Which locator/gps combo

I am wanting to purchase a new locator/gps combo. I want to keep it under $600. I mainly fish Madison area lakes and the Rock river and Lake Koshkonong. I also fish Lake Michigan out of Racine about 3-5 weekends a summer. Cabelas has the Lowrance Elite-5 DSI Sonar with GPS for $399. I am also looking at the Humminbird 597ci HD DI Combo for $579 with a $50 rebate. I am leaning toward the hummingbird because it has the Down Scan Imaging and the conventional 2D format. I have never used Down Scan Imaging and not sure how I will like it and how well it actually works when installed on boat in actually used in the water. Also will I have to buy any additional chips or sd cards or are maps pre-loaded on units. Any comments, suggestions appreciated.

both are nice units. Humminbird has way better customer service!

Bass pro sales paper just came out and the HB 597 is $599 and then you get a $100 mail in rebate. Sale came just in time to make my decision.

I had the Humminbird 998 on my last boat and upgraded to the 1198 on the new one. 500 series has most of the same features - just a smaller screen. Side imaging works much better in clear water than in murky water. Birds support both Navionics and Lakemaster. Lakemaster maps have more features. You can also use the Contour Elite Software and make waypoints for different lakes and transfer them to the Humminbird. Upgrading the software is very easy - just get it from the Humminird website. You can manage waypoints by connecting the 597 to a PC. The PC software and software updates are free from Humminbird. If you get a Bird with internet connection - I think most of the 500's now have it - then you could use a trolling motor with the I-Pilot Link. Just upgraded my Terrova to Link from the I-Pilot. I would never buy a trolling motor without the I-Pilot. The Link capability should be a good upgrade, but I have not used it yet. All this said, I have never really looked at the Lowrance units, so I can't comment on them.

picked up the elite7 late last month and all I have to say is awesome unit. the 3 screen view is very nice feature unit also has down scan overlay on the sonar screen and track back for going back in sonar time to place waypoints on fish you already passed. this unit has more bells and whistles for a very reasonably price tag. fleet 598.00 and a extended 2 year warranty for 49.99 for a total of 3 years warranty coverage. can also network to an existing hds unit. lowrance is really blowing the birds away. just my .02.

Lowrance 7 elite hdi is on sale right now at fleet or gander for 599.99 it has three screen split mode with chartplotter/gps,sonar, and down scan imaging.built in lowrance map is decent but accepts navionics also. very good bang for the buck!!!

I have the 597 hd di and really like it. You get the best of both worlds with 2d, and di.

Check out the Humminbird 598ci hd si. I got mine from Dick's a about 2 1/2 weeks ago. I dunno if they still have it on sale for $699, but it's worth a shot. The guy at the sales counter didn't know about the sale until i asked about it. I also have the 597ci hd di. It's nice, but it's good to have the side imaging too, very useful. Also, the $100 rebate is available to June 2013.

I have also been debating between the lowerance elite 5 DSI and the hummingbird 597ci HD DI. The census so far has been that hummingbirds customer service is 100 times better than Lowrance. I was told if you have an issue with lowrance, you can expect 3-4 month turnaround time were HB is only a week. The lowrances are on clearance because the newer models are coming out and they will be priced more in the HB range, so if your thinking about lowerance , jump on it soon. If your going to put a lake maps chip, only HB will use lake master, so I've been told. All that being said, $150 difference in price for nearly the same thing is the debating factor for me.

Reeds has an electronics sale going now on Humminbird and Lowrance pretty good pricing http://www.reedssports.com/Category/main.taf?cat=1646 I have HB 898CSI with Lakemaster chip... like it a ton! edit: FREE SHIPPING too edit2: also includes rebates

Humminbird 598 with side and down imagining is the way to go. $100 dollars more gets you all you need for river fishing with the SI option and you can use the DI on the big deep lakes. I just bought one and all the reviews have been outstanding. There's a $100 rebate from Humminbird, and someone said they bought it from Dicks for $699. I bought mine from Cabelas for $799 with $50 rebates from Cabelas and $100 from Humminbird. I gone through the instructional DVD and it looks awesome. Can't wait for the ice to break and to give it a try...