I am beginning to up upgrade a few electronic things and been checking out the new chart plotters and handheld units. It seems everything is headed towards touch screen. I did buy the new garmin oregon 400c handheld as a backup unit and it has a good size touchscreen for a handheld. (iPhone like) The graphics are nice and the menus are intuitive. I have not used it on a boat yet but so far so good. Time will tell.
My concern with the larger 12-14" touchscreens on my primary unit is what the screen will look like when a fisherman's hands makes contact with the screen esp when the bite is on. The screen feels a little different than the glass on my old unit, it is more of a plastic feel. Fingerprints are my concern. Anyway, I like the features the touch screen has, I have been looking at Ray marines and Garmins chartplotter. For Instance, you can point to a place on the chart and it will compute a multi leg course thru channels to get you safely to that point, another button and the autopilot runs the course. Also you can easily list routes and select past routes with a simple touch. Looks great and seems to work and I would like those features but I am not sure of the screen. So my concern is should I step backwards and get the old button style with the clunkier software or get the touchscreen with better software and keep a soft towel near the screen?


Have you played with any touchscreens? What are your thoughts?

Just wanted to give you my experience with Garmin, I originally had a 2006C and it lasted a few years, apparently it had some corrosion issues and it crashed on me while running in the dark across buzzards bay.... I figured I had enough use on it and wanted to upgrade to something with Radar overlay so I went with the new Garmin 4208. Not even a year into it and the Currents, which I moniter when going through quicks, the race and such were off, would say as an example .2 knots, when it was actually 3.8 knots or so... Made a big difference on how you run a 21 especially in snot. found out that the internal Calander went back to Feb 9, 1999 and you couldnt reset it??? Any way, had a few corrosion issues, and that Garmin also, mysteriously crashed one day while running up the hudson this past fall. My back up 400 series, cant remember offhand, which was in the console, 1 year old and also dead! I sent back the 4208 to Garmin, they replaced it for free. I sold the boat back in December and for the new boat I bought the New Furuno MFD12 3D Package... Figured Its a bit more expensive, but I want the reliability, and it is a Badd-ass unit... My good old Furuno 600L never had a hickup and was side by side to the Garmins, exposed to the elements... Just my experience with Garmin. Dont get me wrong, the Garmins are great for ease of use and the charts are awesome... I was also considering the 5000 series touch screens, they are nice, was just concerned on how they held up to, most of the times fishing my hands are filthy. I also didnt know anybody that had one...

I too would be concerned with a touch screen on a fishing boat. I have a garmin 2010 that I've had since they first came out. Its in a protected place and out of the way, so no one ever touches the screen. I have heard some horror stories about trying to clean those screens, so I just keep my mitts off of it.

i don't know how marine grade touch screens will act but I know my current touch screens / i pod touch an blackberry storm do not respond with wet fingers or any sort of moisture (humidity) when you try and navigate through them. It can get down right frustrating at times to do simple tasks.

I veered away from the touch screen for exactly that reason.

I ended up with a smaller Garmin than I thought originally because their FF is not that great (YET). So I got separate CP(Garmin) and FF (Furuno) which is AWESOME !!!!

Even though I got a smaller one. I did get the G2 vision card and the navigation feature is awesome.

I plot a course to wherever, set a minimum depth you never want to be in, and it plots the course, gives you a big purple line to follow. I let the wife drive while I tinkered with other stuff.

JUST FOLLOW THE PURPLE LINE.....works like a charm..

You will be constantly cleaning it

You can always overcome the fishy hands by using the eraser of a pencil that is secured to a twine.

I use a touch screen at work, a relatively dry and clean place (unlike a boat when the bite is on) and I am constantly cleaning the screen. Seems no matter how clean your hands are 1.) someone else's aren't 2.) the sunlight will always shine on it and make it look like crap.

For me, I love the Northstar 951/952 series. I have had both of these units on two different boats and they were 100% everytime, all the time.

I have a Garmin 3010 on my current boat and it has failed me once already...

Wrap the monitor in plastic wrap. when you get back to the dock or it gets to funky rip it off and wrap it back up with new stuff . Dont block the vents .

A lot of mechanics wrap their keyboards in plastic wrap.

Just an idea.

Scott