I own one of these units and I like it. It is essentially a "sidefinder" type scanner with a 90 degree sweep angle looking forward. This unit only displays the essential information (ie, relative target returns) and as such is not as entertaining as many other units which show a bunch of cute little fish swimming around (when in fact the actual return may not be a fish at all).

The forward scanning unit will also readily show the bottom and this can be confusing until you realize what you are looking at.

Interphase also makes a downward scanning system that scans from the surface to directly under the boat. If I was to do it over again I would buy one of those units and mount it to the side. Then you would have a combination of regular fishfinder (ie, 10 degrees down) plus a regular sidefinder (ie, 10 degrees to the side) plus all the other angles in between.