I already have a Lowrance HDS-7 display that I bought for our old boat last summer and since I really want to update the radar on the new boat, I thought I'd move the HDS-7 to the new boat. Especially since it is a better chart plotter/fish finder than the one the new boat came with. The cost difference between the BR24 and LRA 1800 isn't trivial, but it's something I can handle. The thing I really like is the thought of not worrying about the power consumption and just leaving the radar on all night and routinely glancing at it after doing the horizon scan while under way. Our current practice (unless we're motoring) is to only fire up the radar if a light is spotted on the horizon in order to check distance and monitor the bearing.

I know I said it earlier, but I'm really looking forward to having that AIS during the night watches. It won't do a damn bit of good while coastal cruising since I doubt very much if many of those fishing boats will use them - let alone the pangas! But for deep ocean passages, it's going to be tempting to just rig a loud alarm to it and sleep the night away.