.
Just my .02c
598 —>$550
899 —>$1000Give or take a hundred either way some guys including myself don’t have that money to spend on a locator. Not to fair comparing a $1000 machine to a $600 one. The 598 if the same as the 597 will jump around at slow speeds, no biggie since it does give you an idea of where you are at and can split the difference, last time i checked minnows don’t have cruise control. 2nd the maps do load quite slow. Zooming in and out can take up to a few seconds but again, is that a lot of time overall, not really, profeesional fisherman who cant waste time yes, but you willing to drop a couple hundred extra BC of your ADHD?
Overall I’m extremely happy with my 597, and from lil research I have done the 598 is pretty much the same except you have the SI, which is huge. If you can’t squeeze out anymore cash, go with it. Its nice having DI for myself, but SI would be sweet it was just didn’t have the money to spend on it couple years ago.
I agree, it is much more expensive. My point though is that I don’t think SI is going to be worth it on that small of a screen. your going to miss a lot of fish or you’ll need to have the SI configured to only go a few feet out on each side to see any details.
If you want to stick with that screen size at least get the new model (The 698ci HD SI), I believe they also have a faster processor + preset buttons, absolutely no reason to buy a 598 IMO unless you get many dollars off full price.
Last thing I’ll say though I think you would be better holding off and saving up a few more bucks and getting the bigger screen size, I don’t believe you will be happy with SI and the 5″ screen size. Search the forums and you’ll find many people with the same argument.
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