Simrad have just announced the GO7 Multi Touch display but before we get into that let's take a step back and remember a time not too long ago before multi function displays when there were chart plotters whose only job was to display and chart and show where you were. Not long after that we started to see charts that could be overlaid with radar data and then from there....well you get the idea. I am sure that I am not the only person out there that till tends to call them chart plotters even if they can do everything now from operate the stereo to control the autopilot.
So then it is somewhat gratifying to see the Simrad G07 which is being marketed as a 'stand alone' display harkening back to earlier times when there were just chart plotters. The unit itself has a 7 inch display and this helps keep the price down to a reasonable level. The list price has been announced as $799 but expect to see these discounted in the retailers when they go on sale to the boating public at the beginning of May. I suspect that there will be lot of interest in these units and being small with an attractive price point they will surely find their way onto many center consoles and smaller boats. There are basically two versions of the unit the G07 with the Simrad badge and an almost identical B and G version called the Vulcan which features the very useful SailSteer function which is aimed as you might have guessed squarely at sail boaters.
Both units should sell well and the absence of knobs on the front means that operation is akin to using a tablet, so anybody that has a smart phone should be able to get the unit up and running right out of the box with very little time spent looking over the owners manual. Another way that the price is kept down is to reduce the amount of connections on the back which on the G07/Vulcan is limited to just three; an NMEA port, power and a connection for a sounder. Lacking is an Ethernet connection so radar is not supported and also missing is a video input. All that said this is one smart little unit and I would have jumped at the chance to get my hands on a Vulcan for my Golant Gaffer to replace the rather aging Raymarine unit that was still in place when I sold the boat. I think Navico, the parent of Band G and Simrad are onto a winner with this unit and I look forward to seeing how sales shape up in the coming months especially seeing they are making them available, wisely in my view at the beginning of the 2015 boating season.
Comments