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Northstar’s
new series of 10.4-, 8.4-, and 6.4-inch display do-everything boxes were
the buzz of the boat shows. If an easy machine is one that you can figure
out without a manual, the 6000i, which can function as a chartplotter,
radar (overlaid or not), dual-frequency fishfinder, and multi-source video
viewer, is one you’ll know a lot about before you even turn it on.
Essentially Northstar transformed the top menu of its already famously
intuitive soft-key interface into new and logical dedicated keys, even
while reducing the case size significantly and sleekly. And two or more
6000i units can work together—sharing charts, radar signals, etc.—over
the company’s new Ethernet-based I2 network. A waypoint entered on
one is instantly replicated on another, even if it’s being used to
watch a DVD; that’s redundancy the easy way.
Northstar is also now
using Navionics Compact Flash chart cards, a rather timely move, as Navionics
just introduced the XL3 version of such cards. With XL3 you get a huge
number of charts—like the entire West Coast, Canada to Cabo, including
Hawaii and offshore bathy charts—on one card for last year’s
$199 XL price. Support for Navionics’ colorful Gold format, also
XL3 sized, is coming to 6000i soon (and because of that common CF format,
probably easily). Not that Northstar is a bargain hunter’s brand,
with the smallest 6000i starting at $3,500 before radar or fishfinder
options. But never has the company done so much to earn its premium pricing.
Northstar
Phone: (800) 628-4487. www.northstargps.com.
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