I fished for around 15 years with a monochrome fish finder and within the last year bought a color one (Eagle FishMark 500c) and to me the difference is night and day. I love the color display. The white background really makes everything stand out a lot better. I still have a monochrome unit in the rear and when I look at it I think yuck. Go to Eagles website and download some of the emulators and play with them, see for yourself.
http://www.eaglesonar.com/Downloads/...rs/default.htm