Pay most attention to your transducer. The Furuno FC 585 is an awesome unit as stated, but only when paired to the 1KW ducer. Most units run on transducers with 600 or less....I ran two boats this year with the 585, one had the standard transom mount, the other the 1KW thru hull with high speed fairing block. Same base unit, yet night and day in performance.
If your budget allows for 1100 bucks plus, and another 400 plus for the 1KW thru hull, then by all means go for it. I too feel Furuno is the superior stand alone sounder to all others on the market, except when you get to the mid level, smaller units of 5 or 6 inch screens or less. Then they all are about equal, except for the Raymarine digital series. The 500 and 600 DX digital machines are about the best in mid level, due to their superior enhancing capabilities with the digital output. Those small units in color are unbelieveable at detail. Hummingbirds 787 Si will give you a great all in one unit, that you can use solely as your sounder(and still have a backup plotter). I played with one of these babies on a grady this summer, and its side scanning is unparralleled in any small machine on the market for bottom detail.
The smaller furuno units are all very good, but don't stand out head and shoulders above like their more advanced(and more$$) units do. |