My boat has two redundant systems, one of which is interfaced into the boats
radar. One is a Northstar and the other is a Simrad. By far the Northstar
is the easier of the two to use, redraws screens faster and the graphics are
much better.

The Simrad I primarily use for radar and it is a very serious unit. Split
screen is a really good feature - can set two ranges on radar at sae time.

I know Northstar now offers integrated radar, but I'm not sure how well it
is executed - not seen it.

Simrad is supposed to have a better screen forviewing in direct sun. Simrad
offers morecomplete solutions - instruments, autopilot, etc.

I don't know how technically savvy you are, but what I wanted was to have
charting software on my laptop and then feed into the boat directly via
download. It works, but was a bit quirky to get to work. I use the
Northstar for this and it controls my autopilot - which is Simrad. With
laptop I plan all my trips at home or commuting and then load into boat when
we're ready to leave. In reality it does work pretty well, other than the
quirks.

John Buscema