I have spent quite a bit of time on the lake with the 2 Humminbird 997 C si units and I feel it was worth the investment. They are so versatile, they do have a lot of options and adjustments in there use. It is pretty cool to see an underwater hump on the detailed platinum navionics map and put your cursor on it and mark it as a waypoint, then drive towards it being alerted if you get off course, then being notified when you are there. You just look at the sonar and there it is with fish all over it. you can set a waypoint using the cursor on the side imaging screen too this thing is so cool. I can also go to the bow unit and everything is there as well. I can stay on my waypoint using split screen GPS detailed contour map, and the other half sonar while I am at my troll motor. This is going to take a while to really get used to. I can use it pretty well but I think there are a lot of options I can still learn and there is always room for operator improvement. I have had Humminbirds Wide Paramount with SI. Lowrance, Pinpoint and Garmin and this is the best by far. The side imaging is harder to read in the sunlight but if I push my glasses to the top of my head I can read it fine and that is not a big deal to me. you can adjust the sensitivity and range distance on the side imaging and it can be easier to see. I set my side imaging @ 75 ft and sensitivity to 3/4 and got a lot more detail and could see shad schools, hey no wonder all those red eye grebes were over there. I have not fished much but have been trying to familiarize myself with the new units. Now I am comfortable and used to it. Time to fish, I am really enjoying these units. Hope this helps you out.
Peace, Rich