Looking into getting our first chartplotter, something to navigate to catalina island and back, preferably newer models. Does anyone have any insights on the newer stuff?
From my initial research looks like Lowrance and Simrads are the better options, any truth to that? Pro's and Con's?

Ran into large display hummingbird brands, with similar pricing,are they any good?

Also, I'm mounting it on a powerboat, is there any way to mount them without having to drill them on?

Thanks

Lowrance, Simrad and B&G are all actually made by Navico, but each seems to be focused on a different market. I bought a NSS12-EVO3 for my 2008 Formula 350 SS because of it's ability to work with the Vesselview Link I plan to install. Others may work with the VV Link as well but aren't officially supported. The other major option that I had in my old boat was Raymarine. Lastly there is Garmin which I have no experience with.

I have 2 Garmins I use for engine monitoring and a Large Simrad NSS-12 Evo3 I use for Radar, Maps, Sounder and Autopilot. I also always have an android Tablet as a Backup. For what you are doing The Tablet may be more than sufficient or at most a Simrad Go 7 or go 9. You can get suction cup mounts from Ram Mount suppliers. You can also Get Model specific Ram Mounts for many Samsung Tablets. The Simrad is my Favorite. The Display is so much crisper than the Garmins and it has a physical Knob to zoom in and out in addition to the touch screen. Only Con on Simrad is it does not have auto dimming like the Garmins.

Chris

IMO, you can't go wrong with Garmin. Good features and very intuitive to operate.

Padraig