Humminbird 385ci 3.5-Inch Waterproof Marine GPS and Chartplotter with Sounder

Great Value
The Hummingbird 385CI Combo is a great value for the money. It replaced my sonar only unit and the GPS features were most welcome. It performs well and is relatively easy to use. Instructions for installation could stand some clarification. And, GPS map upgrades are too expensive as currently offered.
345c is a winner!
My old FF had some problems, its fixed now. But in the spur of the FF-less moment, I pulled the trigger on a Humminbird 345C.

I wasn't expecting much. I just wanted a replacement. How different can they be given the the 300 series is lower in the hierarchy vs my older 500 series 565.

I was pleasantly surprised. The 345C thing is way more capable that my older 'bird.

First, it has more wattage. The 565 had 250 watts, the 345C arrived with 300.

The 345C has less resolution 340x240 vs 640 x 320 for the 565. However, I am definite that I am seeing more detail on the screen. This is probably attributable to the fact that the 565 only has Dual beam, while the 345C has Dual Beam Plus (DBP). DBP which allows use of individual frequencies. 200khz shows mucho detail compared to running 200 and 83 khz at the same time.

Also, 'bird put in a new technology called Switchfire for 2010. It supposed to enhance the amount of stuff on the screen. It...
Everything I needed
It was this unit or a side scanner sonar without GPS, I so made the right choice. I have an 18 foot four winns freedom and mounted this over the cup holder on the drivers side. I trailer my boat all over from lake to lake here in Michigan so having the GPS (built in) with a waypoint marking to find the boat launch has been priceless. The built in lake maps are a nice feature so there is no added expence. I also love the fact that I can do 35 and still read accurate bottom depths in 120 feet of water. Finding fish is easy with fish ID and it beeps when it finds some so you don't even have to watch it for it to alert you. My wife likes the water tempture feature so she knows how cold it is before jumping in the water. I thought I would not like the black and white as much as color but the resolution is good on this and it is easy to make out the bottom. The quick view change is very helpfull so you can see large views for people with bad eyes like myself. I would buy this again...
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