It was interesting reading the section on Humminbird in this months RI. as I just purchased a similar unit.
I bought the 87C fishfinder/GPS/plotter which I have used for about a month now.
First impressions are good so far, especially as this is the first combo unit I have owned and find it very easy to use.
The colour screen gives a clear image even in bright sunlight and the menu buttons logical and easy to browse through.
One of the main reasons I purchased ,was due to the early morning marine layer/fog we get here and loved the "birds eye"view option.
It gives a graphic of the boat and out onto the horizon are displayed bearings on top of the cartography.makes following a course very straightforward (Especially with the bread crumb trail to see where you strayed off course
)
I am off on my first real offshore trip next week, to Catalina;about 25 miles out.So I really appreciate the added accuracy this gives me(especially as I am chart impaired
)
Unit is rated as "waterproof" with dual beam sonar and accepts MMC for added detail.(Think those are an extra $200 so will be sticking to the included base map for now. )
Only thing I dislike so far ,is that at slow speed the vibration tends to shake the unit quite a lot.(Even toying with an idea about a setup to brace it).!
But apart from that ,love it so far(doesn't find enough fish though
cheers dal
