Humminbird Owner Here
Kevin, I started out looking at the 300 series. Depth and chart with GPS speed was my criteria. Originally I looked at grayscale but had real or imagined doubts about read-ability in sunlight. I was going to purchase a 383C. I ordered from a discount house on the east coast, got jerked around for a month and I finally cancelled the order. By that time, I'd looked more into the Humminbird line and started looking at the 700 series, specfically the 757C. The screen was larger and based on where I sit at the helm of my M-25 and the advancing age of my eyes, I figured I needed a larger screen. As well, they were offering free Weathersense, which is their barometer add-on as a rebate. As promised on the rebate card, It took about 6 weeks to get the barometer unit and I installed it last week. I was about to pull the trigger on that when I happened to walk into the Bass Pro in Oklahoma City only to find a 787 C with an external antenna on close-out for $525. I'm assuming they are phasing out the external antenna units, this was still in the packaging and had not been a demo. The only differences I could see in the 757 v. 787 is a higher resolution screen which is fine wtih me. On to the maps- their Uni-map system sounds great on the advertising. It is good, but does not have the depth contours built in. Since my lake is still up about 20 ft. over normal I'm not too concerned about having depth contours right at the moment. I'll get the map card at some point this winter, I imagine, as I plan to start going to some different lakes next year. Overall, I've been very happy with the quality of the product. I'm sure there are people who have bought Lowrance, Eagle, Garmin, or whatever who will tell you they are happy with their units as well. I've not found anything I don't like about it yet, other than the "Uni-Maps" which come factory installed are more basic than you are led to believe.
