Hello Rubicon,
The 6100I has been a great series from it's initial release. It was a machine that was networked and could do virtually everything that the Raymarine E-series could do with the Northstar interface. The units now have been out for some time, and while the E-series has received some updates to make it capable of using better charts such as the Platinum Plus, the 6100I series has not been updated as heavily and cannot do the "Plus" version of those charts.
At this point in the game I think Navico realizes that in order to compete with folks like Raymarine and Furuno they have to come out with a new machine and call it quits on the 6100I units. They will continue support for the product, so if you do decide to get one you will be fine as long as the unit is new and therefore under warranty.
I will note a couple things, though. There are going to be new Northstar Edition Simrad units coming out very soon, and they are looking quite slick. We don't quite have them in stock, due to them being so new, but once we have them they will be major competition for Raymarine and Furuno in terms of networked multifunction units. We also do not have any more of the 6100I units (except one 12 inch model from our old showroom-- it is a Display model-- let us know if you are interested).
Another quick note-- you say you want to use it with the Furuno MFD8, which I am assuming you are meaning independently. If not, please understand that even though they both use Ethernet to network their machines that the two will not communicate that way-- the only way they will talk is via NMEA 0183. Let me know if you have questions about that.
And let me know if you have any further questions about anything I've commented on-- I hope I have been of some assistance! Thanks, and have a great day,
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